The Rockets’ season-long average (7.7 more shooting opportunities per game than their opponents) would be the second biggest differential in the last 52 years. Fred VanVleet was also on the only team (the 2022-23 Raptors) with a better mark (+9.1 per game). The Raptors lead by FVV that year finished 13th in offensive rating despite being 27th in TS%. The Rockets are 15th in offensive rating despite being 28th in TS%. If the Rockets were scoring as efficiently as last season (24th in TS%), they would be the 4th best offense at the current rate of extra possessions.
Our first full month of a season had us go 11-4in November . That’s the best month of basketball we’ve had under Ime outside of the March last year where we had the winning streak. Two months into the season and two winning months. We went 3-2 in October and 11-4 in November. That’s the goal to have a winning month every month. Last season we only had two winning months and the rest were losing months and one .500 month.
I know we're probably not 2nd or 3rd seed level good (probably) but we are really good. We could end the season a top 10 NBA team. That's not far from real title contention (imo you have to be a top 3 playoff team to expect to win the title). We've practically maxed out the defense. All that remains is building the offense to deal with modern and elite defenses. Will be fun to see what the kids are made of in the playoffs, that's where you learn a lot about people.
ESPN’s Top 25 under 25 Others receiving votes: Jaden Ivey, PG, Detroit Pistons Bennedict Mathurin, SG, Indiana Pacers Trey Murphy III, F, New Orleans Pelicans Cam Thomas, SG, Brooklyn Nets 25. Bilal Coulibaly, SG, Washington Wizards 24. Tari Eason, PF, Houston Rockets Age: 23 years, 206 days 2024-25 stats: 11.4 PPG | 6.3 RPG | 2.1 SPG Quietly, Eason has been as valuable as any reserve this season, earning his first appearance on this list in his third NBA campaign. Alongside Amen Thompson, Eason has wreaked havoc with his active defense. Eason's 3.2 steals and 1.7 blocks per 36 minutes have produced the NBA's best defensive rating in Basketball-Reference.com's box plus-minus metric. And after a leg injury limited him to 22 games last season, Eason has made strides as a finisher. His 57.5% accuracy inside the arc is easily a career high. -- Pelton 23. Dyson Daniels, PG, Atlanta Hawks 22. Amen Thompson, SF, Houston Rockets Age: 21 years, 307 days 2024-25 stats: 11.9 PPG | 7.0 RPG | 1.3 SPG Though Thompson has started just one game this season, he already has become a regular part of Houston's closing lineups by virtue of his defensive versatility. One of fewer than 10 players leaguewide averaging at least two steals per 100 plays and blocking 3% of opponent 2-point attempts, Thompson can guard any position at 6-foot-7. Offensively, Thompson is most dangerous in transition as his shooting develops. He has made just six 3-pointers this season but has shown progress at the free three line, making 73% after 68% as a rookie. -- Pelton 21. Tyler Herro, PG, Miami Heat 20. Jalen Green, SG, Houston Rockets Age: 22 years, 297 days 2024-25 stats: 19.4 PPG | 4.8 RPG | 2.7 APG Green continues to mix impressive moments (scoring 41 points during a win last week at Philadelphia) with frustrating lows and is currently shooting a career-worst 39% from the field through 20 games. He can be highly impressive to watch on a good night, but his shot selection can be problematic; sometimes, the game looks exceptionally easy for him, but oftentimes, he makes it more difficult for himself. Harnessing his talent to become a more efficient scorer and a balanced shot creator will be the key to Green reaching stardom. But in the middle of his fourth season, his tendencies are still holding him back. -- Woo 19. Dereck Lively II, C, Dallas Mavericks 18. Jalen Suggs, SG, Orlando Magic 17. Jalen Johnson, SF, Atlanta Hawks 16. Zion Williamson, PF, New Orleans Pelicans 15. Brandon Miller, SF, Charlotte Hornets 14. Darius Garland, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers 13. Cade Cunningham, PG, Detroit Pistons 12. LaMelo Ball, PG, Charlotte Hornets 11. Scottie Barnes, SF, Toronto Raptors 10. Alperen Sengun, C, Houston Rockets Age: 22 years, 130 days 2024-25 stats: 18.7 PPG | 10.7 RPG | 1.3 BPG A breakout 2023-24 campaign established Sengun as an offensive hub from the center position along the lines of Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis. Sengun hasn't scored as efficiently to start this season, but he is playing the best defense of his career amid Houston's strong start. He is averaging a career-high 1.3 blocks and ranks in the NBA's top 10 with 10.7 RPG as the Rockets rank second in the NBA in defensive rating. -- Pelton 9. Jalen Williams, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder 8. Evan Mobley, PF, Cleveland Cavaliers 7. Tyrese Maxey, PG, Philadelphia 76ers 6. Tyrese Haliburton, PG, Indiana Pacers 5. Chet Holmgren, PF, Oklahoma City Thunder 4. Franz Wagner, PF, Orlando Magic 3. Paolo Banchero, PF, Orlando Magic 2. Anthony Edwards, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves 1. Victor Wembanyama, C, San Antonio Spurs
