Dillon Brooks Became Houston Rockets' Best 3-Point Shooter This Season

When the Houston Rockets decided it was time to move on from their three-year rebuilding plan, they knew there would have to be some major changes. The Rockets started that process by not renewing the contract of Stephen Silas and hiring former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.

The Rockets also knew they had to bring in more veteran leadership. The Rockets signed two more prominent names on the free agent market, Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. VanVleet spent his entire career with the Toronto Raptors and won a championship in the 2019 season. Brooks spent his whole career up until that point with the Memphis Grizzlies.

When the news came down that the Rockets signed the two veterans, it was met with mostly disdain and questions of why the Rockets would spend that much money on VanVleet and Brooks. The amount of VanVleet's contract was the main complaint when it came to his signing, not necessarily that he wasn't a good overall player.

When it came to Brooks, not only were the Rockets criticized for his four-year, $80 million guaranteed contract, but they were also criticized because some believed Brooks wasn't even good enough to be in the NBA at that point. Brooks was coming off a disappointing playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he made headlines for his back-and-forth with LeBron James.

In that playoff series, Brooks only shot 23.8% from 3-point range, and the Grizzlies were knocked out of the playoffs in six games. The Rockets, however, felt that Brooks was precisely the type of player they needed to help get back to winning basketball.

In Brooks' first season with the Rockets, he got off to a hot start from beyond the arc as he became a reliable shooter from the outside. Even though his shooting would come back to earth to end the season, he still had his best 3-point shooting season since the 2018-19 season. Brooks helped the Rockets improve by 19 games in the 2023-24 season.

Brooks has been even better in 2024-25 on the offensive end as he increased his points per game from the previous season and has been aggressive on that end of the court all season. Brooks has really stood out from the 3-point line.

Brooks finished the season with career highs in minutes per game, effective field goal percentage, and probably most importantly, 3-point percentage. Brooks has been the Rockets' best shooter from downtown all season and finished shooting a career-high 39.7% from beyond the arc.

Brooks' shooting was one of the main reasons the Rockets finished with 52 wins and are the second seed heading into their first playoff series in five years. Brooks' defense and, of course, shooting will be needed no matter who the opponent will be in the first round if the Rockets want to advance.