Rockets' most difficult players to watch in the post-Harden era

The Houston Rockets enjoyed sustained success during the James Harden era. Once he left, they got much harder to watch. Some of the players they rostered during that era made for particularly difficult viewing.

Now feels like the perfect time to relive those days. Rockets fans are eating well. The enter 2025-26 among a small handful of teams with serious title chances. If they fall short, they've got an impressive collection of assets to use to improve the team. The Rockets are in a wonderful position:

Let's remember a time when life was a bit bleaker.

5. DeMarcus Cousins

Boogie Cousins is one of the most talented offensive big men the NBA has ever seen. In his prime, he was a giant among men with bona fide guard skills. Cousins could drive, shoot, post up, pass, and do just about anything else you could imagine on offense.

By the time he got to the Rockets, those skills were distant memories.

Cousins played a total of 25 games for the Rockets during the 2020-21 season. He averaged 9.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Those are fine rotational numbers on the surface, but if you watched the games, you know they don't reflect Cousins' impact.

There's slow, and then there's 2020-21 DeMarcus Cousins. Lateral mobility was never his strength, but by this time, he was a sieve on defense. Cousins played one more year in the NBA, splitting his time between the Bucks and the Nuggets. His tenure with the Rockets was the beginning of a rapid end.

4. John Wall

Wall was better than Cousins in Houston. That's what made him a bit more difficult to watch.

There was no glaring hole in Wall's post-prime game. He just wasn't quite himself. He inspired hope, only to crush it. At times, it felt like Houston would avoid a strenuous rebuild, but it became increasingly clear that Wall was no longer a foundational piece.

The counting stats are solid. Wall averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 assists per game. Again, the devil was in the details. Wall's 49.8 True Shooting % (TS%) was the lowest mark of his career since he was a rookie.

Wall couldn't get to the rim like he used to. His athleticism had waned. It seems the league concurred. After Wall's lone 2020-21 season with the Rockets, Wall quickly washed out of the league. Like Cousins, his NBA career should be remembered fondly:

But his time with the Rockets should be quickly forgotten.

3. Josh Christopher

Some Rockets fans will disagree with this choice. They'll argue that if you're picking a rookie, you should go with Usman Garuba. Perhaps that's a matter of taste.

Neither first-round pick delivered on their promise, but Garuba's limitations were more physical. He was supposed to be a combo big, but he was more like a tweener. Garuba wasn't quite able to guard the interior or the perimeter, but he certainly tried.

It's unclear what the Rockets drafted Christopher to do. He was prone to tunnel vision, but not (nearly) a gifted enough scorer to justify his antics. Between his rookie and sophomore seasons, Christopher's minutes dipped from 18.0 to 12.3 - for a reason.

Last year, Christopher played for the Heat - a little. He averaged 4.9 minutes per game in 14 games with the main roster. Christopher's status as an NBA player is unclear, but his status as a former Rocket is solidified:

He was a difficult watch.

2. Kevin Porter Jr.

Speaking of difficult...

It's a bit difficult to discuss Porter Jr. without discussing his legal troubles. Let's just say that his NBA career has been marred by controversy. At times, that controversy came in the middle of games.

Difficult to watch? How about watching Porter Jr. scream at the coaching staff during a halftime discussion in a game against the Nuggets in 2022. We couldn't technically watch Porter Jr. leave the arena, but we knew it happened.

Otherwise, watching Porter Jr. try to master the point guard position was painful. In 2022-23, Porter Jr. averaged 5.7 assists and 3.2 turnovers per game. It was his last season with the team:

Blissfully.

1. Christian Wood

Accounting for Cousins' and Wall's ages, Wood is the best player on this list.

In theory, Wood was an ideal play finishing big. In 2020-21, he averaged 21.0 points and 9.6 rebounds with a blistering 59.1 TS%. Wood was an elite stretch big who doubled as a lob threat in pick-and-rolls. What went wrong?

Defense. Effort. Tunnel vision. Defense. Did I mention defense?

Pick a bad habit - Wood had it. He froze teammates out offensively in an effort to score in isolation. Defensively, he didn't do much of anything. Wood never seemed to care on that end of the floor.

Perhaps that's why Rockets fans largely didn't care when the team traded him.