It's not even October and the Rockets may already regret key offseason fumble

The Houston Rockets were lacking guard depth even before Fred VanVleet's injury. Now that he's gone, they may badly regret signing Clint Capela this summer.

It's been discussed before. Many Rockets fans were disappointed by the Capela signing. Sure, reuniting with Capela was fun - but isn't this team desperate for a guard?

As time passed, justifications emerged. Steven Adams is a looming injury risk. The Rockets want to be able to run double bigs at will. The signing started to make some sense:

Then, the Fred VanVleet injury happened.

Now, we're back to square one.

Rockets should have signed a guard instead of Clint Capela

Capela's contract has an Average Annual Value (AAV) of $7 million. What guards could the Rockets have looked at for that money?

Malcolm Brogdon would have been perfect. He signed a 1-year, $3.3 million deal with the Knicks. Brogdon's ability to run an offense, space the floor, and defend would have rounded out a Rockets team with a hole in their backcourt.

The Knicks hogged all the free agent guards this summer. Jordan Clarkson would have been an appropriate choice for the Rockets as well. He'd have been a steady ball-handling option who can create offense.

Cole Anthony? Spencer Dinwiddie? There's no shortage of guards who'd have been in the Rockets' price range if they hadn't signed Capela. In any case, there's no sense crying over spilled milk. The Rockets have solutions:

Whether they're ideal or not is a different matter.

Rockets will solve guard rotation in-house

There's a world where this works out for the best.

(Stop laughing, it's true).

Amen Thompson will be thrust into a role that features more ball-handling. It's time to find out if he's truly a point guard or not. That will happen in 2025-26.

Reed Sheppard's rookie year was a tough watch, but he still retains ample potential. If he can make a sophomore leap, Rockets fans may shortly be forgetting about Malcolm Brogdon.

Finally, if the team needs a steady veteran hand, they've still got Aaron Holiday. He's a less dynamic offensive player than - well, frankly, anyone named in this article - but he can shoot, defend, and protect the ball.

The point? The Rockets do have in-house solutions - just unconventional ones. The sky isn't falling. This is not a nightmare scenario.

It still would have been smarter to use Capela's money on a guard. Instead, the Rockets will enter 2025-26 with three rotation-caliber big men and one of the worst guard rotations in the NBA.

Especially with Fred VanVleet on the shelf.