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  • Projecting the Rockets 15-Man Roster Way Too Early

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    One preseason game in and all is well with the Houston Rockets. Alperen Sengun continues his offseason dominance, first with Eurobasket and then with one half against the Atlanta Hawks. Kevin Durant is set to make his debut Wednesday and most everyone is completely healthy.

    If the season ended today, the Rockets would be in the postseason!

    We kid. Point is, it is one of four preseason games in and we really don’t know what this team is going to be. We can guess they will be quite good, maybe even championship caliber. But, at this point, who can speculate? We can!

    Let’s start with a much, much too early look at the 15-man roster because we have time on our hands and nothing to worry about…yet.

    STARTERS

    Alperen Sengun
    Kevin Durant
    Amen Thompson
    Jabari Smith, Jr.

    Coach Ime Udoka has basically said these four will be in the lineup when the ball is tipped in game one. From a purely size and athleticism standpoint, this is going to be a beast for teams to wrangle. The question is whether Thompson will fill the point guard role or remain a wing with someone else starting at the point. The front line of Sengun, Durant and Smith will do damage.

    STARTER OPTIONS

    Reed Sheppard
    Tari Eason
    Dorian Finney-Smith

    Here is the intrigue. If Sheppard can make a jump from his rookie season, he could fill the shoes of injured guard Fred VanVleet. Interestingly, he has a similar size and style of play to FVV, but in only his second year, he will need to make a lot of progress. If Udoka decides to go with Thompson at the point, expect Eason here to start the season with Finney-Smith possibly getting his way into the starting lineup after fully recovering from offseason ankle surgery. Regardless of who is in the starting five, the other two will be critical components in the Rockets rotation.

    KEY RESERVES

    Stephen Adams
    Clint Capela
    Josh Okogie
    Aaron Holiday

    Adams and Sengun formed the double-big lineup that was so successful toward the end of last season and Udoka intends to continue deploying it, but now with Capela as an added wrinkle, both because he has a different set of skills from Adams and because Adams will not play every game this year. Okogie, who signed with the Rockets as a free agent, might surprise some. He’s a skilled defender with a wide body at just six-foot-four. Holiday hopes to continue his 50-percent-plus three-point shooting from the final third of last season as a safety net at point guard.

    FILLING OUT THE BENCH

    Jae’Sean Tate
    Jeff Green

    Tate and Green were part of a trio of Rockets players brought back (including Holiday) both for continuity and skillset. Tate is a spark plug defender who out-hustles virtually everyone on the floor. Green is the solid veteran big man who provides both in-game experience and a solid mentor for the younger players. Neither will play every night (maybe not every week), but they provide quality depth to a team that is pretty loaded on talent.

    ON THE BUBBLE

    JD Davison
    Kevon Harris
    Cameron Matthews

    Out of the three, Matthews, and unrestricted rookie free agent known for his tenacious defense, probably has the best shot of making the roster since both Harris and Davison are two-way players who can be shuttled back and forth from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. This final spot could also be filled by a veteran if the Rockets sign someone in camp. But, don’t sleep on Davison, the G-League MVP last year. He can straight up shoot the ball as evidenced by his 17 points on 5-7 from deep against the Hawks.

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    Jeff Balke

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  • Rockets Media Day 2025: Hope Spring Eternal

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    When one door closes, another opens. Such is life in Houston sports with the Astros flaming out ahead of the postseason only to be replaced by the Kevin Durant-led Houston Rockets, who held their annual gathering of the media on Monday at Toyota Center.

    This year was a bit different for this Rockets team coming off their first postseason appearance since the pandemic bubble year of 2020 and introducing their latest acquisitions. It’s always all smiles on Media Day, but there was plenty to talk about.

    Media training for the team when it comes to contract discussions is on point.

    When ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst asked GM Rafael Stone about Durant signing a contract extension, Stone said, “You can ask, but I won’t answer because we don’t talk about contracts.” When a similar question was asked of Tari Eason about his own contract status, he responded, “You can ask, but I won’t answer because we don’t talk about contracts.” OK then.

    Kevin Durant gave interesting and thoughtful answers at Media Day.

    Kevin Durant is fascinating.

