Painfully obvious reason the Rockets are a serious title contender

The modern NBA is all about versatility. In 2025-26, the Houston Rockets should be one of the most versatile teams in the NBA.

The league's recent history tells us how valuable that is. The Warriors won multiple championships by playing the 6'7" Draymond Green at the 5. The Milwaukee Bucks won their title with a surplus of size at every position. There's no one surefire path to the NBA title. More accurately, having the footwear to walk whichever path is quickest tends to be the key to success.

Luckily, the Rockets have one of the league's best shoe collections.

Rockets have one of the league's most versatile rosters

Sam Vecenie of The Game Theory Podcast acknowledged Houston's versatility on the latest episode of his podcast.

"What I'm most excited to see is their lineup flexibility."

-Sam Vecenie, The Game Theory Podcast

That makes two of us, Sam.

Last year, the Rockets turned heads by running dual big lineups. Nobody expected Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun to share the floor, but they did, to outstanding results. This year, they'll have Clint Capela in their back pocket to replicate those results if Adams is injured.

Yet, the Rockets also have an archetypical small-ball 5 in Jabari Smith Jr. If they want to space the floor at every position, they can do that. If they want to switch everything defensively instead of running a zone, they can plug Amen Thompson into those otherwise-spaced lineups.

Thompson is a skeleton key in general. If the Rockets want to run massive lineups, he can play point guard. If they want to go small and outrun everyone, he can play the 4. The Rockets are expected to start Thompson at the 2.

They'll likely be playing wings at the 2 regularly. This team doesn't have a quintessential off-guard. Most times, they'll either be playing a guard and a big with three wings. They'll also play 4 wings with 1 big, and if they want, they can play 5 wings. This is salivating versatility:

Will it be a recipe for success?

Rockets need healthy Durant to succeed

There's no perfect NBA roster. If you lean into one strength, it'll come at the expense of another. That's the reality in any sports league with a salary cap.

The Rockets have unmatched versatility, but their roster lacks offensive dynamism. That's why they acquired Kevin Durant this summer. They'll need him to maintain his career-long scoring standard. Any regression from the aging Durant could spell trouble for a Rockets team that's otherwise light on scoring.

That's fine. The Rockets had the same issue last year, only it was substantially amplified with Jalen Green in Durant's place. They still won 52 games. In 2025-26, their versatility should make them one of the best teams in the NBA:

That's how you win in today's league.