The Rockets Are Still Being Called Title Contenders. Here’s Why That’s Complicated.

Kevin Durant is 38, Fred VanVleet shot under 38 percent from the field before breaking his leg, and the Houston Rockets just got bounced in six games by a Lakers team that didn’t have Luka Doncic for a single minute. Yet somehow, The Ringer’s Michael Pina still sees them as a legitimate championship contender.

In a recent column, Pina made the case that Houston has enough talent to win it all if the bounces go their way. And given we’ve seen eight different champions in eight years, that’s not the wildest take out there.

“In a world where we’ve seen eight different NBA champions in eight years, I think the Rockets are good enough to be the ninth if they catch the lucky breaks that ultimately benefit pretty much every team that wins the title,” Pina wrote.

But he didn’t stop there. He also laid out exactly why most people aren’t buying it.

“Spacing matters. Durant is old. VanVleet shot 37.8 percent from the field before he suffered a major leg injury. All true.”

The Durant trade didn’t fix everything

Houston went all-in last summer, acquiring Durant in a massive seven-team trade with the Phoenix Suns. The idea was simple: pair a future Hall of Famer with a young core and push for a ring. Instead, the Rockets limped into the playoffs and got exposed by a shorthanded Lakers team. Durant only played one full game in that series before an injury sidelined him.

The loss raised real questions about whether Houston’s roster actually fits together. Durant is still elite when healthy, but he’s not the guy who can carry a team through four playoff rounds anymore. VanVleet’s efficiency cratered. And the supporting cast, while talented, hasn’t proven it can step up when it matters most.

General manager Rafael Stone keeps waiting

This offseason, the Rockets stayed quiet while other Western Conference teams made noise. Houston traded Dorian Finney-Smith and brought in Marcus Smart, reuniting him with head coach Ime Udoka. That’s a nice move, but it’s not the kind of blockbuster that changes a franchise’s ceiling.

Pina pointed out that the Rockets passed on chances to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown, choosing instead to keep their options open. That patience, which Pina called “something undeniably unfinished about the entire Rafael Stone era,” has become the defining trait of this front office. They’re allergic to the kind of all-in move most contenders eventually make.

“The Rockets still feel like they’re stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for the perfect opportunity to come along and put them over the top,” Pina wrote.

The problem is that perfect opportunity might never come. And in the meantime, Durant keeps getting older, the West keeps getting deeper, and Houston’s championship window keeps getting narrower.

For now, the Rockets are still being mentioned in the contender conversation. But that says more about how wide open the league is than how good Houston actually is.