Rockets have their toughest challenge of the season already entering training camp

As the Houston Rockets prepared to enter training camp with a roster constructed around offseason acquisition Kevin Durant, a major incident, the ACL tear that Fred VanVleet suffered in a team mini-camp just last week, has thrown a major wrench into any plans the organization might have had.

While, with an exceedingly versatile lineup full of young talent, the Rockets are still poised to compete, VanVleet's absence will be a major obstacle, and head coach Ime Udoka now has a tall task in front of him in determining the proper lineup combinations in order to overcome this setback.

The most pressing of these problems is that the team will likely be operating without the benefit of an experienced point guard for much of the season, and his attention must turn there first as training camp begins.

The Rockets need to quickly figure out how they want to approach their rotation as training camp ramps up

With Durant entering the lineup already and with two starters, Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks departing, this was already going to be a season of monumental change for Houston.

It was expected that third-year player Amen Thompson would slide into the shooting guard spot and that the fifth starter-spot, which would likely be a power forward to play alongside Durant in the front court, would be determined in training camp.

Now, however, with VanVleet's injury, the team has multiple things to determine that their season could hinge on.

Their only candidates, ultimately, to take over the point guard position are Thompson and second-year guard Reed Sheppard. While Thompson has some ball-handling capabilities in his game, having averaged 4.3 assists per 36 minutes last season, leaving him at that spot permanently would likely force him to sacrifice some of his defensive intenstity in order to shoulder a revamped offensive workload.

Meanwhile, Sheppard, while he was an elite sharpshooter and a capable passer coming out of college, has yet to fully piece together his offensive game, and his small frame and lack of lateral quickness leave serious concerns as to his viability as a starter.

Moreover, the team must determine what player, from among Jabari Smith Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith and Tari Eason, will start in the frontcourt alongside Durant. Smith would bring significant size to the lineup, while Finney-Smith could bring much needed perimeter shooting in VanVleet's absence.

This competition, moreover, could have serious implications for Eason's upcoming contract negotiations. If he becomes a full-time starter for the team, him and his representation will have much more leverage to demand an annual value near and above what Smith earned earlier this offseason.

Therefore, while many teams will utilize training camp to determine their rotations heading into the season, the Rockets have much more uncertainty to face than most other teams, and Udoka's ability to navigate this will be the key to the team's early-season success.