5 things for the Rockets to be thankful for

3. Dillon the villain

Much of the discourse surrounding Dillon Brooks is predicated on things that don't have anything with basketball. Brooks makes headlines for changing his handle on social media or for staring opponents down before tip-off, as basketball fans fawn over opportunities to slander him.

For this reason, many thought he was a useless basketball player and the Rockets overpaid him.

This season, Brooks has reversed the narratives, as he's been a core component of the Rockets' fast start. Brooks has provided suffocating defense on the perimeter, which was expected, and he's been even better offensively, which wasn't expected.

Brooks has averaged 13.8 points on just 10.2 shots, the latter of which is his lowest since becoming a starter in 2019-20. 

Brooks is shooting 48.5 percent from the field (up from 39.6 percent), 45.3 percent from deep (up from 32.6 percent), and 61.4 percent true shooting (up from 49.4 percent). The knock on Brooks was that he didn't seem to understand his role offensively and wanted to be more of a focal point on that end, despite being unable to offer much in that department.

However, Brooks has bought into what Rockets coach Ime Udoka has been preaching and has fit in quite perfectly. At some point, Brooks' stellar shooting efficiency figures to come back down to Earth, but regardless of whether that happens or not, Brooks has already proven to be a solid addition for Rockets GM Rafael Stone.