Who should be in the Houston Rockets’ starting five?

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Small Forward: Danuel House

The starting position that will see the most rotation in-season will be small-forward. The reason is two-fold; first, the Rockets don’t really play a traditional small-forward and have opted to get another guard at the position, and second, there is no clear-cut best option.

Danuel House, based upon his on-court production, should get the nod to start the season. At 6’6, House has the length to credibly defend wings, and his production on 3-pointers the last two seasons have been well above average.

This spot will probably see rotation throughout the season between Danuel House, Ben McLemore, and Eric Gordon based upon the match-up. McLemore is a defensive sieve, but he hit 3-pointers at over 40-percent last season, and Eric Gordon was a productive player as recently as 2017-18.

The reason why House should see the lion’s share of starts at the small forward position is that with the departure of Austin Rivers the Rockets will need to lean on Gordon’s ball-handling and playmaking for the second unit and McLemore’s defensive is simply too poor to trust against other team’s’ best lineups. In the end, Silas will pick and plug at the small-forward position to get the matchups they need.

Next: Number 2

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