HOUSTON ROCKETS 2025-2026 NBA SEASON DISCUSSION

zeeshan2 · Mar 12, 2026 at 1:54 PM

zeeshan2 · Mar 13, 2026 at 9:44 AM

Easy · Mar 13, 2026 at 10:04 AM

zeeshan2 said: ↑

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The Rockets are the definition of Average?

zeeshan2 · Mar 13, 2026 at 10:22 AM

Tier 3: The one-man shows

Teams: Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets
Nowadays, depth tends to stand out on rosters as opposed to one or two stars being the only focal points. Just last season, both the Thunder and Indiana Pacers made the NBA Finals not because of their star players but because of the high-level depth surrounding these talents.

For a team to win a championship, it must have adequate, reliable depth on its roster, and that's something neither the Minnesota Timberwolves nor the Houston Rockets have at this time. However, these two teams do have two of the best players in the league in Anthony Edwards and Kevin Durant, respectively.

Edwards has taken the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals in back-to-back years, and he seems to kick things into a higher gear on both sides of the court once the playoffs start. At the same time, Edwards is just one guy, and he ran out of gas against the Thunder last year because of the lack of depth in Minnesota.

Julius Randle has underperformed since the All-Star break and has not looked like a clear No. 2 option, and Rudy Gobert is nothing more than a big guy standing in the paint who can block shots. So that leads to the question: who will step up for the Timberwolves in the playoffs?

Will Jaden McDaniels or Donte DiVincenzo suddenly emerge as a high-level scoring option next to Edwards? Will Randle find his groove before the playoffs and actually be a 20-point-plus scorer every night? These are major question marks that are hard to ignore alongside Edwards.

As for the Rockets, they face a similar problem with Durant doing everything on offense. Not having Fred VanVleet has hurt the Rockets in big games this season, as teams have found a lot of success pressuring Houston's ball handlers and forcing simple mistakes.

Durant has been elite once again this season, and he is on his way to earning All-NBA Second-Team honors. But Alperen Sengun has disappeared on offense a lot during the back half of the season, and teams know Amen Thompson isn't a shooting threat whatsoever, so they are clogging the lane when he has the ball.

Reed Sheppard has put together a great second season in his elevated role, but he's nothing more than a secondary scorer off the bench, and Jabari Smith Jr. has been an up-and-down shooter all year.

Although Houston probably has better scoring depth than Minnesota, both teams face too many questions about who will step up alongside their All-NBA talent to be considered a true championship contender at this juncture.
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https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-st...inals-contender-tiers-after-spurs-win-celtics

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