3 Houston Rockets poised to have a breakout 2024-25 season

Tari Eason

Realistically, Eason was on the verge of a sophomore breakout before he got injured.

His BPM rose from -1.7 to 1.6. Eason was on his way to impacting winning in 2023-24. Unfortunately, after 22 games, Eason's season was over.

We've repeated this stat ad nauseam. We'll repeat it because it bears repeating. Eason was the only player in the NBA's top 50 in both Offensive Rebound % and Steal % in 2022-23 as a rookie. His ability to generate extra possessions, to borrow the popular parlance of NBA X, may (almost literally) be generational.

Will he break out in 2024-25? That's to be determined. Eason's path to playing time could be impeded by Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Dillon Brooks. He also, in theory, doesn't need to improve to be a significant rotation piece.

Still, if he does, he'll have a breakout year.