Stephen Silas 'encouraged' by young Rockets' 2020-21 season

Rockets coach Stephen Silas dealt with a pandemic and frequent roster churn during his inaugural season as an NBA head coach. Kelly Iko of The Athletic details how Silas handled coaching a team that suddenly found itself rebuilding with the 2020-21 season underway, and what he’s expecting out of the club moving forward.

“I’m definitely encouraged,” Silas said of the team’s future prospects. “It was a tough year for sure but going into next year I’ll be a better coach than when I first came in the door. We’ll have dealt with a lot of things that I haven’t dealt with before. To be discouraged isn’t even in the realm of things.”

Silas intends to utilize standout young guard Kevin Porter Jr. more at the point next season. Silas appears excited to explore the abilities of center Christian Wood, who looked promising when healthy during the first season of a three-year, $41M contract he inked in the 2020 offseason.

There’s more out of Houston:

• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle takes a look at what could be a productive offseason for the Rockets. Feigen appears optimistic that Kevin Porter Jr., and rookies Kenyon Martin Jr. and Jae’Sean Tate could serve as intriguing players if they continue to develop along the trajectory that Houston management is anticipating.
• Rockets team president Rafael Stone discussed the team’s ongoing rebuild and its offseason, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. It appears Stone is opening to trading future draft equity if it can yield team improvement. “For sure, draft picks are at least as valuable as trade assets as they are as picks,” Stone said, though he tempered that note by painting a long-term perspective. “We’re really committed to building something to give us a chance to win a championship. We’re not packaging a bunch of picks to barely make the playoffs for a year or two, not at all. We’re trying to build something sustainable and with players that will be good now and great later.” 
• The Rockets have promoted Gretchen Sheirr as their new president of business operations, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Sheirr will enter her 21st season with the club next season, having started as an account executive before eventually becoming the team’s CRO, then COO.