The Rockets didn’t land all three of their preferred veteran targets entering 2023 free agency. Big man Brook Lopez spurned them at the last moment to re-sign with Milwaukee.
But they added a new starting point guard, Fred VanVleet, and a gritty, hard-nosed defensive wing, Dillon Brooks. That’s a strong starting point as new head coach Ime Udoka looks to take Houston’s young roster to the next phase of its ongoing rebuild.
General manager Rafael Stone also added depth on the interior behind third-year center Alperen Sengun. Jock Landale and Jeff Green offer steady hands and in Green’s case a veteran voice.
On Monday’s episode of NBA Today on ESPN, current league analysts and former NBA players Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins offered rave reviews to Houston’s 2023 offseason to date.
Among Jefferson’s comments:
You need a Dillon Brooks on your team. While he made some mistakes, I think it was a failure of leadership in the Memphis organization. A lack of veterans and leadership in that organization, and it wasn’t just with him. We saw it with other players, and these are just the things that we knew about.
I want Dillon Brooks’ competitiveness, and I do believe Ime Udoka will get rid of some of the fluff. I love this. I think this team is play-in, at worst. They’re going to be battling for those playoff spots.
Perkins responded:
They needed adults in the room, and they will battle every single night. They will get into the play-in tournament. This team needed culture, and they’ve got culture. This is a great starting point.
It was actually Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant that put Memphis on the map, when we first recognized them as one of the young up-and-coming teams.
“I also like the Jeff Green signing at one-year, $6-million,” fellow ESPN panelist Ramona Shelburne said. “Denver, I think they never moved off a minimum (salary) for him. I think that’s a loss for Denver, and a real pickup there for the Houston Rockets. Because when you talk about adults in the room, enter Uncle Jeff.”
The complete segment can be viewed below.
