Rockets Given Fourth-Best Title Odds in Bleacher Report's Latest Power Rankings

The Houston Rockets made it clear that they weren't satisfied with their better-than-expected 2024-25 campaign. And rightfully so.

Sure, on the one hand, they won 52 games and finished second-best in the Western Conference. That's the good.

On the other hand, the Rockets were a first-round flameout, falling to the Golden State Warriors, who had a lower seed than them. The Rockets recognized their biggest problem: consistent offense.

So Houston went out and added one of best bucket-getters in the league in Kevin Durant, while adding more defensive reinforcements, by way of Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith. The latter of which is still hobbled by a leg injury suffered two years ago.

Finney-Smith is a very good 3-and-D player that Houston was banking on to help soften the blow of losing Dillon Brooks. It's unclear, however, how much time he'll miss.

The Western Conference is loaded, per usual. But the Oklahoma City Thunder should be everyone's favorite to repeat as champions once more.

For the simple fact that they didn't lose anyone from their championship team. But realistically, where do the Rockets fall, in terms of title odds?

According to Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey, the Rockets are the fourth-most likely to win a title this season, behind the Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Bailey ranks Houston's title odds as a +1600 and explained his rationale.

"The loss of Fred VanVleet to a torn ACL is undoubtedly a huge deal. During his two seasons with the Houston Rockets, the team is plus-4.2 points per 100 possessions when he is on the floor and minus-0.2 when he's off.

This team is uniquely built to survive his absence. It might even make the roster better in the long run.

Amen Thompson and/or Reed Sheppard will now get a lot more developmental reps as the primary creator. And the stars in the lineup should really flatten out their respective learning curves.

Kevin Durant and Alperen Şengün are both capable of handling plenty of playmaking responsibility. They'll command a lot of defensive attention too, which should give Thompson and Sheppard a little extra space while they're learning on the fly."

The loss of Fred VanVleet will definitely hurt. It didn't make it better that the injury happened so late in the offseason, as Houston didn't have a roster spot or cap space to help fill his void.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka noted that Houston will utilize a hodgepodge of players to replace VanVleet's ballhandling and playmaking. Sheppard will have a much bigger role than anticipated, even though he was predicted to have a big year before the injury to VanVleet. 

The Rockets are going to play tenacious defense -- that's been their identity. They're also going to play an upsized lineup quite a bit, due to their length.

And they have stars on the roster in Durant and Sengun, not to mention Amen Thompson, who is clearly on the rise.

They can still contend for a title, despite the setback to VanVleet.