The Houston Rockets finished the 2020-21 season with the NBA’s worst record, but there’s already optimism about better days ahead.
For starters, the record from this past season was certainly much worse than it would have been with a healthy roster. Christian Wood, John Wall, and Eric Gordon all missed more than 30 games due to injuries.
Moreover, the Rockets are hopeful of what could be when they pair those types of established veterans with the “young core” of Wood, Kevin Porter Jr., KJ Martin, and All-Rookie First Team member Jae’Sean Tate. The latter three took on increasingly larger roles during 2020-21 with some degree of success, but it didn’t show in the record (17-55) due in large part to the overwhelming amount of injuries around them.
At the moment, they’re hopeful of better health in 2021-22 along with even more young talent in the form of three first-round draft picks — headlined by the No. 2 overall selection. As such, Porter Jr. took to Twitter on Tuesday night to express his understandable excitement.
The Rockets will still be among the NBA’s most inexperienced teams, so expecting a historic turnaround in 2021-22 might be a bit too much, barring a significant offseason trade or free agency signing.
Nonetheless, they’re likely to be significantly more talented than a season ago, and potentially much more healthy. That’s ample reason for a rising prospect such as Porter Jr. to be excited about it.
A 6-foot-4 lefty guard, Porter Jr. averaged 16.6 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in 32.1 minutes per game during his first year in Houston. Now 21 years old, it was just his second NBA season.
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