ESPN player rankings give Rockets a fair shake and plenty of motivation

With the NBA season set to open with preseason next month, the 2026-27 season is almost here. In preparation for it, ESPN released its top-100 players, with four Rockets players making the cut.

You will find Fred VanVleet at #91, Amen Thompson at #31, Alperen Sengun at #30, and Kevin Durant at #13. In my personal opinion, as far as it goes for Houston, I believe this was a relatively fair ranking.

The veterans continue to hold on

After missing all of the 2025-2026 season due to a torn ACL, VanVleet’s impact, while not on the level of a superstar point guard, was definitely missed. While the jury is still out on how VanVleet will produce this season, it will be nice knowing he will have a support system of Marcus Smart also at guard this time around.

There is not much to talk about when it comes to KD; he will do his thing as an elite scorer (and hopefully spend less time on X). The biggest question with KD is: what are his plans? He has a player option with a deadline of 6/29/27. Only time will tell if he plans on Houston being another destination or a potential final stop.

The young Rockets stars still have something to prove

Recently, it was announced that Amen Thompson reached a 5-year, $208 million extension with Houston, setting him up as a key piece in Houston’s long-term future and maybe even being the face of it. Thompson’s defense has clearly made him very valuable in the eyes of the Rockets, but the real question is whether he can make himself truly worth the contract by taking a leap with his shooting.

Thompson had to fill a VanVleet-sized hole last season as Houston’s point guard. Now with VanVleet back and Smart on the roster, the hope is that with the lessened pressure, Thompson can focus more on his all-around game. While he did not make an All-Defense team last season, he did improve when it came to creating pick-and-roll plays, so there is reason to believe offensive improvement is likely.

Sengun has, on paper, looked like a very solid player for Houston. He's already a 2x All-Star, and helped lead Turkey to a silver medal in the 2025 EuroBasket. For the Rockets, the team is so deep on defense that he can afford the lack of defensive production, but offensively he needs to show a consistent leap this go-around to justify staying in the top 30 of player rankings.

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