CBS Sports Dubs Rockets 'Offseason Winners'

It's seemingly been months since we've had significant activity in the offseason. At the onset, we saw several high-profile players change teams, perhaps none bigger than Kevin Durant, who was dealt to the Houston Rockets from the Phoenix Suns.

The deal ultimately became historic, as it was morphed into a seven-team deal -- the biggest such trade in NBA history. The restricted free agents appear to be at a standstill, with Cam Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, and Josh Giddey all failing to reach long-term deals.

The buyout market was quite bare and unfruitful, headlined by Deandre Ayton, who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ditto for Marcus Smart. The most recent note is Trae Young's rumored frustration with the lack of progress on his contract extension with the Atlanta Hawks. 

If you count that. 

We have had the schedule release though.

NBA training camps will start near the end of September, marking the official start of the new 2025-26 NBA season.

The Rockets' last major signing was Josh Okogie, and that was in late- July.

Their offseason is officially over, as are most other teams across the league, as I've been pointing out.

CBS Sports compiled an overview of this season's offseason activity and ranked the teams based on three teams: winners, losers, and gray-area teams. The Rockets were listed as winners, making them one of just 10 teams across the league.

The writer's logic is below:

"In one stroke, the Rockets weakened an opponent (the Lakers) and strengthened their own squad by signing Finney-Smith to a four-year, $53 million deal. Big win. Finney-Smith fits any team, especially the Rockets and their two-way identity -- adding to what will remain an elite defense and an offensive attack that is now led by Kevin Durant. 

Houston has also added Capela on a three-year, $21 million deal, providing elite center depth behind Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams. Those are three entirely different big men -- Capela the rim-rolling rim protector, Adams the Goliath rebounder, and Sengun the skilled scoring All-Star. 

That gives them premium lineup versatility with two-big, one-big and even no-big lineups with the super-long group of Durant, Finney-Smith, Smith Jr. (whom they re-signed on a five-year, $122 million deal), Tari Eason and Amen Thompson. 

To summarize, the Rockets basically replaced Green with Durant and Brooks with Finney-Smith, then added Capela on top of it. This was already the West's No. 2 seed and they got significantly better. The Rockets are ready for liftoff. "

It's tough to argue with the reasoning here, as the franchise certainly was one of the more active teams this summer. But not only that, they got better, which is the true gauge.