How Could The Rockets Become The West's Best Team?

The Houston Rockets are entering a critical season as they have their best collection of talent of the decade so far. However, the Rockets are becoming a strong team in an era with several other top teams in the conference. Houston has much to prove before it can claim to be one of the West's best teams.

To do so, the Rockets will need all of their new additions and returning players to simultaneously have their best possible seasons.

For a player like Kevin Durant, the Rockets don't need him to play at the level of his MVP season, but everyone else on the team must have impactful seasons for the Rockets to have a chance against some of the NBA's other top teams.

This means Alperen Sengun must repeat as an All-Star caliber player.

It may be a while before he could be in consideration to be an All-Star starter, but he must at least work his way into becoming a reserve after notching his first All-Star team last season.

Amen Thompson should be right behind him if his reported offseason work comes to fruition. He has the most athletic upside on the team, and he has already figured out how to weaponize his natural gifts on the defensive end. His selection to the First-Team All-Defensive squad is proof of his defensive excellence.

However, the Rockets will need more consistent offense from Thompson next season, and he may need to assist with playmaking duties as well. These are new roles for Thompson, and he won't have much time to figure things out.

If Thompson struggles to step into that role, it's likely Reed Sheppard will get the opportunity in his stead.

Sheppard was drafted with the highest point guard potential on the team, displaying high levels of passing and scoring throughout his collegiate career. With the injury to Fred VanVleet, Sheppard may be on the fast track to be in the starting lineup sooner than previously thought.

However, every player must play high-effort defense on an Ime Udoka-led team. Sheppard's main negative last season was his deficiencies on defense. Size isn't an excuse, as VanVleet was a serviceable defender for most matchups outside of clear mismatches.

Dorian Finney-Smith, Tari Eason, and Jabari Smith Jr. must have impactful seasons contributing to the defense, while also hitting timely shots with their unique skill sets. They'll all need to shoot the ball well from outside, but Smith Jr. could include more high post shots, Eason more drives from the dunker spot while Finney-Smith spaces the floor for all of these actions.

A strong year for the Rockets gives them the best chance, but they would also need some other top teams to underachieve somewhat for them to have a true chance.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a historic team last season, beating teams in blowouts for much of the season. The Thunder would need their shooting to stay elite, continue being aggressive defensively, and continue their team playmaking. The latter two are the most likely to carry over, but shooting is a variable that may not be consistent year-to-year.

Teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets still have some of the NBA's top players, and new-look teams that have more expectations this year than last season. The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are entering with high expectations as well.

It won't be an easy task to overtake these teams in the West. However, the Rockets may have the firepower to do so, they'll just need some strong performances and potentially some misfortune for other teams' performances.