How Houston Rockets are Bringing Back Importance of Center Position

Over the last decade, the NBA has undergone a dramatic transformation. Gone were the days of a traditional power forward and, at times, center. Teams started to transition away from prioritizing dominant big men who operated in the post for a more perimeter-based offense.

The Houston Rockets were at the forefront of this new movement. They, along with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, ushered in the 3-point revolution in the NBA. In the 2010-11 season, the team with the highest number of 3-point attempts per game was the Orlando Magic, at 25.6 attempts per game. Fast forward to the 2017-18 season, when the Rockets won a franchise-best 65 games, leading the league with over 42 attempts per game.

That was an NBA record at the time, but it was only the beginning. Last season, the Boston Celtics led the league at a whopping 48.2 3-point attempts per game. The team ranked last in 3-point attempts. The Denver Nuggets averaged 31.9, which is still six more than the Magic averaged 15 seasons ago, a figure that led the league.

The Rockets, as mentioned earlier, were at the forefront of the 3-point movement. Just as they helped change the way teams play offense a decade ago, they are changing the basketball landscape again, this time bringing back the importance of the center position.

The Rockets started last season, for the most part, running a traditional lineup. The previous season, the Rockets traded for Steven Adams before the trade deadline, knowing he would be out for the remainder of the season, with the hope that he could make an impact in 2024-25. The Rockets slowly brought Adams along as he sat out a good part of the first few months.

Adams' impact was minimal during that time, but all that changed with an early February game against the Dallas Mavericks. That game marked the first appearance of Anthony Davis, who was part of the shocking trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Davis dominated the Rockets in the first half, as he was all over the court and helped the Mavericks establish a big lead to start the game. The second half, however, was a different story, as Ime Udoka made an adjustment that would go on to play a significant role in the Rockets' success for the remainder of the season. Udoka, who had experimented with the double-big lineup throughout the season, although in a tiny sample size, decided to play Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun together.

Even though the Rockets' comeback came up short, the pairing of Sengun and Adams was the main reason the Rockets even had a chance late in the game. The double-big lineup would go on to become one of the Rockets' best lineups, as teams were not accustomed to having two centers on the court at the same time.

With Adams dominating on the boards as he has throughout his entire career, it opens up the lane for Alperen Sengun, as teams send two, sometimes three, players to box out Adams to keep him off the offensive boards. The Sengun and Adams pairing took center stage in the Rockets ' first-round matchup with the Golden State Warriors.

That lineup was the main reason the Rockets were able to come back from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game 7, as the Warriors had no answer for Adams and did not have the personnel to match the Rockets' big lineup.

Even though the Rockets would go on to lose Game 7, they had proved that a two-center lineup could not only work but also thrive. The Rockets went from 12th in 3-point attempts in the 2023-24 season to 20th last season, as they leaned more heavily into the double-big lineup throughout the season. The Rockets had their best rebounding season in 50-plus seasons because of how dominant Adams and Sengun were on the court together.

The Rockets believe in that lineup so much that they signed Clint Capela to be the third center. Usually, teams do not go three centers deep in the modern NBA game, but the Rockets reportedly will stagger Capela and Adams and continue to run out the double-big lineup. Kelly Iko of The Athletic recently reported that other teams around the league have taken note and will start to implement it into their lineups. Teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, who at times played Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, have already started to embrace this style of basketball.

Teams were inching closer and closer to possibly averaging 50 or more 3-pointers a game, something that would have been unheard of 15 years ago, but with the Rockets' recent success and moves this offseason, you may see the trend start to reverse, and you can thank the Rockets for that.