Where are the Houston Rockets after the offseason?

The Houston Rockets could be in for a better season after going 41-41 last year. While the team hasn’t made huge strides on paper — though the addition of Reed Sheppard could be important — the development of the young core could be enough to propel the Rockets to the playoffs.

Summer League is coming to an end soon, and the difficult days of the NBA offseason are about to arrive. During these difficult days of the offseason, players will be thinking a lot about how the upcoming season will play out.

ESPN recently updated its NBA Power Rankings after the free agent arrivals, sparking those discussions and stirring tensions. The Rockets were ranked 20th in the league in the rankings.

“Which of the talented young players the Rockets have added in the last four drafts fit Houston’s long-term future? That’s a particularly pressing question for Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green,” ESPN wrote. “The Rockets’ top two scorers from last season are eligible for extensions heading into the final season of their rookie contracts. Will they be cornerstones for hard-nosed coach Ime Udoka? If not, they could be in future trade conversations, and the Rockets have shrewdly accumulated draft capital to position themselves for a potential big swing in the trade market.”

This season should be the one where the Rockets begin to find their feet and choose a direction as a franchise. Their decisions aren’t just about whether they want to win now or prepare for the future.

With Green and Sengun, the team will likely maximize one of those players and use them as a cornerstone, given their playstyles and how they differentiate themselves. The offense will likely flow through one of the two players, and how they build the team around each player will be different. It will be interesting to see which route they take in that regard.

The Rockets could even decide to break up the young core and get a star forward to speed up the team’s schedule. Either way, they have draft capital and a young core that will give them plenty of flexibility moving forward.

If they sit back and do nothing, the development of the young core should be enough to take the team beyond the 41-win mark reached last season.

READ MORE: Rockets sign star international forward: What to expect

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