Rockets' next move is painfully obvious as the season approaches

As the Houston Rockets enter the 2025-26 NBA season with a roster full of young talent, head coach Ime Udoka has a difficult series of decisions to make regarding which players will take on larger roles in the team’s system.

However, according to William Guillory of The Athletic, the Rockets could also be primed for a consolidation trade, moving on from a chunk of their roster in order to bring in one or two difference-making players.

While this would ease some of their troubles in providing enough minutes to the entirety of their rotation, it also presents an equally difficult question. Who could Houston afford to move on from?

Rockets could be primed for a consolidation trade in order to tighten their rotation

With superstar Kevin Durant entering the fold, the team will certainly need to parse out a new offensive structure, especially given the fact that players such as Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun will have to accustom themselves to slightly modified roles.

Yet, in a rotation that also includes Jabari Smith Jr., Steven Adams, Clint Capela, Dorian Finney-Smith, Reed Sheppard and Aaron Holiday, Udoka has a serious task set before him in figuring out which players deserve significant minutes within this revamped system.

Therefore, according to Guillory, the Rockets could have the rare problem of having too many solid contributors for their own good: “I don’t think there’s any world in which Udoka’s rotation would feature three point guards, three centers and six players on the wing. He’ll have to figure out who fits best … or Houston could be a prime candidate to make a consolidation trade that solidifies the top of the rotation by bringing in another big name.”

The Rockets’ clearest need, as it stands, is in their backcourt. With the loss of Jalen Green in the Durant trade, the team will now depend on VanVleet and Amen Thompson as their starters, with Sheppard and Holiday available off the bench. 

Yet, neither Sheppard nor Holiday have proven to be reliable offensive facilitators, and, if Houston hopes to compete this season, they will need to identify and develop a player to lead their bench unit in the non-VanVleet minutes.

With Eason’s restricted free agency looming, moreover, it is possible that the Rockets would consider moving on from the talented young forward rather than add another large extension to their already growing books.

Therefore, it is highly possible that Houston might look into the possibility of combining two or more of these depth pieces into a trade to fill a dire need, taking them even further into the commitment they have already made toward contending this season.