It is not uncommon for teams that have been in the doldrums to try to inject some veteran talent onto the roster in order to try and get back into the win column. The Houston Rockets put themselves in a position where they were able to accumulate three different top-five picks over the past few years with the hope of laying the foundation of a sustainable winner. The hints of hope have not translated to anything meaningful, which led to some wholesale changes this summer.

Stephen Silas was released from his contract in April and the jam packed roster thinned out with some deals to open up roster spots. Tyty Washington Jr., Usman Garuba, Josh Christopher and Kenyon Martin Jr. were all a part of a massive trade by the Houston Rockets, which is a tough pill to swallow based on the fact that all of these players were either recent 1st round picks or players that had shown flashes of being rotation players. The couple of 2nd round picks they received in return (technically they also acquired Dillon Brooks as part of a sign-and-trade but they could have finagled a way to just sign him outright). They acquired Fred VanVleet, Jeff Green, Jock Landale, and Brooks over the first couple of weeks of July. Brook Lopez was close to making his way to Houston while the James Harden rumors circled the toilet.

All of this is necessary context to pose in order to properly analyze the question of whether the rejiggering of the roster is enough to make the Houston Rockets an above average offense or defense for the upcoming season.

The Rockets have had one of the five worst offenses in basketball in each of the past three years, which is in stark contrast to the run of offensive brilliance they had in previous years. One of the major points of weakness has been the lack of a quality ball handler at the helm.

John Wall had his moments, but was an unmitigated disaster when he arrived from Washington. The last couple of years have mostly been opportunities for Jalen Green to try new things, and allowing Kevin Porter Jr. to commandeer the offense. The best passer on the team these past few years has likely been Alperen Sengun as no other guard has really been willing to actively move the ball.

VanVleet helps fix this issue. The one-time All Star ranks as an above average guard that can help set up the offense and put other players in a position to succeed. The Toronto Raptors have had talented teams, but they had fit issues that jammed up the offense. Still, VanVleet was able to be the offensive fulcrum at the guard position that helped them become a top-15 offense in each of the past two years.

He has averaged around 20 points over the past two seasons along with seven assists and over four rebounds. His lifetime 37.3 shooting percentage from three should be invaluable to a team that was the worst at draining 3-pointers during the regular season. The biggest aid will be in his willingness to let it fly as he’s taken the 6th most amount of 3-pointers over the past two seasons. That gravity will help give Green and Porter Jr. more space whether they are on or off the ball.

Green has shown flashes of finishing at the basket, but suffered with his efficiency last year after being in the top fifth percentile in the metric. Being able to toggle between positions with the ability of VanVleet to fit anywhere on offense should help bring out the best parts of Green’s game. Porter Jr. knocked down an absurd 43.5 percent of his catch and shoot looks last year, which portends well for the Rockets if he is willing to embrace an off-ball role.

VanVleet should be able to help limit turnovers, which is a key since the Rockets were the worst team in the NBA at coughing up the ball last year. The diminutive guard is not an efficiency savior and neither is Brooks, though. Amen Thompson will get major burn, but as a rookie it’s more likely he’ll be an anchor to the efficiency of the offense. The overall moves will push the tide in the right direction, but it’s unlikely that the changes will be enough to merit a gargantuan leap. It’s likely they will improve, but not enough for them to sniff a top-15 level.

The Rockets will be digging out of a similarly large hole when they look to change the culture on defense. The last three seasons have all been nearly as horrendous as the last as they’ve placed in the bottom-five on defense in each one.

Ime Udoka doesn’t have much head coaching experience besides the one year he coached the Boston Celtics, but it was a pretty impressive one for his resume. The Celtics had the best defense in the league by nearly a full point. The personnel was stacked, but they implemented a swarming scheme that took advantage of the players on the roster and promoted accountability. The youngsters will need to be willing to engage on that end of the court if they are hoping to get consistent minutes.

Brooks made the 2nd team NBA All-Defense list last year and should supply some stability on the wing in the starting lineup. VanVleet generally has some of the higher steal and block rates at his position— during the 2021-22 season he barely missed out on making one of the two NBA All-Defensive teams.

The problem is that neither of these two play at center. The center position is generally considered the most important in terms of impact and it’s likely that the Rockets give a ton of those minutes to Sengun. The big man’s offensive production is encouraging, but it seems unlikely he can be a fulcrum in defending the rim. The Rockets probably have the same reservations considering how aggressive they were in pursuing Lopez.

Jabari Smith Jr. could be the answer to all of this. He showed some very encouraging signs at Summer League and he may be able to provide some defensive versatility that allows him to take the tougher matchup at either forward or center when he’s on the court. Udoka was able to work some defensive ingenuity when he played Robert Williams in a rover-style role with the Celtics and it’ll be necessary for him to squeeze the most out of his strategizing in order to maximize the roster.

The defense should certainly improve, but there will be a lot of younger players soaking up serious playing time. The floor of the defense seems higher than the offense, but it’s unlikely they’re able to climb much past the 20th best ranking in the league.