The Rockets can learn a crucial lesson from surprise NBA Finals

The NBA Finals are set to get underway on June 5th. Unsurprisingly, the Houston Rockets won't be part of them.

Nobody expected the Rockets to advance to the end of the NBA playoffs this year. They would have shocked the world. A first-round defeat at the hands of the Warriors was disappointing, but it was an acceptable outcome for the 2024-25 season.

It won't be for long.

Next year, the Rockets need to win a playoff series. Don't be surprised if ownership starts to feel an itch if the team isn't in the Finals in the next 3 or 4 seasons.

Can they learn anything from the Thunder or Pacers about how to get there?

Rockets can learn from (mostly) homegrown finalists

Much has been made about the small-market Finals. Under the new CBA, the star-attracting abilities of teams like the Lakers and the Heat may not be as significant.

The Rockets can't learn much on that front. They've always been on the outside looking in at marquee status. The Rockets can draw high-caliber players on the open market, but they've seldom had first dibs. If market size is becoming less relevant, the Rockets should roughly break even from that development.

That said, it is worth noting that the Rockets can learn from how these teams were built. The Thunder and Pacers are both mostly built around players they drafted.

Mostly.

Rockets need to find "the guy"

A major commonality between the Thunder and Pacers is that they traded for their best player while they were ascending. The Thunder acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander long before he was an MVP. Tyrese Haliburton had shown promise before the Pacers flipped Domantas Sabonis for him, but he's only improved.

Each team bought relatively low on a franchise player before they were a franchise player. That's a difficult needle to thread. Identifying an underused player who's good enough to carry a team is one of those "if it were easy, everyone would do it" propositions.

Ironically, the Rockets have done it before. When this organization landed James Harden, he was one of the best sixth men in the NBA. Can they strike lightning twice?

On this very website, Tyler Watts made a very intriguing proposal. He said the Rockets should make a major move for Trey Murphy III. He showed an ability to scale up his offense for an injury-riddled Pelicans team this year. The Rockets should take a look at him.

More broadly, the point is that these teams didn't go all-in on an MVP candidate like Giannis Antetokounmpo. They bought low on (seemingly) lesser players. If the Rockets can do the same, they should set themselves up for title contention in the coming years.

They could reach a point where people expect to see them in the Finals.