Russell Westbrook’s retirement announcement on Wednesday brought back a season in Houston that never sat quietly in the background. His lone year with the Rockets was messy, loud and unforgettable, the kind of stop that changed the shape of a team while never fully settling the debate around the player himself.
The Rockets brought Westbrook in to do more than fill a box score. He gave them a different identity.
For a franchise that had leaned hard into perimeter shooting under Mike D'Antoni and James Harden, Westbrook’s rim pressure added a forceful new layer. In 2019-20, he averaged 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists per game and earned his 9th and final All-Star and All-NBA selections.
Houston leaned even further into that version of him in February of 2020, when the team traded center Clint Capela and went with another shooter at the 5 spot. Westbrook answered with his best stretch of the season, putting up 30 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game over the final 15 games of the regular season. His efficiency climbed too, as he shot 52% from the field and 37% from three while attacking in true 5-out spacing.
That version of Westbrook carried into the bubble, where he kept bringing his usual edge. He became known for trash-talking other teams even with players’ wives and babies in attendance, and his fearlessness helped keep Houston’s energy up in the unfamiliar setting. The Rockets survived a hard-fought 7-game first-round series against the Thunder, Westbrook’s old team, before falling in 5 to the eventual champion Lakers.
But Houston also saw the other side of the deal. The Rockets had paid a steep price to get him, sending out Chris Paul and draft capital in the trade. Westbrook’s stay lasted only one season, and the fit never fully locked in with the team’s culture as the front office kept searching for ways to maximize the roster and preserve cap flexibility.
The Lakers series brought his shortcomings into sharper focus. Los Angeles put bigger defenders on him and dared him to shoot, and the results dipped: 42% from the field and 26% from three in that matchup, along with averages of 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game.
That proved to be enough for Houston to move on the next offseason. Westbrook went on to have a great season for the Wizards, while the Rockets were left with an injured John Wall. In the end, his Houston chapter left behind the same kind of split reaction that followed him in so many places: respect for the effort, questions about the fit.
In Other News...
Tari Eason Just Put A New Twist On Houstons Tougher Offseason
The Rockets offseason had already taken on a tougher edge with the additions of Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovi, moves that gave Houston a little more muscle and a little more shot-making around the roster. Smart arrives after declining a player option with the Lakers, while Bogdanovi came in on a one-year veteran minimum contract, underscoring how the front office has tried to balance experience with flexibility as it keeps shaping the team around its younger core.
Tari Easons new four-year extension now adds another layer to that summer for Houston, because the deal was supposed to be a straightforward sign of commitment to one of the clubs more valuable young pieces. Instead, the announcement has spilled into the public conversation in an entirely different way, with Eason and his mother both responding to the online criticism that followed. For a team trying to steady its next step, even a contract extension can turn into a reminder that nothing around the Rockets stays quiet for long. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Face A Zion Decision Fans Never Wanted
Houstons offseason has already pushed the Rockets into one of those difficult roster conversations every contender eventually faces. The front office is weighing how hard to lean into the present, where Kevin Durant and the rest of the core can keep the team in the hunt, against the need to keep some long-term flexibility after injuries helped derail parts of last season.
One idea floating around the league underscores how complicated that balance can get. There have been reports of a possible framework that would involve Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr., but nothing has been confirmed and the Rockets are still sorting through the larger question of how aggressive they want to be. For a team trying to win now without emptying the cupboard for later, the next move could say as much about its direction as any move made on draft night. [Read more 🡒]
Rockets Just Earned A Different Level Of NBA Respect
The leagues full 2026-27 schedule rollout offered another quiet measure of where Houston sits in the NBAs pecking order, and the answer is a lot higher than it used to be. With Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson anchoring the roster, the Rockets landed 21 nationally televised games, tying the Mavericks and putting them in a far more visible tier than the club occupied before this current group started to take shape.
It is still a long way from the kind of spotlight reserved for the Lakers, Knicks, 76ers and Spurs, who each checked in at 34, but the gap itself says something about how the league views Houston now. The Rockets have earned enough attention to be part of the national conversation on a regular basis, and the bigger question is whether this seasons version can turn that added exposure into something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]