There’s little doubt that Houston Rockets fans are excited for the 2021-22 NBA season. After a 17-win campaign this past season, it’s hard not to believe that there’s nowhere left to go but up. Houston also fast-tracked their youth movement by drafting four rookies in June.
The natural question head coach Stephen Silas has to be asking himself is how Houston could improve upon last season. There are quite a few areas the Rockets could get better in, but it’s unrealistic to expect growth all at once. Let’s try to pinpoint where these reasonable areas of growth are.
1. Youth
This sounds like a dumb area to point out, but last year, the Rockets were a team that had the perception of youth without the actual youth. Only two players on the roster were under the age of 22, whereas they’ll have six such players next season. Players like Kenyon Martin Jr., Jalen Green, and Josh Christopher make the roster faster, more athletic, and more unpredictable than they were last season.
Getting younger comes with it’s risks, obviously. The Rockets will also have to contend with more turnovers, defensive mistakes, and efficiency woes. However, for a rebuilding team trying to establish a new identity, the trade-off is worth it.
2. Improved Rebounding
The Rockets were the worst rebounding percentage team in the NBA last season and it was reflected in their defensive rating (29th in the league). One of the priorities the Rafael Stone regime put in place last season was adding size to a really small roster, namely trading for Christian Wood and signing DeMarcus Cousins. Stephen Silas played it even more traditional by making Wood a power forward after the Rockets acquired Kelly Olynyk.
The Rockets plan to continue this model – this time for a full season – and have replaced Olynyk for Daniel Theis. Houston also drafted Alperen Sengun and Usman Garuba who should really help on the defensive glass if one or both of them receives minutes right away.
3. Healthier
The Rockets had an absurd 43 different starting lineups last season, largely due to players missing time with injuries. It’s unlikely Houston will have as many players miss games due to health and safety protocols because the league is relaxing their protocols for vaccinated players. It’s also likely that John Wall and Eric Gordon will play more than a combined 67 games next season.
Factor in that Kevin Porter Jr. has likely played his last G League game and Houston has a pretty clear idea of which players will be available for them at the start of training camp. Of course, injuries are a fool’s errand to try and predict, but Houston was just so unlucky last year, it’s hard to believe it won’t be better next season with multiple players returning.
4. Improved three-point shooting
Eric Gordon has played a combined 65 games the past two seasons for Houston and it’s no surprise that the past two seasons have been the worst three-point shooting seasons of Houston’s last eight years. Gordon will presumably be much healthier next season and that should help Houston’s floor spacing a great deal. Also, Stephen Silas playing Christian Wood at the four opens up more pick and pop opportunities for a pretty good three-point shooter (37.1% for his career). Jalen Green is also a pretty reliable three-point shooter off the bounce and off the catch, but it may take time for him to translate his efficiency to the NBA.
Jae’Sean Tate may start because of his defense alone, but if Houston wanted to maximize floor spacing, starting Gordon or House may be a smarter offensive play. John Wall and Kevin Porter Jr. are already going to be spacing issues all year from the guard positions so minimizing problems elsewhere on the floor may be something for Silas to look at. They aren’t going to be the 2017-18 Rockets from three-point range, but Houston can try and get out of the bottom five for now.
5. Shot creation
After John Wall went down, the Rockets pretty much had two players who could reliably create their own shot: Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood. Wall and Eric Gordon coming back will provide some significant reinforcement there, but Jalen Green is really the key addition here. Green is such a smooth operator off the dribble for his age and fortunately for him, the Rockets have it set up so he won’t be relied on as heavily this first season. If he plays in the regular rotation, Alperen Sengun can also create some for himself and others out of the post.
The Rockets will be a better team than last year – that much is obvious. Naturally, the question is going to be how much better.
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