How the Houston Rockets Match Up with Champion OKC Thunder

The Houston Rockets have built themselves into a contender this offseason.

They’ve re-inked rostered players to new deals, done work in free agency to address areas of need, and traded for one of the bigger available fish in Kevin Durant, giving up little in the process. Now, they move into next year in great position to contend for the NBA title.

But generally being a contender isn’t enough in the modern NBA. The league is the best it’s ever been, and it’s more important than ever to fashion teams around de-throning the reigning champions.

The Thunder have set the on-court and team-building standard over the last few seasons, taking down the Indiana Pacers in seven games a short time ago to nab their first title since relocation. But how does Houston stack up against the defending champs?

OKC was offensively led by its MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in scoring. He was unguardable nearly everywhere, getting downhill often, unloading in the mid-range and even improving from three. All in all, he added 32.7 points on 52% in total, putting together one of the better guards seasons we’ve seen in decades.

No team is truly equipped to stop Gilgeous-Alexander, though the Rockets are likely in the best position to limit him with Amen Thompson’s First-Team-level defense. And the team will have other options to throw his way in the pesky Fred VanVleet, as well as Dorian Finney-Smith, Tari Eason and more.

Jalen Williams shared the brunt of the scoring load alongside SGA, going for 21.6 points and joining Thompson on All-Defense to earn an All-Star selection. He may very well be the hardest for Houston to stop with attention on the MVP, but it should still be a well-rounded defensive team.

Thirdly is OKC’s frontcourt, which is among the best and most versatile in the entire league. Chet Holmgren offers a scoring punch with Defensive Player of the Year-type rim protection, and Isaiah Hartenstein backs him up with savvy big play-making and an enforcer-type mentality. 

Houston is likely more prepared for OKC’s interior punch than any other team in the league. It has a now-one-time All-Star in Alperen Sengun, one of the top enforcers and offensive rebounders in the big-bodied Steven Adams, as well as a lengthy lob-threat in Clint Capela for added versatility. The two team’s bigs are different on-paper — and OKC may still possess more talent overall — but in the least Houston has bridged the gap and allowed themselves optionality.

The fourth and final key for the Thunder is its depth, which is made up of countless rotational-level players who offered winning impact down the stretch. The Rockets have done their best in this area, too, building out a bench rotation of Adams, Capela, Finney-Smith, Eason, second-year guard Reed Sheppard, Aaron Holiday, veteran Jeff Green and more.

It remains to be seen whether Houston will have the firepower to dethrone OKC. But the organization has done its best this offseason to build a team its believes capable of just that.