Houston Rockets Team Review

 

2021-22 Finish: 52-30

 

Season Highlight:

The Rockets had a really solid year with the big man Nikola Jokic leading the way the whole year.  They had a good solid team of youth mixed with some experience.  Jokic was 7^th in the league in rebounding at 15.2 rpg.  His offense fueled them to the 6^th best record in the West and a playoff berth. 

My favorite part about this team is that they have multiple young players that have high potential.  Haliburton looks like he could be a star in the future but was only averaging around 12 ppg last year as a complimentary piece to Jokic.  The other young star Tyrese Maxey made a large jump up from 6 ppg to 13 ppg, with hopes to up that even further this season.  This team is really ahead of schedule and should be happy with how much they accomplished.

 

Season Lowlight:

Making the playoffs was nice, but they were given the Gentlemen�s Sweep as they call it, going down 4-1 to the Timberwolves in the playoffs.  They were really top heavy with Jokic, Powell, Maxey, and Haliburton doing all the scoring.  This core was great but the depth just was not there for the Rockets as they fell quickly.

 

Best Trade:

Rockets send George Hill, Justin Holiday, Second rounder (Cha ) for 2026 

Rockets receive Jordan Clarkson

 

This trade is post season, but I�m very excited for it.  They turned an aging George Hill and a role player in Clarkson into a great 6^th man scorer for this team.  This has the potential to fix the problem they had last season with not enough big time scorers.  I love that this move fixed the biggest hole they had.  His defense can be suspect at times, but the scoring should make up for it.

 

Worst Trade:

Rockets send Delon Wright
Rockets get Kelly Olynyk, 2^nd rounder 2026

I don�t hate this trade but if I had to pick a �worst trade� I guess this is it.  Vitticus did not make a ton of moves last season, choosing to let his team develop well together.  I just was never a big Kelly Olynyk fan, and think Wright still has some good value.

 

Other Notable Trades:

Rockets send Davis Bertans and Kelly Olynyk

Rockets get Luke Kennard and Devonte Graham

 

I think this is an interesting trade that may pay off, moving some scoring bigs out for scoring guards.  It shows that they are looking for more backcourt scoring with Clarkson coming in as well.

 

Free Agency:

The Rockets don�t have anyone on the roster to be determined in free agency.  They are above the salary cap however so will only have the mid level and minimum contract guys to fill out the rest of their roster.  They currently sit at 11 men so they will be looking to add at least 3 men to the roster.  They should be looking for potentially another big to add some depth there as they just traded away their big men. 

Star:

Nikola Jokic

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I love Jokic, he is one of my favorite players in the league right now.  I�m not quite sure yet if 2k can replicate his impact on the offense from a creativity and vision standpoint.  I think this team with this roster in the NBA would be one of the top teams in the West, but since his abilities aren�t as utilized in 2k, he�s just really good and not legendary. 

Flop:

Davis Bertans

They did a good job of already moving on from Bertans, but he was just not living up to his salary.  He makes $16M a year and put up a 4ppg in the playoffs and 6ppg in the regular season.  For a guy that is supposed to be a 3-point sharpshooter, you gotta be putting up more than that to help the team win.  He had to disappoint the fans and obviously the front office. 

Draft Grades:

No Draft Picks

 

The Future:

I think this team could be one that takes a big jump this year.  They are returning all of their big-time players, and swapped out some of their more disappointing ones.  Jokic is back and we are on a new engine that may give him a boost and make him as good as his NBA counterpart.  Both Maxey and Haliburton have a chance to be really special, and if just one of them takes a leap forward, this team will be really special. 

I like the additions of Graham, Kennard, and Clarkson as I think these guys will really change how much the bench can score.  I think they are a bit weak in the frontcourt currently, but that could be fixed with a nice free agent addition.  With a little bit of luck in free agency, and maybe a trade or two, this team will have a bright future!

C: Nikola Jokic / Goga Bitadze
PF: Harrison Barnes / Paul Reed
SF: Norman Powell / Royce O�Neale
SG: Tyrese Maxey / Jordan Clarkson / Luke Kennard
PG: Tyrese Haliburton / Devonte Graham