The Houston Rockets are in the early stages of what could be a highly eventful 2026 offseason for the future direction of the franchise. The Rockets are coming off an ugly first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, a series in which Kevin Durant missed five of the six games.
Recently, Jake Fischer made a surprising report that the Rockets will not be among teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Brooklyn Nets, and Detroit Pistons in search of off-the-dribble playmaking this offseason.
“…the Rockets are said to be quite optimistic about how much they will benefit from Fred VanVleet’s return to the floor next season,” reported Fischer on Marc Stein’s Substack.
The Rockets certainly would have benefited from having VanVleet’s steady veteran presence at the controls during their playoff series against the Lakers, although it seems unlikely that he alone would be enough to get Houston into true contender status in the Western Conference, considering how bad the Rockets looked during most of the series against Los Angeles.
Reed Sheppard largely struggled in the second playoff series of his career, turning the ball over in a crucial moment down the stretch of Game 3 and largely seeing his jumper abandon him in the postseason, which led to further angst among the fanbase after seeing how Stephon Castle, who was picked on spot behind Sheppard in the 2024 NBA Draft, performed during his NBA Finals run with the San Antonio Spurs.
Still, for now, it seems that the Rockets are content to make smaller moves around the margins this summer rather than swinging for the fences.
The Rockets will now look ahead to the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, which is slated to get underway on June 23.
The post Rockets rumors: What Houston isn’t targeting this offseason despite playoff disaster appeared first on ClutchPoints.