    Forgive this reporter’s first impressions of Durant, someone I have never covered, but he seems like one interesting guy. All his answers are measured and thoughtful. He’s clearly “nerdy” as he described his detail oriented approach to perfecting his game. When he gave answers, he sounded almost guru-like. Also, he said he has no doubt he’ll sign an extension, so I guess he talks about his contract.

    Jeff Green wants no part of coaching.

    Jeff Green is never ever ever going to coach.

    The last answer for the 19-year veteran who gave long and considered responses to every reporter was only two words, “Hell, nah!” The question: After all your experience as a player, do you think you’ll want to pursue coaching? Green dropped the words and then the mic before leaving to chuckles from the audience.

    Dorian Finney-Smith is one of a handful of funny guys on this roster.

    This team is full of characters.

    If Monday was any indication, the Rockets won’t need a laugh track, but they might need a 7-second delay for bleeping out curse words. Multiple players jokingly dropped F-bombs in their answers — most notably Steven Adams who is known for his sense of humor and occasional R-rated language. When Adams was asked about Durant, the person, he said, “I mean, he’s not a dick.” Newcomer Dorian Finney-Smith said of Amen Thompson, that he should “Not give a f****” and just shoot. Later, Thompson would say, “Yes, I don’t want to give an eff.” How polite.

    Clint Capela is really happy to be home.

    Clint Capela is happy to be back in Houston, like really happy.

    The former and now current Rockets center gushed about his “home” here in Houston. He didn’t say that he was unhappy in Atlanta, but he was beaming about his return, both to the city and the team where he got his start.

    Jabari Smith, Jr. put on some muscle this summer.

    Jabari Smith, Jr. is noticeably more muscular.

    When Smith walked into the assembly area, it was clear he spent a LOT of time in the weight room over the summer. He shoulders were bulkier and he looked really lean. He said he spent a lot of time getting stronger and trying to improve his ability to handle the game. He seems extremely confident.

    Reed Sheppard is ready for his second season.

    Everyone is excited about Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard.

    The love for Thompson should come as no surprise. He could be one of the league’s best young players with an extremely unique set of skills and he said he improved significantly on his distance shooting, which is bad news for the rest of the league. But, hearing players rave about how good Sheppard looks is promising (especially since he will get more minutes now with VanVleet out). Sheppard said he spent the first three weeks of the offseason not even touching a basketball, just playing defense and lifting weights. He’ll need all the strength he can get this year.

    No one seemed as upset about Fred VanVleet’s injury as Alperen Sengun.

    Everyone is bummed about Fred VanVleet.

    Perhaps no one more than Alperen Sengun, who looked devastated when he spoke of the point guard’s torn ACL — he learned about it on the plane back to the states. VanVleet even spent time with Sengun his Turkey and it was pretty clear from the answers and he and Sengun have gotten pretty close.

    Imagine Amen Thompson is the shortest guy in the lineup.

    Could we get a massive all-big lineup?

    Speaking of Sengun, if you saw any of his performances in the EuroBasket tournament, you should be excited. He looked phenomenal. With the return of Adams and the addition of Capela (never mind Durant), this is a team loaded with big men. When you factor in how well the team played in the double big lineup last season and the loss of VanVleet, we might see a jumbo package on occasion. Coach Ime Udoka hinted at the idea of the “biggest lineup in basketball” with Thompson at point alongside Smith, Durant, Sengun and Adams or Capela.

    The league should be on notice about Tari Eason.

    Tari Eason is pretty damn confident.

    Feisty is certainly a word you can use to describe Eason, but he seemed genuinely perturbed at being left off the NBA top 100 players list over the summer. He spent his summer working on ball handling and shooting.  His defense and toughness have never been in question. When asked if he wanted to see an expanded role on offense, he leaned into the mic and said quite directly, “Yes!” He’s also fully healthy to start the season. If his game is as big as the chip on his shoulder, other teams are in trouble.

    The new hot dog with brisket is mighty tasty.

    One of the great benefits of Media Day is being fed — often new food items — by Toyota Center staff. This year was no exception with some nice additions to the menu including a spicy brisket hot dog with pickles. You’ll want to check that out. I will never sleep on the cookies, which are some of the best you’ll ever try. And, this year, they have a make your own tart/pie station? I got fatter just looking at it.

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    Jeff Balke

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