Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who got to enjoy the holiday by sitting around and consuming as much food as possible.
If there’s one fan base that has been well-fed since the start of the season, it has to be the Houston Rockets, and things are only looking better heading into December.
The Rockets are 12-4 to start the season. Kevin Durant’s arrival has worked as well as anyone could’ve hoped. And just about every one of the young, foundational pieces the Rockets have invested in is rising to the occasion for a team with serious title hopes.
Houston’s successful start and its old-school, physical style of play have folks around the league fascinated about how good this group will be once April arrives.
However, before we look that far ahead, let’s answer some of our readers’ questions and figure out how they’re feeling about this fascinating Houston squad.
As always, we are very thankful for those who sent in questions:
Questions have been edited for style, length and clarity.
Hey Will, do you think it’s a coincidence that the Rockets have played two of their better games defensively while KD has been out? They obviously weren’t as dynamic offensively, averaging 109 points in the two games, but holding opponents to 96 points. Is KD a negative defender at age 37? Or is this small sample size, opponent-related noise? — Cecil R.
I wouldn’t say Durant is the most engaged defender nightly, but it feels a little extreme to call him a negative defender just because he’s 37.
When he turns it on, Durant can still be a very switchable defender, capable of keeping smaller players in front of him or turning into a rim deterrent when needed.
It’s no surprise Houston turned up its defensive intensity with Durant out. Whenever a player of Durant’s caliber has to sit out, teams try to lean into their identity more than ever to make up for the loss. The physicality and defensive mindset Houston brought in those wins at Phoenix and Golden State earlier this week are exactly what head coach Ime Udoka wants his team to be at its core.
While it’s fun to point out how great the offensive numbers have been despite the absence of Fred VanVleet to start the season, defense will be Houston’s calling card when the games slow down in April and May.
Knowing that, having a certified bucket getter like Durant waiting in the wings whenever the team needs to put together a few good possessions is a luxury.
In the end, Durant is doing exactly what he needs to do to fit in early on. He’s come up with a few offensive explosions when his team has needed them. But for the most part, Durant has done his best to keep his team in the flow of the offense rather than force-feeding him.
As long as Durant is healthy and knocking down big shots in the playoffs, no one will care how locked in he was defensively in November.
However, Durant also understands that his energy and willingness to sacrifice set the tone for the rest of the roster. While there will be some nights Durant doesn’t have the energy to put it on the line defensively, there are plenty of other moments when he gets a chase-down block or a big steal that ignites his teammates.
When the time comes, Durant’s presence will be felt defensively. I don’t think that’s anything to be concerned about.
Thank you for your perspective and commentary about this fascinating team. Does the emergence of (Reed) Sheppard as a viable point guard for this team change the calculus for the front office when considering how to best allocate their future draft pick assets (and young players with upside) to maximize their chances to win a title in 2026? — Ja S.
I don’t see how it doesn’t.
Over the last 10 games, Sheppard is averaging 17.1 points, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from the 3-point line. More than anything else, his comfort within his role is higher than it’s ever been.
He’s chasing shots and tossing up 3-pointers with zero hesitation. With each passing game, it’s getting harder and harder for Udoka to take Sheppard off the floor after he comes in with the reserves.
Sheppard provides a pop on offense (particularly from the 3-point line) that Houston desperately needs to pair with its paint-dominant starting unit.
In particular, if you’re asking about Sheppard’s impact on Houston’s future draft picks, it might change the approach in two areas.
First, the Rockets’ main focus remains hanging up a banner after this season. But after all the success this group had in the draft recently, the Rockets have four of their five starter spots locked down in the future with Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Alperen Şengün and Jabari Smith Jr.
The potential of a Sheppard-Thompson backcourt can be pretty enticing, especially if Sheppard keeps improving as a playmaker off the bounce. They complement each other really well on the offensive end and they’re both extremely disruptive on defense. With Sheppard, Thompson, Smith and Şengün looking like foundation pieces in Houston, the focus should probably shift to seeking out bigger wings or 3-point specialists. More than anything, the focus has to be on finding complementary parts that can play a specific role rather than taking a younger prospect with a higher ceiling.
Also, I’d say the second impact of Sheppard’s awakening is that perhaps Houston will be more open to the idea of moving some of its future picks, knowing it doesn’t make sense to keep adding so much first-round talent when you already feel pretty good about the 8-9 guys in the rotation.
Sure, older players like Durant, VanVleet, Dorian Finney-Smith and Steven Adams will move on eventually, but Houston has so much depth that losing a few of those picks won’t feel like much of a setback. And filling out the back end of the roster will be fairly easy with the older vets who would love to sign on to this situation in Houston.
Anything is possible in the NBA, but the likelihood of Anthony Edwards coming to Houston is very low. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Any realistic truth to the Anthony Edwards trade rumors? Assuming no key players are part of such a trade, how would the Rockets use him and to what potential effect? — Glen N.
I don’t think there’s any deal that would shock me more than Anthony Edwards getting moved by Minnesota.
Of course, we live in a world where Luka Dončić was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, so anything is possible. However, considering what Edwards means to that franchise and the Timberwolves fan base, it’s safe to say he’s not going anywhere. He took them to back-to-back Western Conference finals.
Houston has enough draft assets and young talent to be involved in any conversation involving a disgruntled star on the trade market. But sorry, Edwards ain’t happening.
Is Şengün a huge reason the Rockets are rebounding better? Ever since he started playing and starting a few seasons ago, the team’s offensive rebounding numbers have skyrocketed. Is Şengün one of the better bigs on the offensive glass in the NBA right now? — Anonymous U.
Yes, Şengün is a very good offensive rebounder (even though his numbers are slightly down this year), but I wouldn’t give him all the credit for Houston’s dominance on the offensive glass.
First off, the person who deserves the most credit has to be Adams. Statistically, he’s one of the greatest offensive rebounders in NBA history and he’s been crushing the glass at a historic pace this season.
Per Cleaning The Glass, Adams has grabbed an offensive rebound on 23.2 percent of Houston’s missed shots while he’s on the floor. That is an absurd number. For perspective, Adams has been an elite offensive rebounder his entire career and he’s never finished a season grabbing more than 19.2 percent of his team’s misses. At his current pace, Adams might end up with one of the best offensive rebounding seasons in NBA history.
But Adams isn’t the only player on this team who’s great at creating second opportunities.
On a per-minute basis, Clint Capela is easily one of the most productive offensive rebounders around. He’s been able to solidify his role on the second unit despite Adams’ minutes fluctuating from night to night. Thompson is also an elite offensive rebounder from the guard position.
Ultimately, what makes Houston so great in this one area isn’t that they have Adams, Thompson or Şengün. It’s that all of those guys are working in unison and attacking the boards every night. Few teams have enough size and athleticism to deal with those guys. And it’ll get even worse once Tari Eason and Finney-Smith are fully healthy.