The Houston Rockets don’t have a lot of mystery left as the 2026-27 season approaches. With preseason still ahead and less than a month to go before things begin, head coach Ime Udoka has already made his starting five clear.
According to Rockets Wire’s Ben DuBose, Udoka confirmed that Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., and Fred VanVleet are projected to open as Houston’s starters.
That group makes plenty of sense on paper. Durant, Sengun, and Thompson all carry legitimate All-Star upside for 2027, and they’re also the team’s highest-paid names, so there was never much reason to expect any of them to come off the bench. Smith and VanVleet, meanwhile, have both been regular starters for several seasons.
The one spot that still leaves room for some movement is at point guard. VanVleet is expected to be available for preseason after recovering from a season-ending ACL injury, but how he looks once the games begin is the real question. At 32, his scoring has slipped year by year, down to 14.1 points per game, and he is now nearly five years removed from his lone All-Star season.
That opens the door for Reed Sheppard, who turned heads in his second season. He put up 13.5 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 43% from the field across 82 games, and he finished in the top 10 in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Sheppard’s role could be affected by the depth around him. Between VanVleet, defensive stopper Marcus Smart, and rookie Bruce Thornton, Udoka has several backcourt pieces to sort through, and it may be tough to build on the 26.2 minutes per game Sheppard logged last season. Still, his production gives him a real case to push for more responsibility, even if that doesn’t immediately mean a starting job.
For now, though, VanVleet appears to have the inside track. Houston is coming off a 52-30 season and is expected to be a serious force in the Western Conference, so Udoka may prefer to lean on VanVleet’s veteran presence when October arrives. That would leave Smart and Sheppard in backup roles, with Sheppard standing out as the reserve most likely to force a bigger opportunity.
Even so, VanVleet’s experience and track record should keep him in the Opening Day lineup unless something changes. And if it does, the Rockets have enough backcourt options for Udoka to adjust on the fly.
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Kevin Durant Is Already Fueling A Rockets Debate This Offseason
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Around Houston, though, the connection has prompted a familiar debate about where that mentorship should be going. Kendrick Perkins publicly took issue with Durant spending that kind of time with Banchero rather than directing it toward some of the Rockets younger pillars, a sentiment that lands in a city eager to see its core take the next step. For a team trying to build around rising talent, even an offseason workout can turn into a larger conversation about leadership, priorities and who should be getting the benefit of Durants time. [Read more 🡒]
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For Houston, the conversation matters because the Rockets are still sorting out their backcourt and trying to judge how aggressively to press their championship window. NBA insider Jake Fischer has floated the possibility of Irving moving before the deadline, and while no offer or decision has surfaced, the idea of a front-line talent becoming available is the kind of development that can quickly reshape the market for a team like the Rockets. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Camp Could Force A Tough Back End Roster Decision
With the NBA offseason still unfolding, the Rockets have a couple of familiar questions hanging over their roster picture, even as attention around the league continues to shift elsewhere. The bigger theme in Houston remains fit and reliability, especially when it comes to the late-game group that defined so much of last seasons debate about how the team wants to close.
Fred VanVleets status in clutch situations remains part of that conversation, and there is also the lingering question of whether Bogdan Bogdanovic still has enough left to matter in Houstons plans. Those are the kinds of back-end decisions that can quietly shape a season, and they are the ones the Rockets will have to keep sorting through as camp approaches and the leagues offseason noise starts to settle. [Read more 🡒]