Heading into a contract year, this is all Malik Monk's team now. After 8 seasons being led by a KAT/Monk duo, Towns was traded to Orlando for Bam Adebayo, a future Philly 1st, and three 2029 picks that yielded rookies MJ Walker, Jalen Johnson, and Nathan Knight. The Rockets also drafted Devin Davis (after a minor draft day trade with NY) and Cyrille Eliezer-Vanerot, made a very minor trade swapping sophomore 2nd rounders with Atlanta (receiving Grant Riller for Nahziah Carter), and re-signed Derrick White, Eric Paschall, and Mamadou N'Diaye. Most recently, the Rockets made a simply 1 for 1 swap with Denver, dealing Khris Middleton for Eric Mika.
Where does leave Houston? Between two timelines, but way more flexible than before. There are plenty of developed veterans able to help the Rockets win now, between Monk, Winslow, Mika, Adebayo, and White, but they are now backed by an inexperienced mob of young talent.
The dynamic of the team is now very different without KAT. Monk and KAT were the only double-figure scorers that played all of last season for Houston. Paschall played 45 games at 12ppg. Middleton played 24 games at 11ppg and is also gone. That means it all revolves around Malik Monk now, more than ever before. Surrounding him are an army of versatile weapons who can shoot, defend, many can pass, but few are going to efficiently create their own offense on this team. None of them were good at graphic design, so we went with this abomination to illustrate it:
Aside from a few specialists around the edges- shooters in Bey and CEV, slashers in Nathan Knight (whose abbreviation is NN because I'm a moron) and Riller, and defense/board man Mamadou N'Diaye, this is a team of players who do a lot of different things on the court. As the rookies MJ Walker and Jalen Johnson work on their game, we expect to see them right in the middle, where perfect complementary players land. If Eric Mika could finish better inside he'd be right there too. Those three embody what the Rockets want in their supporting cast around Malik Monk.
PG
Malik Monk - probably the only player on the entire roster aside from Winslow that is going to play full starter minutes every night. His volume scoring has never been needed more. The ball will be in his hands, he'll be scoring from all over the floor, not just from 3, and he's going to be asked to do quite a bit of playmaking too. There will be some Greeeegggg Jennings moments, hopefully without the injury.
Derrick White - he'll play the minutes Monk doesn't, and maybe a few more. He's here to keep things in order on both ends. White averaged an efficient 7.7ppg/5.5apg/1.2spg and real quality defense in his time with Houston last season, expect more of the same.
SG
Justise Winslow - the league's best defender without a DPOY award survived a fair amount of trade talk this summer and returns for his 7th year with Houston. His scoring fell off a cliff, resulting in a significant role shift, but he's arguably better than ever defensively, now clamping ball handlers instead of bigs.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman - a phenomenal shooter with some great passing vision looking to make a name for himself, Rahkman will likely see an increased role this season.
Grant Riller - a slasher without a conscience, who has played just 6 career games between two teams. Likely a spot minutes guy, but could very well carve a role out for himself here.
Cyrille Eliezer-Vanerot - kind of a project 3&D guy who hasn't quite figured out defense yet, but has the tools to get there. He's on a two-way deal so not likely to play unless he's converted.
SF
MJ Walker - we're entrusting our two lotto picks from the KAT trade with good minutes from day one. Walker is a shooter from all over, plays quality defense, can make some good passes, and is everything we want out of a rotation SF.
Jordan Nwora - a firecracker of a scorer, who will enjoy a longer leash in his third CSL season. The Rockets paid a late lottery pick for his services and a later 1st, so we're excited to see what we've got.
Saddiq Bey - a truly terrific shooter, who unfortunately just wasn't able to find any kind of meaningful touches in last season's offense. Was the offense just bad or does he have PJ Hairston Syndrome?
PF
Jalen Johnson - definitely a project, but a highly tantalizing one with a world of upside on both ends of the floor. The Rockets are willing to let him play through his mistakes, noting that his nose for the ball on defense and the glass will only help.
Devin Davis - another rookie. Davis might actually wind up starting as he's further along in his development, particularly as a rebounder and inside shooter, but he does not present the same amount of upside.
Eric Paschall - was actually the Rockets third leading scorer last year shooting well from all levels (though 3PA were limited). His role takes a backseat, but he'll see regular minutes.
C
Bam Adebayo - probably the most likely player to be traded this season, despite being the clear 3rd best player on this roster. Bam is a monster rebounder, nice rim protector, and good finisher at the rim. A pretty good candidate to be the Rockets' 2nd leading scorer and put up similar numbers to his Orlando stint averaging 16/10/2 on 52%.
Eric Mika - not many 3&D bigs that rebound in this league. Mika may be lacking inside the arc, but his spacing hopefully opens up a lot for the offense.
Vernon Carey - already a pretty great inside scorer but VCJ's minutes are likely to come in the D-League this season, due to depth at the position, and his terrible defense.
Mamadou N'Diaye - He's in the game to get a few blocks, boards, and be seven and a half feet tall, and he does it well.
Nathan Knight - our other two-way contract. Knight is a wildly aggressive driver and paint dweller who has apparently deleted the words "defense" and "pass" from his vocabulary but we still want to see what he can do eventually. It won't be this year, but we'll keep tabs on him.
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