Houston Rockets: Biggest Wildcards for 2025-2026

As transaction-heavy portion of the offseason comes to a close, the Rockets have a good idea of what their roster looks like heading into their highly anticipated 2025-2026 season. By adding Kevin Durant and Clint Capela to a young, talented and hungry core of players like Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun, Houston has showed it's desire to officially enter the championship picture.

When it comes down to who the Rockets are, there's aspects that are near guarantees – such as Durant to average at least 20 points per game, or the Rockets to be near the top of the league in rebounds per game. However, there's still unsolved pieces to the puzzle that could have a major impact on the team's floor and ceiling next year.

Here's two of the Rockets' biggest wildcards for next season.

1. Reed Sheppards Shooting

Despite being taken with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Sheppard struggled to find his footing with the Rockets last season. He averaged a disappointing 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game shooting just 35.1 percent from the field, and 33.8 percent from 3-point range. By February, veteran guard Aaron Holiday had taken the primary backup point guard spot from Sheppard, and signifigantly outperformed him, shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from deep.

Both Holiday and Sheppard are returning to the backcourt rotation next season, but the organization is expecting big strides from Sheppard, with hopes of him taking the reigns of the backup spot. In his two Summer League performances, Sheppard racked up 11 stocks – looking elite defensively. However, his shooting remained poor, finishing with 36.4 / 31.8 / 70 shooting splits.

Offensive growing pains are common for young guards, so the door can't be completely closed on Sheppard just yet. He's got potential to play a major role for Houston next season if his offense returns closer to how he looked at Kentucky. However, if Sheppard's shooting struggles continue into his sophomore season, the Rockets may have to rely on Holiday once more.

2. Jabari Smith Jr.'s shot creation

Many have pointed out that even after the addition of Durant, the Rockets are still lacking in the creation department – with almost all of the weight still falling on the 15 time All-Star and Sengun. When it comes to Rockets who've shown ability to generate and hit jumpshots off-dribble at a high volume, it's down to Fred VanVleet and Smith Jr.

As VanVleet ages and potentially begins to regress, Smith could play a more important role than ever. Last season, 27.4 percent of his made field goals were unassisted, but that dropped to a frightening zero in the playoffs. It's apparent that with his height and handle, Smith has shown flashes of becoming a unique scoring forward – one that the Rockets might need come playoff time.

Perhaps Durant can help Smith unlock that aspect of his game through mentoring, seeing similarities between the versatile forwards. If he can, the Rockets may have their third big-time scorer next to Durant and Sengun, but if not, Smith may be relegated to the role of another 3-and-D wing in the Rockets vast collection.