NBA Power Rankings: Where Are Rockets Going Into Season?

The Houston Rockets begin their season today. Where does that put them in the NBA power rankings?

Jeremy Brener | Oct 23, 2024

Oct 17, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) drives against San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) in the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

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Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets face off tonight against the Charlotte Hornets in the season opener, and there's a lot of expectations surrounding the team going into the year.

Bleacher Report writer Andy Bailey ranked all 30 NBA teams before the season, and the Rockets came in at No. 19.

"Alperen Şengün had a very real All-Star case for much of the early portion of 2023-24 as a playmaking big. Jalen Green looked like a dynamic scorer over the later months of the season. Jabari Smith Jr. has shown potential to be a high-impact, three-and-D forward (who can even play some small-ball 5)," Bailey writes. "Moderate improvement from those three, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore will make it hard to keep the Rockets out of the play-in tournament. If incoming rookie sharpshooter Reed Sheppard is good enough to force his way into the rotation (and maybe even the starting five by January or February), the play-in might start to look like the floor."

The only teams that ranked behind the Rockets were the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards.

The Rockets will look at this baseline to start the season, but they are only looking at moving forward and proving their critics wrong.

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Published Oct 23, 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.