Houston Rockets Face 'Most Challenging' Offseason in New Era

The Houston Rockets must find ways to improve from their 41-41 campaign.

Jeremy Brener | Apr 15, 2024

Apr 14, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) controls the / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are beginning their offseason on Monday after beating the LA Clippers in the season's final game to achieve a 41-41 record for the year.

The team won 19 more games than the previous year, a sign that things are moving in the right direction. However, they aren't satisfied and more work needs to be done if the team wishes to make the postseason next year. In fact, anything less than a postseason berth would be underachieving for the Rockets.

That's part of the reason why ESPN's Bobby Marks claims that this is going to be the most challenging offseason for general manager Rafael Stone since he took over in 2020.

Apr 14, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) shoots against the / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

"The 2024 offseason will be the most challenging for general manager Rafael Stone, because Stone now has the daunting task of taking a competitive roster and transforming it into a play-in and eventual top-six team in the Western Conference," ESPN writes.

Stone had a lot to work with in previous years with high draft picks and cap space, but this year will be slightly different. The Rockets will have a high pick from the Brooklyn Nets, but it's likely to fall in the back half of the lottery in what is one of the historically weakest draft classes in NBA history.

The team also isn't able to sign too many big names like it did last year. The time for splashes was a year ago, and now the team simply has to get better around each other. So, Stone is going to need to find a way to upgrade the roster without making much external change.

That's why it's ultimately going to come down to the players on the roster to improve on their own, because the core is set, and it's ready to make the playoffs a year from now. But they have to put the work in on their own in order to ensure that happens.

Published Apr 15, 2024

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.