What the Rockets could be

Instead of trading depth, what if Houston leverages depth to survive a vicious Western gauntlet?

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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La Rotonda di Palmieri; Giovanni Fattori; 1866

Reed Sheppard, the third pick in a terribly draft, looks like a legit NBA player from Day 1.

He’s only 1/5 from three in preseason, but the feel is excellent and it looks like he’ll be a Rookie of the Year contender. More importantly, it’s yet another player for the Rockets, who lack a bit in top-line talent but have so many NBA-level players these days.

So many, in fact, that many are tagging Houston as a likely trade team. There is talk about the need to consolidate talent into a better No. 1 option. What I’m proposing is this: what if we calm down and let the Rockets be good first, and then decide what happens next?

The West, as we have noted five dozen times this offseason and will note five dozen more times by Christmas, is brutal. Injuries will knock teams out of the mix, just as they did for the Grizzlies and (I would argue) the Warriors last season. Depth is crucial to survival. The Rockets have excellent depth right now. They will have a couple of players get DNPs in the first couple weeks of the season that would be top reserves on other West teams.

In their most recent preseason game last week, Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams sat. Amen Thompson got the nod in FVV’s place, and Jock Landale got what I assume will be Adams’ minutes. The other starters and top rotation players: Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Dillon Brooks, Alperen Sengun, Cam Whitmore, Sheppard, Tari Eason, Jeff Green, Aaron Holiday, Jae’Sean Tate. That’s 14 players. Let’s drop Landale, Holiday and Uncle Jeff from the mix. You’re still 11 good players deep. Maybe you’re out on a player or two of that set. It’s still a huge pool.