CBS Sports Tabs Rockets as Third-Best Team in Western Conference

All throughout the offseason we'd heard about just how good of a team the Houston Rockets were going to be in 2025-26. Houston was an up-and-coming team that came out of nowhere and leaped to second in the Western Conference in 2024-25, nabbing 52 wins in the process.

Just a year before, they weren't even a play-in team. 

The Rockets added Kevin Durant, one of the greatest players the league has ever seen, replacing Jalen Green, who oozed with potential, but also struggled with inconsistency. Houston added size and depth in the summer, signing Clint Capela, Dorian Finney-Smith, and trading for the aforementioned Durant. 

The team was light at the guard spot, but they expected a leap from Reed Sheppard, their third overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. And they had Fred VanVleet, who was fresh off an outerworldly series against the Golden State Warriors, in which he fared better from behind the arc than Stephen Curry, the game's greatest shooter of all-time. 

The Rockets were ready for take off.

Until VanVleet got injured during minicamp, with a season-ending ACL tear.

The timing couldn't have been worse, as the Rockets were just $1.2 million from being hard-capped. 

But according to CBS Sports NBA writer Sam Quinn, the Rockets could still finish third in the West despite VanVleet's absence.

"The loss of Fred VanVleet is significant, but Reed Sheppard had a strong preseason, and it was time to hand control over more of the offense to the combination of Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun anyway.

It can't be overstated how significant the addition of Kevin Durant is to this specific team. At his age, he can't lead an offense anymore, but he's exactly the sort of super hyper-athletic driver and crafty post scorer they need. 

Only the Thunder have more defensive depth, and the addition of Clint Capela eases the pressure on Steven Adams to play every night, which means quite a bit considering how important he became last season. 

Yes, they're a guard short right now, but they can use the VanVleet contract to correct that if they need to. Virtually everything else in this organization is on point. They're the clear No. 3 in the Western Conference to me."

In the Rockets' opening day match against the Oklahoma City Thunder, they went toe-to-toe and basket for basket with the defending champs, taking them to double overtime 

Houston lost the game, but in large part due to untimely errors. Not to mention dismal play from Sheppard and Tari Eason.

But again, it was the defending champs, who are picked to win the title again this season. 

A third-place finish seems reasonable for Houston, but they'll definitely have to get more out of Sheppard and Eason.