Rockets’ offseason moves show the time for patience is coming to an end

The 2025-26 Houston Rockets needed time to figure it out. The addition of Kevin Durant last summer to a team fresh off a 52-win season brought expectations of a deep run in the Western Conference playoffs.

But Durant was heading into his first season with a new team and two unconventional co-stars (Alperen Şengün and Amen Thompson). Houston’s veteran point guard, Fred VanVleet, tore his ACL just before the start of training camp. With VanVleet out, the Rockets were forced to ask Thompson and second-year guard Reed Sheppard to assume the primary point guard duties for the first time in their respective careers.

Even accounting for those factors, the Rockets still walked away at the end of the season feeling they had underachieved. General manager Rafael Stone said winning 52 games for the second consecutive season wasn’t enough. Losing in the first round was inexcusable. In his end-of-season news conference, Stone described the year as “frustrating and disappointing.”

For that reason, the 2026-27 Rockets will no longer have the luxury of time on their side.

Although Houston has been relatively quiet during the first few days of free agency, the two players they have reportedly agreed to new deals with (Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanović) both send the same message:

The time for patience is over. They have seven players on the roster who are at least 32 years old, led by Durant, who will be 38 when next season begins.

Of course, having someone that experienced as the face of the franchise means execution and production will usually take precedence over growth and development. But last season, Houston tried to straddle the fence and achieve two goals at once.

Winning was the priority, but giving Thompson and Sheppard opportunities to learn on the fly was necessary for the team’s present and future success. Some of those mistakes came at the worst possible times, such as Sheppard’s turnover late in Houston’s Game 4 meltdown against the Los Angeles Lakers — a lowlight that will follow him for the foreseeable future.

With the addition of Smart and the expected return of VanVleet, Houston wants a more grown-up feel among its main ballhandlers this season. Those stagnant possessions and sloppy turnovers at the end of games can no longer be such constant issues that need to be addressed.

And if VanVleet isn’t ready to start the season or if he struggles to stay on the court, Smart gives them a veteran who’s prepared to pick up the slack. He also gives the Rockets a backup plan if they choose to use VanVleet and his $25 million expiring salary as a trade chip.

Houston’s decision to select former Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton with the No. 31 pick in this year’s draft also makes moving on from VanVleet more feasible if he can’t return to his pre-injury form. It also shows Sheppard had better be ready for the bright lights, or he could get left behind.

The time for patience is over.

Smart isn’t the only one who’s going to put pressure on the guys ahead of him on the depth chart.

Head coach Ime Udoka mentioned several times after the Rockets were bounced from the playoffs that adding more shooting to the lineup would be a crucial part of the team’s offseason plan. The Rockets were 28th in the league in 3-point attempts per game last season.

While Bogdanović didn’t have much of a role with the LA Clippers last season, he’s a proven knockdown shooter who teams have to respect if he’s left open on the perimeter.

There were too many occasions last season when Udoka allowed lineups featuring Josh Okogie, Tari Eason or Dorian Finney-Smith to ruin the spacing or disrupt the flow on offense because they were bricking open shots.

Now, if guys are missing shots, Bogdanović provides a much more reliable option to keep opposing defenses honest. There won’t be any more extended stretches this season with guys like Jae’Sean Tate or Finney-Smith on the floor just taking up space.

The approach and urgency around this team will be very different from last season. And that doesn’t end with just the players.

The lack of patience with late-game blunders and poor clock management also falls on Udoka’s shoulders. His feet will be held to the fire if Houston fails to show considerable progress early in the season with their offensive execution and cohesion as a group.

Although Udoka signed a lucrative extension last summer that is supposed to link him with the Rockets for the foreseeable future, the rumblings about his lack of creativity on offense or his reluctance to experiment with his rotations will only get louder if his team doesn’t look ready to make a jump early next year.

The time to win is now.

That also means Stone has to meet the moment with his aggression to improve the roster when the time calls. He has resisted the urge to throw his hat into the ring for some of the big-name trade candidates who have become available, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown or Kawhi Leonard.

Stone’s commitment to seeing things through with the young core he’s assembled is understandable and even somewhat admirable.

However, if Houston gets off to another rocky start, there will be calls for Stone to do something drastic to shake things up, or he’ll be the next target of the fanbase’s vitriol.

The most obvious trade chip left on the roster is Finney-Smith, who is set to make $13.3 million on a deal with two more non-guaranteed years after this one. Attaching a first-round pick or two to Finney-Smith’s deal could probably fetch Stone some even more help in the rotation.

Stone has been wise enough to wait things out and see if the right deal can become available rather than pushing all his chips in now.

However, if his faith in this group isn’t rewarded, he’ll almost certainly get second-guessed for not being more aggressive in pursuing big-name upgrades such as Antetokounmpo, Brown and Leonard when they became available.

Stone has been calculated and methodical in all the moves he’s made over the past few years to maximize his assets and build a young core that rivals anyone else’s in the league, with players 25 or younger.

The pressure to figure it out with this group and win now hangs over Stone just as much as anyone else this season.

It is quite jarring how quickly a team like the Rockets can go from the young overachievers in the 2025 playoffs to a team that’s in danger of becoming stale and falling behind the pack only two years later.

Life comes at you fast in the Western Conference, especially if you have an aging star who quietly could hit unrestricted free agency a year from now (it’s already time to start thinking about Durant and whether he’ll still be in Houston beyond this season).

Signing Smart and Bogdanović won’t get as much attention as some of the significant trades that have highlighted the start of free agency over the past few days.

Still, those signings indicate that the Rockets are choosing a distinct path and prioritizing veterans who can help them reach their goal of being more than just the team that gets bounced in the first round every season.

There’s a certain clarity that comes with pushing the chips in this way and working toward a goal that everyone agrees upon. However, there’s also a clear understanding of what comes next if those goals aren’t met.