Who Are The Rockets' New Leaders?

The Houston Rockets' front office recognized its need for veteran leadership while attempting to complete its rebuild and regain relevance in the NBA landscape. To address it, they added veteran voices Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to join Ime Udoka as the team's leading personalities. The young players lined up with the winning principles being coached and demonstrated by example from the veterans. Now that Brooks is gone, the Rockets may be looking for a player to fill that void left behind.

Houston likely won't be getting the same level of leadership from its newly acquired players this season, despite its focus on acquiring veteran players.

Kevin Durant is known for his ability to lead by example. Young players usually take note of his incredible work habits and his commitment to taking practice as seriously as he does live games. Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Jabari Smith Jr. could benefit from watching how Durant prepares for games during practice, and they may gain a new mentality based on what they pick up from him.

However, Durant isn't always the most vocal leader, and certainly not to the same extent as Brooks. A secondary voice to echo Udoka's principles and mission may not be Durant's voice.

Durant hasn't been on a team with such young core players, so he could take more of a vocal leadership role this season. But throughout his career, he has been known to lead by example and display a work ethic young players can benefit from viewing.

The best-case scenario for the Rockets would be if one of the young players could grow into one of the missing voices for the team.

Thompson could become a candidate as he grows more comfortable in his role throughout the season. The Rockets will ask him to do a lot on both ends, potentially opening the way for him to become a more vocal leader in the locker room. His personality isn't as expressive as his former teammate Brooks', but he could still see his presence on the team increase as one of the team's top young players.

Sengun will always be one of the team's leaders on the court, and he's generally a well-liked player by his teammates. The Rockets may also count on him to take more of a leadership role next season, especially after a solid performance in last year's postseason that saw the Rockets make it one game away from getting past the first round of the postseason.

The Rockets may not have a clear replacement for Brooks' leadership next season as the team adjusts to new voices on the team. Houston hopes one of their current players can grow to have the same level of influence eventually.