https://hoopshype.com/lists/top-nba-trade-candidates-for-the-2024-25-season/ NBA executives around the league who spoke with HoopsHype pinpoint the Houston Rockets as one of the teams best positioned to make a blockbuster trade, given their young assets and future draft picks. Despite recent reports that the Rockets aren’t interested in trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant, there’s skepticism from NBA executives around the league that Houston won’t look to acquire a big-name star at some point in the next couple of transaction cycles. According to those executives, the question is not whether Houston will make a big splash but when. Rockets center Alperen Sengun has admirers around the league but is unlikely to be moved after signing a five-year, $185 million extension. Jalen Green was floated in trade rumors last season for former Brooklyn Nets swingman Mikal Bridges and has since signed a three-year $105.3 million extension. Despite the extension, NBA executives across the league believe Green won’t be off limits in future trade discussions. Amen Thompson has been a lockdown defender since entering the league and has improved his three-point shooting gradually this season with Houston. Rookie guard Reed Sheppard is also an intriguing piece as a high-level shooter and playmaker to teams around the league as he learns behind veteran Fred VanVleet as his backup. Houston also has several decisions looming, such as what to do with VanVleet’s $44.89 million team option for next season and how they’ll approach extension talks next summer with forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason. Will the Rockets extend Smith Jr., who’s failed to take a leap in his development as a starter, or sell on him before deciding whether to pay him big bucks next summer? Eason has consistently been a solid role player for the Rockets that has drawn interest from teams around the league. Reserves Steven Adams ($12.6 million), Jeff Green ($8 million), and Jae’Sean Tate ($7.57 million) are all on expiring contracts. Jock Landale ($8 million) also has a non-guaranteed salary for next season. Each player can be a salary filler in trade talks. Given Houston’s hot start to the season, the Rockets have even more flexibility as they decide who will remain a part of their young core looking ahead. •Within league circles, there’s been quiet discourse about whether the Houston Rockets or Dallas Mavericks will eventually land Butler, a Texas native, should he and Miami decide to part ways. For now, however, the Rockets are among the top teams with a young core, and the Mavericks remain a contender in the tightly competitive Western Conference. It’s also worth noting executives who’ve checked in on Butler got the impression that Miami wants to figure out their star’s future after the season.
The Rockets had four players on that list, which was ranked by what the writers currently view as each player's future potential: 24. Tari Eason 22. Amen Thompson 20. Jalen Green 10. Alperen Sengun With four selections, Houston had the most picks of any NBA team. To no surprise, No. 1 on the list is San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, with Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards trailing just behind at No. 2 overall. The complete list, along with brief descriptions and explanations summarizing each choice, can be read at ESPN. Members of Houston's so-called "young core" who aren't on ESPN's top-25 list are third-year forward Jabari Smith Jr.; second-year wing prospect Cam Whitmore; and rookie guard Reed Sheppard.
Rockets 'Adamant' They Won't Trade Any Core Players This Season The Houston Rockets are arguably the NBA's best positioned team to make a trade for a superstar because of both their future draft picks and their talented young core. Rafael Stone and the Rockets can trade up to four outright first round picks and four swaps. "I just spent some time around the Rockets and I was told by more than one person, very firmly, very adamantly, they will not change the core of that team this season," said Tim MacMahon on Wednesday's Hoop Collective podcast. "Maybe they make a fringe rotation type of deal. But they are going to play the season out with the core of that team is what they are saying right now." Because Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun signed contract extensions before the start of the season, they are both functionally difficult to trade during the current season. While Tari Eason and Amen Thompson are not starters, the Rockets have been adamant in their messaging that both players are untouchable. "Actions over words," added MacMahon. "The action of signing him to that deal was also an indication that this was not a season they planned to make a massive trade. "Now, we've talked about them trying to fast forward to phase three over the summer. If they could have gotten their hands on Donovan Mitchell, they would have absolutely pounced on that. He wasn't available. "If and when they cash some of these chips in to make a deal, one, I would be shocked if Thompson is traded. Eason is going to be awfully hard to get." The Rockets are one of the league's best defensive teams, but they lack a true offensive star. "If and when they cash these major chips in, they are going to be very selective of that. In other words, it has to be an age appropriate star. They realize to vault into real championship contenders, they have to have a guy either emerge or acquire a legitimate offensive engine. An outstanding offensive engine. They need to become a good offensive team, not a great because they are a great defensive team. "They are not ruling out that Jalen Green could become that. I think they have some evidence that it's possible from last season. They are not ruling out that Sengun could continue developing."
