Hanifan's Offseason Outlook: Evaluating the Houston Rockets' 2024 offseason

Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! Today, we are looking back on the Houston Rockets’ offseason!

Previous Offseason Outlooks:

********************************************

(Editor’s note: We don’t have A.J. Griffin in the additions section because he is “seriously considering” stepping away from basketball. Hope everything with him and his family is well!)

Additions: None.

Subtractions: Reggie Bullock, Boban Marjanovic

Re-signed: Aaron Holiday, Jermaine Samuels, Nathaniel Hinton, Nate Williams Jr.,

Draft: Reed Sheppard (No. 3 overall)

Hanifan’s Take: After swinging moves for Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks while hiring head coach Ime Udoka last summer, the Rockets improved by 19 wins (22 to 41). They were just short of a play-in bid, but the foundation was laid. This offseason, however, was far more timid. Their biggest non-draft move was re-signing backup guard Aaron Holiday to a two-year, $9.6 million contract with a team option for next season. Houston is still below the luxury tax and is $11.6 million away from the first apron plus $22.4 million from the second apron. Only two players on their books (VanVleet, Brooks) make north of $13 million, with eight players making between $7-13 million. They have stockpiled draft capital if they want to swing for the fences in February or next offseason. I also think that Sheppard could be a legit Day 1 contributor, despite the VanVleet-Sheppard backcourt being small (on paper for 2024-25). I’m intrigued to see how Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson continue to ascend, plus I can’t wait for Tari Eason’s return after injuries plagued his 2023-24 season. There isn’t much to take away from this specific offseason, but there’s plenty to look forward to next season.