{"id":645243,"date":"2026-05-02T16:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T16:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/645243\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T16:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T16:26:09","slug":"fantasy-basketball-exit-interview-rockets-searching-for-direction-following-playoff-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/645243\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Basketball Exit Interview: Rockets searching for direction following playoff exit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets looked poised for a favorable first-round matchup against a depleted Los Angeles Lakers squad missing Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves to begin the series, with LeBron James at 41. Unexpectedly, Kevin Durant missed five of six games due to a bone bruise, leaving Houston without its star. The Rockets pushed the series to six games but ultimately fell short, scoring just 78 points in the series-ending loss to LA<\/a>. Durant\u2019s absence highlighted the central tension of Houston\u2019s season \u2014 relying on an aging star and raising questions for fantasy managers heading into next year.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s recap the Rockets\u2019 season and look ahead to 2026-27.<\/p>\n

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Durant carried the load<\/p>\n

Durant appeared in 78 regular-season games, averaging 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists, 1.7 stocks per game with 52\/41\/87 shooting splits. Even at 37, he was an elite, stabilizing presence who kept the Rockets afloat through a season with several rough patches. Houston finished 52-30, fourth place in the West, but could easily have been higher in the standings. When Durant was healthy and locked in, the Rockets looked like contenders. When he wasn’t, the cracks showed fast \u2014 and the younger players didn’t do nearly enough to consistently pick up the slack. That’s the uncomfortable truth heading into the offseason. Depending on a player of Durant’s age to be your life raft every night is not a sustainable model and fantasy managers saw enough inconsistency throughout the year to view this team more as pretenders than contenders. Durant performed to his second-round ADP, ranking 21st in High Score and 17th in 9-cat leagues in his 18th NBA season. The efficiency and consistency are pretty remarkable at this age.<\/p>\n

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Houston has a point guard problem<\/p>\n

This is the headline issue for fantasy managers. Fred VanVleet missed the entire 2025-26 season with an ACL tear. His absence alone exposed how dependent this roster is on having a true table-setter. Without VanVleet, the Rockets deployed the second-youngest starting lineup in NBA playoff history and leaned heavily on their young core to generate offense. The season-long experiment didn\u2019t go according to plan.<\/p>\n

Amen Thompson took over as the primary ball-handler for much of the season. While his decision-making and ball security still have some warts, he thrives as an off-ball slasher and roamer from the dunker spot, which helps raise his field goal percentage. His ability to attack without the ball and finish efficiently remains a valuable asset even as the team waits for VanVleet\u2019s return. Still, Thompson was a strong fantasy asset in an expanded role, ranking inside the top 40 in both High Score and 9-cats leagues after averaging 18-7-5 with 1.5 steals per contest.<\/p>\n

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VanVleet is expected back next season, which matters \u2014 but until he proves he can return at full health, point duties will likely stay with a combination of Thompson, Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn and Reed Sheppard.<\/p>\n

\u015eeng\u00fcn and the frustrating core<\/p>\n

Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn once again did his thing, but the execution was at times frustrating. The counting stats are excellent across the board: points, rebounds, assists, stocks. He fills it up. It\u2019s why he ranked 13th in High Score. But the problems are equally consistent: turnovers remain a real liability and his free-throw shooting continues to drag down his 9-cat value. When he\u2019s efficient, he\u2019s a top-30 asset in that format versus a top-60 guy.<\/p>\n

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Sheppard was one of my sleepers until I learned Ime Udoka didn\u2019t trust him. Udoka pretty much waited until he had no other options in the backcourt before starting Sheppard and playing him 30+ minutes. I think he\u2019ll be a more effective fantasy player if he gets 25-30 minutes next season as the sixth man. He\u2019s a good shooter who generates stocks well for his size and just has to get more comfortable adapting to the physicality of the NBA. I could see him being selected by the 10th round next season with a more secure rotational spot.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/p>\n

VanVleet returns on an expiring contract, and his presence alone raises the ceiling of this team immediately. He’s a prime bounce-back target in fantasy \u2014 a reliable source of assists, 3s and steals who should be available in the middle rounds after a full year off. Tari Eason is a restricted free agent this summer and has been vocal about wanting an expanded role and a real payday \u2014 how that situation resolves shapes the depth of this roster considerably. Then you have to wonder, is Udoka\u2019s job security actually secure?<\/p>\n

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KD, \u015eeng\u00fcn and Jabari Smith Jr. are all locked in for at least two seasons, giving Houston a stable core, but extending Thompson should be one of their key focus areas. The wrinkle \u2014 what if a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes available this offseason? These young rotational pieces become very attractive trade fodder. The Rockets have the assets and the cap flexibility to make a splash. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Rockets looked poised for a favorable first-round matchup against a depleted Los Angeles Lakers squad missing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[42158,64,30097,63,726,19703,7228,7220,19697,7216,7896,7232,11473,12994,85,132328,54433],"class_list":["post-645243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-amen-thompson","tag-au","tag-austin-reaves","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-houston-rockets","tag-jabari-smith-jr","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-reed-sheppard","tag-sports","tag-tari-eason","tag-the-rockets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}