When the Houston Rockets open training camp, the spotlight is going to land where you’d expect. Kevin Durant will draw the biggest crowd.
Amen Thompson remains one of the league’s most electric young players. Alperen Sengun is already playing at an All-Star level, and Fred VanVleet’s return changes the look of this group again.
But the player worth keeping closest tabs on might be Jabari Smith Jr.
Smith has a real case to be the biggest surprise of camp, and the funny part is that another step forward from him shouldn’t really feel like a shock. He just posted the best season of his career, and now he’s walking into a roster that gives him even more help around him. He’s also still only 23, which is easy to overlook when you remember Houston drafted him at 19 and he’s already been in the league for four seasons.
What stands out most is that Smith’s growth didn’t require Houston to reshape everything around him. Last season, he got more productive, stayed on the floor and kept flashing the traits that make him such a compelling fit: size, shooting and defensive versatility. That’s the version of Smith Houston looks set to see again, only with a better environment for him to build on it.
VanVleet’s presence matters here. The Rockets needed more ball-handling last season, and his return should make life easier for Smith and everyone else.
Smith, at 6-foot-11, has the kind of high release and legitimate range that makes him dangerous when he’s catching and firing without having to create everything himself. That’s where he can do damage, and it’s also the area where there’s still room for him to grow.
The offensive pecking order should help him. Durant is going to soak up attention on that end.
Sengun will operate heavily in the paint and help run things from the post. Smith projects as the stretch four, which should give him the spacing to work as a catch-and-shoot threat.
And that’s the path to another jump. VanVleet knows how to find shooters, Smith doesn’t need much room because of his size and release point, and if the three-point percentage climbs again while Houston keeps generating quality looks, his scoring can rise without a big spike in usage.
That’s also why Smith still feels like more than just a steady starter. Houston needs shooting around its stars, and he provides it. He’ll have to keep pushing his three-point efficiency if he wants to make another leap, but he looks fully capable of doing it.
The defensive side matters just as much. Smith is already a good defender, and his length and mobility give him real value there. That part of his game still has room to sharpen too.
So if there’s a surprise waiting in Rockets camp, Smith is the one to watch. Maybe surprise isn’t even the best word for it.
The clues are already there: his best season came last year, he’s still only 23, and the roster around him now seems even better tailored to his strengths. VanVleet should create more catch-and-shoot chances, Durant will pull defensive focus, and Houston won’t need Smith to be a primary engine.
They just need him to keep climbing. And that feels very much in play.
In Other News...
Rockets Have Two Wings Fighting To Prove They Fit Udokas Plan
The Rockets have spent a lot of time sorting through the edges of the roster, and two 6-foot-6 wings are in the middle of that conversation as they try to show they can fit Ime Udokas defensive-minded approach. Julian Phillips arrived in Houston after moving through Chicago and Minnesota, bringing a reputation built more on length, activity and defense than scoring, while Isaiah Crawford is trying to turn the momentum he built in the G League into something more permanent after getting a look with the Rockets last season.
Both players are fighting from a similar place: they have tools that can matter in Udokas system, but they still have to prove they can earn real NBA trust. Phillips has yet to make offense a consistent part of his game, and Crawford has had far more success in the minors than in limited NBA minutes, which leaves Houston with a familiar sort of training-camp question. Which one can turn promise into a role before the roster picture starts to narrow? [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durant Is Already Creating A Real Rockets Tension Point
Kevin Durants arrival in Houston was always going to come with more than shot-making and late-game gravity, and media day offered the first hint of a real roster-management dilemma. The Rockets have every reason to be careful with a player whose regular-season workload has been heavy and whose recent injury history makes every minute matter, especially with the long view in mind. Durant, though, made clear he is not looking to be handled on autopilot.
The tension is easy to see: Houston wants to protect its star and preserve him for the games that will matter most, while Durant wants the freedom to be judged by the flow of the night, not by a preset cap. He is open to stepping aside more if the Rockets are already in control, but the broader question is how the team balances that instinct with the need to keep him fresh without turning every night into a restriction conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Amen Thompson Faces Bigger Rockets Expectations After One Painful Snub
Amen Thompson arrived at Rockets media day with the weight of a new five-year, $208 million extension already on his shoulders, and he handled it the way Houston has come to expect from the young wing. He spoke about the deal, about his twin brother Ausar landing a similar extension in Detroit, and about the reality that big money usually comes with bigger expectations. Thompson also made it clear the contract is not the end point, just the next step in a career that now has championship language attached to it for the 2026-27 season.
The more revealing part was how personal the moment felt for him, because the disappointment of missing out on All-Defensive recognition still lingers as motivation. Thompson acknowledged the frustration of watching Ausar pile up the honors while he was left off, and he framed that snub as fuel rather than baggage. For a Rockets team banking on his two-way rise, that edge matters almost as much as the dollars, and it hints at a player who is already measuring himself against a higher standard. [Read more 🡒]