The Houston Rockets will open training camp for their 2026-27 season on Wednesday, and they will do so with a rosterthat looks somewhat different than the one we last saw in May.
According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, formerly an NBA executive, it’s a positive change.
In a story published Monday, Hollinger writes:
The Rockets’ key move was adding Marcus Smart on a two-year, $12.4 million deal, but it symbolized a larger strategic shift after their failures of the previous offseason.
To review, Houston leaned heavily on its interior, overloading the roster with frontcourt players to the point that two of its additions (Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith) soaked up $20 million of cap while hardly playing. Meanwhile, Fred VanVleet’s injury left
the team bereft of guards and shooting. Those weaknesses were brutally magnified in a stinging first-round defeat to the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers.
This time, the Rockets’ roster looks a lot more balanced. Smart was a value addition, even as age has robbed some of his offensive juice. They also traded up in the second round to land another guard in Bruce Thornton, and they took a minimum-salary flier on Bogdan Bogdanović to add some shooting. All those moves should also help lock Amen Thompson (recently extended for five years and $208 million) and Reed Sheppard into more comfortable offensive roles.
Preseason content!!!Kicking things off today with five under-the-radar moves from this offseason that I liked, including one that might really surprise you.www.nytimes.com/athletic/758...
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T14:12:39.077Z
Between the addition of Smart, the return of VanVleet, and any contributions from Thornton and Bogdanović, the hope is that Thompson, 23, and Sheppard, 22, will have more backcourt help around them than they did last season.
General manager Rafael Stone and head coach Ime Udoka will each speak at Tuesday’s media day to preview training camp and the upcoming season. As part of those comments, they will undoubtedly be asked to confirm whether VanVleet is indeed medically cleared for full participation.
If he is, the Rockets should be in a better position with their roster.
Houston is coming off consecutive 52-30 seasons with first-round playoff exits, and expectations are for a deeper run in the 2027 Western Conference playoffs next spring.
Media day is tomorrow. Who are you most looking forward to hearing from and what questions would you like asked? pic.twitter.com/N5jAdJeNUg
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) September 21, 2026
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: As training camp opens, Rockets earn praise for more balanced roster
