This time a year ago, the Houston Rockets were one of the most intriguing teams in the NBA. They were ten days removed from trading for future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, adding him to a young core that had just secured a 2-seed in the Western Conference the previous season. Rocket fans were, by and large, super hopeful of the days of deep playoff runs returning to Houston.
Then came the 2025-26 season, in which the Rockets ended up with the exact same 52-30 record as the prior season, but with vibes surrounding the on-court product and the front office approach that were practically 180 degrees different than June 2025. In the end, this past season was unfortunately far less about title hopes and parades, and far more about season ending injuries and burner accounts.
The Rockets now live in an ecosystem in which they are clearly several levels behind the best two teams in their own conference, Oklahoma City and San Antonio, not to mention the actual NBA champs, the New York Knicks. Here is the kicker, though, nothing really positive has happened to rectify this gap. If anything, the world is spinning AGAINST the Rockets right now.
With that in mind, here are the three most concerning developments for Rockets fans this offseason:
3. Fred Vanvleet’s knee injury apparently being worse than we thought
Much of the Houston Rockets’ hopes for getting on a championship level in the coming season seemed to be attached to the return of Fred Vanvleet as the team’s point guard. Vanvleet went down with what was a reported torn ACL at the team’s offseason workouts in the Bahamas. The Rockets chose not to trade for or sign a replacement, and instead, muck together some weird hybrid of non-point guards being asked to do point guard things As their replacement solution. In short, the solution stunk. Now comes news, from Vanvleet himself on his podcast, that his injury was much worse than earlier reported:
Even the most optimistic Rockets fan has to feel like they’ve been kicked in the junk listening to that audio. Perhaps this explains the drafting of Bruce Thornton in the second round and the persistent rumors around a Marcus Smart signing.
2. Big names flying off the “possible trade” board
For those of you in the group of Rockets fans feeling like a big Durant-sized trade this summer is the solution to go compete with OKC and San Antonio in the West, it’s been a rough few days. Ja Morant was traded to Portland on Monday. LaMelo Ball was traded to Minnesota late last week. It appears that Kawhi Leonard is headed toward a reunion with the Raptors. The big one, of course, was Giannis Antetokounmpo traded to the Miami Heat. These all would have represented big time, star power pick ups that, at a minimum, would have energized a skeptical fan base. Boston’s Jaylen Brown, a 6th place finisher for league MVP last season, remains available, but reportedly the Rockets aren’t interested. Buckle up for more Alperen Sengun below-the-rim post play in 2026-27!
1. Wemby losing the NBA Finals in five games
We already knew, after their title win in 2024-25, that the Oklahoma City Thunder and their young core of players was going to be a problem for the rest of the league for many, many seasons. What we were not counting on was 22-year-old freak Victor Wembanyama and a young Spurs core breaking through, beating OKC, and moving onto the NBA Finals this soon. Somewhere along the way, the Wemby-led Spurs shot past the Rockets in the NBA’s HOV lane, and appear there to stay. I actually think that Wembanyama and the Spurs losing in five games to the Knicks in the Finals makes things harder for the Rockets (and the rest of the West) next season, as I suspect Wembanyama comes out hyper-motivated and on a mission.
