Relying on aging veterans and injury-prone backups risks stifling Alperen Şengün’s dominance. Houston must secure a reliable interior presence to unlock their young core's full postseason potential.
The Houston Rockets haven’t moved any major needles this offseason, but that might not be necessary. Let’s not forget they did just win 52 games for the second season in a row.
They’ve just made some minor additions and are presumably hoping for improvements to come from within. No need to push the panic button.
This is still an extremely young team at its core, with three lottery draft picks in the 2020’s still on the roster. Their best young player, Alperen Şengün, is the oldest of the bunch and has still yet to turn 25.
There’s still plenty of time for them to grow as NBA players, but it is important that they have the right pieces around them. On and off the court.
Outside of those painted lines, I have no doubt that Clint Capela and Steven Adams have a huge impact on the team, particularly for an All-Star big man. I’m not sure how much they’re contributing on the court at this point though.
Clint Capela saw his playing time get cut in half after virtually every playoff game, despite the Rockets needing bodies. Starting with 23 minutes, Ime dropped him down to 11, 5, 4, and finally only 2 minutes. I’ll never forget prime CC, but this is not that.
Steven Adams obviously had a major impact on the team, as we saw their season completely fall apart when he injured his ankle —— but that’s still not great. I can’t think of another team that was so dependent on a 32 year old role player.
Its not everyday that you just stumble upon a giant kiwi who’s an offensive rebounding monster, so I understand you might never actually replace him. Why not try to do something though? These guys aren’t getting any younger.
I think we’ve seen enough evidence to know that Alperen Şengün has a lot of success when playing alongside a true center. That almost automatically means a smaller power forward will be guarding him, virtually guaranteeing multiple advantages.
It’s a built in cheat code and the Rockets are limiting their ability to use it. At this point in their careers, we have to know that neither Adams nor Capela will play 82 games. And based on previous playoff history, they both might be unplayable to begin with.
Prioritizing guard depth and shooting makes sense, but there’s still another hole to fill. Hopefully Rafael Stone and Ime Udoka don’t start the season with that hole still on the roster. Even undrafted rookies would be better than nothing, and here’s one candidate that was previously discussed on Roundtable.