If y’all get the chance, you should listen to the Hoops Collective most recent podcast (Top 25 under 25). A ton of Rockets’ discussions.
I would love to see Holiday over Reed and Uncle Jeff as primary backup at 5. At least try it for a small stretch anyway. What have we got to lose, iIs not like Reed and Adams have been amazing.
I would like to see Uncle Jeff more often. He was great in limited minutes last year and Adams/Landale have been disappointing. If we keep winning more than 50% of the time, I would give Reed until the all-star break to get it going.
[MacMahon] How The Udoker built the Houston Rockets' new identity …It doesn't happen often, but when the man Thompson is guarding gets a bucket on him, he tends to look toward the sideline to see how his head coach reacts. There isn't much mystery. "I am bothered," Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka told ESPN. That's an understatement -- and not an unusual state of mind for Udoka. As Rockets point guard Fred VanVleet put it, "Well, he is always pissed off." Udoka's brow furls and his eyes narrow when he's disappointed in any of his players' defensive effort. But he's particularly perturbed when Thompson falls short of the coach's high expectations. It's an especially seething sneer any time Thompson gets scored on. "Imagine the most mad face ever, just staring daggers at you," Thompson told ESPN after a Dec. 1 win over the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, who shot 2-of-10 from the floor with Thompson as the primary defender. Thompson quietly admits he's amused by the visible angst he sees from Udoka, who has a reputation for orneriness and is as physically imposing as any NBA head coach with broad shoulders on his 6-foot-6 frame. Thompson also appreciates it, considering it's evidence of the confidence his coach has in his ability to be an elite defensive stopper. "He's not particularly happy when someone scores on Amen," Rockets general manager Rafael Stone told ESPN. "In Ime's world, that should be an impossibility. And if it occurs, it's because Amen did something wrong." Udoka doesn't expect that type of defensive dominance from every player on the Rockets' roster. But the standards for attention to detail, intensity and toughness do not waver for anyone. "That's just the bottom line with him," Rockets power forward Jabari Smith Jr. told ESPN. "He lets you play free, but he's going to expect you to play hard. He's going to expect you to defend, and if you're not doing that, you're probably not going to be in the game." Udoka's personality has been a driving force in the Rockets' rapid ascent from abysmal to awesome on defense during the coach's 20 months on the job. Only Oklahoma City has a stingier defense than Houston, which allows 105.4 points per 100 possessions. "Hard-nosed, no bulls---," forward Dillon Brooks said. … The Rockets' front office had three free agency targets in mind before it began the coaching search: Brooks, VanVleet and big man Brook Lopez. They all fit Udoka's vision as tough, defensive-minded vets. Lopez changed his mind at the last minute -- after the Rockets had made salary-dumping moves to clear space to sign him -- and returned to the Milwaukee Bucks. But the Rockets landed Brooks and VanVleet, signing them to deals worth a total of $215 million, providing Udoka a pair of relentlessly competitive tone-setters for the defensive turnaround. "That approach just rubbed off on our whole team immediately," Udoka said. "We can only say so much and teach so much and try to scheme around guys so much. But to have guys out there that do it on a nightly basis that have carved out their niche in the league with toughness and that edge, that defensive mentality, it was invaluable for our team. We needed it." VanVleet, whose résumé includes a championship ring and an All-Star appearance with the Toronto Raptors, serves as an extension of the coaching staff on the court and in the locker room. According to Udoka, VanVleet sometimes "goes against his natural inclination" and plays "the good cop" because the coach can be so harsh on young players. VanVleet, like Udoka in his playing days, scrapped to earn a roster spot as an undrafted rookie and approaches the game with an "edge," to use the coach's term. "He is a little grumpy old dude and half the time he always finds something to be mad at," Udoka said, "and we need that with our team." Brooks, Stone said, is "locked in every possession of every game, 365 days a year." There was extreme skepticism around the league that Udoka, as respected as he was for his demeanor and defensive schemes, could construct a solid defense with Green and Sengun in the starting lineup. The Rockets disproved that theory, finishing with the 10th-ranked defense en route to a .500 record last season, a stepping stone to this season's success. "The reason why we have overall made the jump is the buy-in and improvement from the 'non-defenders,'" Udoka