In late May, Kelly Iko of The Athletic reported that veteran guard Eric Gordon appeared likely to reclaim his spot in the Houston Rockets starting lineup for the 2022-23 NBA season.
But there was an important piece of context to that report: At the time, the assumption around the league — and likely in Houston — was that Paolo Banchero would be the draft pick at No. 3 overall in the first round for the Rockets, and thus the projected starter at power forward.
We all know what has happened since then, of course. The Duke product unexpectedly went No. 1 to Orlando, which dropped Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. to the Rockets. While Smith isn’t the shot creator or passer that Banchero is, he’s a better defender and shooter, and that may give the Rockets different needs as they fill out their starting lineup and rotation around the likes of Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., and Alperen Sengun.
