'The Expectations Are Playoffs' for the Houston Rockets in 2024-25

The Houston Rockets haven't made the postseason since James Harden left, but one national media member believes the team has a strong chance to end the drought this season.

Dec 26, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason (17) dunks against the Indiana Pacers / Erik Williams-Imagn Images

After multiple excruciating seasons, the Houston Rockets were finally competitive again last year.

The team won more than 40 games in 2019-20 and defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs, but Houston's success quickly dropped off with Harden's departure. The Rockets won less than 23 games each of the next three seasons, earning multiple high draft picks.

In 2023-24, the culmination of the team's tanking years finally paid off, as Houston won 41 games and showed plenty of promise for such a young squad.

After finishing in the No. 11 spot in the Western Conference last season, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic believes that Houston will take another step forward in 2024-25.

"To me, the Rockets are, pretty simply, what leap do the kids take," Vecenie said. "To me, the expectations are playoffs, like they make the top eight (seeds) this year. ... That, I think is what their reasonable expectation is under Ime Udoka. Steven Adams coming in as the backup center, all of the internal growth potential, Tari Eason hopefully playing a full season."

Led by Udoka, the Rockets have a handful of young players who have showed potential but will need to take another step forward to push Houston over the hump.

Six of the Rockets' top eight scorers from the 2023-24 season were under 22-years-old, meaning the team still has plenty of time to grow and improve together. With another offseason of improvement along with the addition of talented rookie guard Reed Sheppard, Houston should be even better than it showed last year.

In addition to adding Sheppard and Adams and the young players on the roster naturally improving with age and experience, teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors losing key pieces of their core over the summer will give the Rockets a better chance to usurp one of last year's postseason participants.

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