said, referring to Green and Sengun. "The first thing was challenging our guys to obviously take pride in one-on-one defense and then trying to build some schemes around guys to protect them and put 'em in a better position to be successful." The 22-year-old Sengun is the Rockets' best offensive player, averaging 18.5 points and 5.3 assists per game, but he lacks the length and physical ability to anchor an elite defense. So Udoka doesn't ask Sengun to fill that role. "Having him in a traditional center-field drop, whatever you want to call it, which we don't do, is a disadvantage for him," Udoka said. "And then you couple that with the guards and wings that they had before and some of the guys we have now that didn't do a great job of navigating through screens, and so it was true 2-on-1s coming downhill at him and putting him in a poor position. "We want our bigs to be up and be a deterrent on the ball initially while keeping the roller in front of him. So we don't put the onus on the big; we do a ton with our guards to fight through and be more physical on the ball." The Rockets' rebuild also produced a core of young talent that had havoc-wreaking defensive potential. Smith, the No. 3 pick in the 2022 draft, is a rangy, 6-11 power forward who is agile enough to defend on the perimeter and has proven adept at protecting the rim when used as a center in smaller, switchy lineups. Tari Eason, selected No. 17 in that 2022 draft with a pick acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in the Harden deal, has been compared to "a young Kawhi Leonard" by Udoka, who coached Leonard with the San Antonio Spurs. Eason has that sort of frame at 6-8, 216 pounds with long arms and massive hands. He also has that sort of disruptive game, as Eason is the only player in the league averaging at least two steals and one block per game. Eason and the 6-7 Thompson, whom Stone calls "as impactful a wing defender as exists in the NBA," form arguably the league's most dynamic bench duo. For Udoka, one of the challenges is anticipating when to let Eason and Thompson unleash their natural playmaking instincts outside of the scheme. That often means gambling by helping off an opponent's star, especially for Thompson, who typically gets the toughest defensive assignment. "We got the personnel," Brooks said. "We have the length, we have the attributes to play defense and we have the will and passion for it. That comes from Ime." THE ROCKETS AREN'T the prettiest offensive team. "The most connected, together, tough, hard-playing team is going to win on most nights in the NBA," VanVleet said after Houston's recent win over the Thunder, which was the Rockets' fourth victory this season in which they shot worse than 42% from the floor, twice as many as any other team. For Houston to become a bona fide contender, the Rockets likely need one of their young players to emerge as the go-to guy capable of being the offensive engine or they need to acquire that sort of superstar in the trade market. Houston has accumulated a stockpile of draft capital that can get the Rockets in conversations for that sort of deal, but team sources are adamant the plan is to take a patient approach, not make a core-altering trade before this season's deadline. For now, though, the Rockets are one of the league's poorest shooting teams. The Rockets are tied for 27th in effective field goal percentage (50.3%) and true shooting percentage (54.1%). But Houston manages to be in the middle of the pack in offensive efficiency, tied for 15th with 112.4 points per 100 possessions, for two reasons that are also significant factors in their defensive success. The Rockets rarely turn the ball over and are a relentless offensive rebounding team. Houston's turnover ratio (13.1%) is tied for the fourth lowest in the league; its offensive rebounding rate (34.7%) ranks first. That correlates to the Rockets cleaning up their transition defense, allowing the second-fewest fast break points (11.8 per game) in the league this season after ranking dead last two years ago. "We basically say the first layer of our transition defense is attacking the glass," Udoka said. "Teams won't leak out as much. And we can still get back. There's not a direct correlation between crashing the glass and not getting back on transition defense. We feel we can do both. And we have." Of course, the Rockets know better. The choices are to sprint back on defense or sit down. Scheme and personnel play significant roles in Houston morphing into a tenacious defensive team, but the foundation is a mentality and effort level that Udoka demands. "I think our young guys bought into that and obviously were tired of losing, but a huge part of it is shifting the mentality and doing our part on that end," Udoka said. "Most coaches lose that battle as they go through the season and focus on other things, but understanding how much that impacts winning, that's a nonnegotiable for me."
