1 Way the Houston Rockets must avoid repeating history

The Houston Rockets look like the second-best team in the NBA ahead of the 2025-26 season. That's a place that's all too familiar for them.

Recall the James Harden era. The Rockets were never the best team in the NBA, but during the 2017-18 season, they were awfully close.

The Rockets went 65-17. That was the best record in the league. Their astonishing +8.7 Net Rating was also league-best. The Rockets were a buzzsaw. They were formidable enough to press anybody.

Yet, it never quite felt like the Rockets were the best team, did it? The Warriors always loomed large. They were the Rockets' white whale.

Perhaps they'd have caught them if not for Chris Paul's ill-fated hamstring. We'll never know. Now, nearly a decade later, the Rockets look like the best team besides the best team once again.

They can't let themselves fall into that place.

The Rockets need a championship in this era

That's not to say they can guarantee themselves the top spot.

The Thunder are not going anywhere. They look like a budding dynasty. It won't be easy for Houston to usurp a young 68-win team with surplus assets.

Luckily, this is the age of parity. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will make it difficult for the Thunder to retain their championship core. They'll keep Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, but hanging onto valuable veterans like Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein will soon prove impossible. The Thunder could regress for a season or two as they rebuild the supporting cast around SGA and co:

That's when the Rockets need to pounce.

Rockets must exploit market advantages

Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, and Williams all received lucrative extensions this summer. The Rockets' books are much cleaner. Alperen Sengun accepted a below-market deal, and Jabari Smith Jr. has a chance to make his contract one of the best in the NBA.

Moreover, the Thunder may have a larger quantity of future first-round picks, but Houston has higher-quality assets. If need be, they can flip those assets to build the best possible team.

None of which will make surpassing the Thunder easy. It's also worth noting that they aren't their only competition. The Nuggets just had an impressive offseason, and the Spurs look like a sleeping giant with their collection of young assets.

That's why it feels presumptuous to suggest that Houston "must" build a title winner during this iteration of the team. Yet, that's the standard. The Rockets' back-to-back title wins in the 1990s are only becoming more distant memories. Houston is well-positioned to build a champion within the next half-decade or so:

They can't settle for second-best again.