How The Houston Rockets Turned Everything Around In Just One Offseason
November 14, 2022. The Houston Rockets are 2–12, at the bottom of the Western Conference and an absolute mess.
Just 365 days later the Rockets have turned everything around, highlighted by a win over the defending champion and #1 seed Denver Nuggets to extend their win streak to 6 games, elevating them to a top 4 seed out West.
But now the question arises, how did we get here? How did a team who had been hopeless for years completely shift their trajectory in just one offseason?
The Signing Of Ime Udoka
It all began with the signing of head coach Ime Udoka. While Udoka had been fired by the Celtics in his last stop, we all know it wasn’t for basketball reasons. Ime had been let go by Boston due to a confusing situation that we never got true clarity of and that may have brought to question his professionalism; But when he was coaching he spearheaded the Celtics to the greatest midseason turnaround in NBA history and their first finals in over a decade. The signing of Udoka represented a level of seriousness that this organization had been lacking throughout their entire rebuild.
Free Agency Moves
The next step Houston made was bringing veterans to the roster in the offseason. Many were shocked at how much Fred VanVleet and Dillion Brooks were paid, calling Houston the losers of the offseason and clowning these moves. Though the amount of money these guys were to be paid was certainly concerning, Houston making a continued effort to bring structure and culture to the roster was a great sign for the direction the franchise was going in. Brooks was the laughing stock of the NBA due to his poor playoff performance that was a far cry from his talk in the media but one thing that cannot be denied is that he brings a level of toughness and confidence to any team that he is on. While VanVleet had the worst shooting season of his career since emerging onto the scene as a starting point guard, he was going to bring stability and playmaking at that position that was necessary for the development of their young core. No longer were the days of the Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green backcourt playing “AAU” ball, these moves along with the change at coach clearly represented a new leaf turning in Houston.
Young Talent Developing
The offseason moves Houston made have also been majorly impactful to the growth of the young talent on the roster. An early sign that had many hopeful for a potential breakout from Alperen Sengun was how much new coach Ime Udoka praised him before even ever having Sengun play a game under him yet. “Anytime you have a big that can initiate the offense, whether from the high post or off the block, you want to take advantage of his skill set,” Udoka said. “He’s deadly in the pocket. You can hit him on the half roll, and he can make all the plays there. That makes it easier for everyone else.” Udoka’s belief in the Turkish big man has now immediately translated into an all-star campaign for Sengun. In his 3rd season Sengun is now being utilized as an offensive hub, with the flashes of him as a playmaker being fully fleshed out into a primary source of their offense. The addition of VanVleet has also been a huge factor into Alperen’s breakout, with them being a strong pick-n-roll tandem that yet again provides them with reliable offense on any given possession. Houston’s win over Denver on Sunday was a bit of a symbolic moment for Sengun as Nikola Jokic is not only a player whose play style mirrors that of Sengun, but he was another person who spoke highly of his abilities. Last November Jokic had this to say about Sengun after playing opposite of him “I think they need to play a little bit more through him,” Jokic said. “This guy has the talent. He can pass the ball. He can post up. He has the touch around the rim. You can see some different moves that he’s made.” On Sunday Sengun was one of the primary reasons behind why the Rockets were able to top the Nuggets, playing hard defensively when matched up on Jokic and continuing his incredible offensive output. While Jalen Green has still been up and down going into his 3rd season, he is playing far more efficient and winning basketball compared to his first 2 years. Green has become far more comfortable off the ball as he is being assisted on 14% more of his shots compared to last year with that same increase coming from beyond the arc. More catch-and-shoot opportunities as well as more generally open looks due to improved offensive talent and improvement to their system has led to him being a plus 40% 3 point shooter on the year. Green may continue to be streaky and have ugly nights like we saw against Denver, but seeing him lose many of the poor habits he had developed under the previous regime is a great sign for him eventually living up to the standards of the #2 pick. Jabari Smith Jr. similar to Green is another player who may have not taken a major offensive leap just yet but he is certainly a much better player in his sophomore year. Though Jabari was in contention to be the first pick in his draft, that was more based upon it being a strange year for the draft and he was always built to be a very strong role player more than a superstar. Smith has improved from one of the least efficient players at his position to now being above average and he has now increased his already impressive defensive production. We have seen very little out of rookie Amen Thompson as he was playing limited minutes before his ankle injury but I am hopeful for him to develop very well under the current infrastructure Houston has built. Amen is certainly a raw player so having reliable players ahead of him limits the pressure put upon him and forces him to play good basketball so he can earn his minutes.
What To Expect Going Forward
We are still very early on into the season and Houston may not continue to be an upper echelon team in the West, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that this team finally has some culture and identity and the young players are thriving because of that. In just one offseason this front office has been able to completely flip the perspective of them as an organization, and they deserve endless flowers for that.
