The Houston Rockets have clearly prioritized backup center depth this offseason, underscored by recent additions Willie Cauley-Stein (still not official) and Bruno Fernando. With second-year prospect Alperen Sengun entering his first season as a starter and coming off fouling difficulties as a rookie, depth is a priority. Training camp should be competitive, with multiple options jostling for minutes.
But when Houston inevitably trims its 2022-23 roster at the end of the preseason from the NBA’s 20-man offseason limit to 15 for the regular season (plus two two-way players), one name behind Sengun already appears somewhat secure in his roster status.
In his latest newsletter, veteran NBA scribe Marc Stein reports:
League sources say that the Rockets, as it stands, are still operating under the belief that Boban Marjanović has a place on their opening night roster despite an apparent frontcourt logjam. Alperen Şengün is projected to start at center for Houston, leaving Bruno Fernando and the recently signed Willie Cauley-Stein to scrap for reserve minutes alongside Marjanović.
Marjanović was acquired by the Rockets in the June trade that sent prior starting center Christian Wood to Dallas.
A 7-foot-3, 290-pound traditional post presence, Marjanović has averaged 5.9 points (57.4% FG) per game and 3.8 rebounds in 9.2 minutes over his NBA career. Now 34 years old, the massive Serbian center has played in only select matchups for most of his teams, typically when size and bulk are seen as an asset due to the opponent. When facing teams with more quickness and shooting in the frontcourt, Marjanović’s relative lack of athleticism and fluidity can be problematic for his own team on defense.
Yet, part of the value equation with Marjanović goes beyond on-court production, with many of his past teams citing intangible factors that make him important to team chemistry. That could be important for a young, impressionable squad like these Rockets.
So, once Houston opens its training camp in late September, the dynamic could be a bit unusual for players such as Cauley-Stein and Fernando. On most nights, minutes at backup center will truly be there for the taking, since Marjanović isn’t likely to be a consistent rotation player. Yet, for reasons that go beyond nightly on-court production and statistics, Marjanović appears poised to still take one of those 15 roster spots for standard contracts. In addition, the Rockets are very unlikely to keep three center-only backups on their final roster, particularly if none are seen as having high long-term upside.
If Marjanović sticks, Cauley-Stein and Fernando should have a real chance (along with second-year prospect Usman Garuba) to earn rotation minutes as Houston’s backup center. But the loser(s) of that race — excluding Garuba, since he was a 2021 first-round pick — isn’t likely to have a fallback option at the end of the bench. The probable outcome is a release due to in-season roster constraints.
Keeping Marjanović is the first of many dominoes. Stay tuned!
