Still Ready For Takeoff?
Orchestrating the Rockets’ offense to the second seed in an extremely competitive Western Conference last season, Vanvleet was set to return with the newly acquired services of Kevin Durant. This plan fell out the window as VanVleet went down with a torn ACL in an offseason workout. Now, the Rockets must fill the enormous void that he has left. So, how do the Rockets adjust without him?
The easy answer is 2024, third overall pick, Reed Sheppard, but will the Rockets really trust him with the starting point guard role? The Rockets want to compete now. A blockbuster trade for an aging Kevin Durant solidified their goals and they can’t afford to waste a season. Last season Udoka did not give Sheppard much of a chance at all. A small guard, but extremely crafty scorer and good shooter, Sheppard wasn’t able to carve out much of a role. Mostly because of his size and defensive capabilities though. If Sheppard doesn’t perform up to par in the early stretches of the regular season, the Rockets may look to other options. Sheppard has looked very comfortable in his preseason appearances though.
A problem with the Rockets last season was spacing. Because of this, Sheppard seems like the best option, but another direction is Amen Thompson taking the reins. Thompson is an extremely athletic wing that has good ball handling capability and vision. He definitely has the ability to run the point, possibly similar to Ben Simmons in Philadelphia, but in an era still dominated by spacing, a non-shooting point guard may hurt the team more than help it. Tari Eason or another wing could jump into the starting lineup, and make the Rockets one of the biggest if not the biggest starting lineup in the league. The defense would be suffocating, but that would mean 37-year-old Kevin Durant would have to pick up a lot of the scoring load. But who’s to say he can’t do it?
Relying on that for a whole season seems unlikely, but this lineup should only get a look if Sheppard doesn’t pan out the way he needs to. The spacing and offense would be a challenge to figure out as the only reliable floor spacers would be Jabari Smith Jr. and Kevin Durant.
No matter the decision, the Rockets will be an extremely dangerous team this year (if Durant can stay healthy). The defense will carry the team again this year. The Rockets at their core are still very young and they have a lot of room to grow. Kevin Durant still has a lot to give and Alperen Sengun is a bonafide all-star at this point. With two players of this caliber, the Rockets will figure it out one way or another.
