Before we look too far ahead to what may or may not happen over the next few months, allow me to play devil’s advocate and make a case against the impending demand for firings and trades in Houston: Everything bad that’s befallen this team can be explained by injuries. No real analysis is necessary. They’re simply unlucky! The three most irreplaceable players on Houston’s roster—Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams, and Kevin Durant—have not been healthy enough to compete in this series; the trickle-down effect from their absence has placed an immense strain on everybody else, including (and especially) head coach Ime Udoka. Thus, the Rockets should head into the summer embracing patience. Their level of young talent, when combined with better health, must provide cover against a course-correcting overreaction. Simply wait for the gang to be whole next year and see what happens! [Vigorously shakes self back to reality.] OK, now let’s be serious: Something is rotten at Houston’s core that goes beyond its need for a steady point guard, a glass-mashing center, and a healthy primary option. There is no excuse for what we’ve seen throughout this humiliating first-round series—a level of mismanagement and disregard that’s compounded the seemingly dozens of crunch-time collapses endured during the regular season. Change must be imminent, and the decision not to be more proactive at February’s trade deadline should be acknowledged for the defeatism it was. [...] Houston entered the year with one of the deepest rosters in the NBA. Yet in Game 3, its entire bench scored two fewer points than Bronny James. It didn’t bother with imaginative counters and used lineup combinations that somewhat understandably (but not really) prioritized the defense, which hadn’t looked right for weeks. Now seismic decisions lie ahead, and literally no job is safe. No player is untradable, no coach unexpendable. https://www.theringer.com/2026/04/2...ant-trade-kawhi-leonard-giannis-antetokounmpo
You won't convince me that Tilman is going to eat Ime's contract. His job is safe as long as Tilman continues being a cheapass.
The writer didn't watch game 4. Rockets will win 4 in a row and come all the way back. I believe! Eff the haters
Issue is the following people: Rafael Stone (and wannabe socialite wife) Ime Udoka (check his FanDuel accounts) Patty Saltgrass (thinks this is NBA2K) Dickerson (addicted to Twitter, sociopath) Tari Eason (and crazy mom) Italian Wannabe Mob Boss Owner (has spent whole life wanting to be liked/respected)
We can't get rid of the furytits family, not without an audio recording of Tilman singing a NWA song to his girlfriend on the phone. But if we could replace Stone, Udoka and Durant with a better group of people?
"The three most irreplaceable players on Houston’s roster—Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams, and Kevin Durant—have not been healthy enough to compete in this series.": Basing our team's strategy around three aging players was only ever going to work if the Rockets were lucky. They gambled and lost. And they'll probably gamble and lose again with whatever trades they do next.
Sengun, Thompson, Smith, Sheppard, and even Eason were great. Maybe their best game ever together. Coming back to win this series is unlikely, but all five of those guys have shown they have fight in them and can succeed in tough circumstances. I’m not ready to give up on them (unless it’s an incredible deal).
Rotten.... okay... Yes they are mixed and matched parts that don't fit together basketball wise at the moment. That's just what happens when you draft BPA, and get guys who have flaws. Not that big of a deal. Even if the Vets never come back, a simple trade or two likely easily fixes the fit issues. All of our young players have relative value for their roles. They can be traded for likewise valuable players that fit better. Rotten to the core... good lord... is our imagination that bad as writers??? Let me guess.... "HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM" was already taken for next game's op-ed.
So much melodrama to feed the 24 hour news cycle. When they lose it’s rotten, when they win, vibes look good. Sometimes guys get along, sometimes they don’t. I’ve been watching the Rockets for 35 years, there have been far more “rotten” team dynamics than this: Barkley-Pippen, Francis-JVG, Dragic-Lowry, Dwight-Harden, Harden-CP3, Maxwell-Rudy T, Dream-Charlie Thomas, T-Mac and everybody, etc. The drama didn’t automatically cause the teams to fail. Sometimes those teams succeeded despite it all. Sometimes they didn’t. Failure always makes the drama seem important. When teams win, like Kobe-Shaq and MJ-Pippen-Grant, doesn’t really matter that much.
Media literacy check: - This is a speculative opinion piece intended to generate traffic for the Ringer's fading website; there's no reporting here at all - This is a "post-mortem" piece that was definitely written over the weekend, prior to game 4, and released anyway with minor edits even though the Rockets weren't eliminated yet - Pina is kind of a wannabe Kevin O'Connor ( a low aspiration, to be clear); he's trying to be the first out with the hottest take Are there some truths in here? Sure. But the Rockets aren't trading Sengun or picks for Kawhi Leonard or Darius Garland lol, nor are they "the clubhouse favorite to get Antetokounmpo". If you want real reporting, just wait for the post-season notebook dump from an actual reporter after the playoffs - and also realize that whatever the Rockets truly want to do this offseason, they aren't going to announce to fans or other teams in a press conference. We'll find out when we get the Shams notification.
I sent the link to my older son who coaches hoops for a living. He said “I’m going to wait until after the season is over before I read that.” I think that’s a good idea, so I’m gonna do the same.
Winning solves everything. Unfortunately, this team is historic in the ways they refuse to win. Blow a 25 point lead against the Pelicans? Why not?! Blow a double digit lead in OT against Minny? Of course! Choke a six point lead in the playoffs in the last 25 seconds a must win game? I'm not even surprised. This team isn't the worst team we've ever had, but it's the most unwatchable 50+ win team we've ever had. Few fans thought we could compete with other mid-tier playoff teams in the West despite the records being close. And even with the Lakers' injuries to their best players, some fans didn't feel confident about our chances in this series and they were right. Rooting for a winning team shouldn't be this dreadful. This team ranks right up there with the Barkley Pippen squad in dysfunction. Our most talented player got caught disrespecting the rest of the squad on Twitter and the worst part is he wasn't even wrong, he was just an *******. Has our best player even been this universally disliked by the fanbase before?
The Ringer also wrote this article way back when they started recommending we draft these guys. They've played the long con on us.
There's no way Stone and Udoka aren't here next year. There was no way that would've changed if we had been swept. If we had been swept 110-80 every single game then MAYBE there would be some talk. But no, no chance of them leaving. All the wishing for a new coach and GM will have to wait.
this is type of **** i like to see. the rockets are **** with expectation. now that everyone hates us and KD is not playing we can truly go on an epic rockets run.
I want to believe, but reality has set in that coughing up game 3 killed us and that winning game 4 was one on the pure power of Alpi's word. I'm sure Austin Reeves will return to the line-up on Wednesday and he is going to put up 4 threes to start the game that will take our souls and we will just wallow, throw up our hands at every call the refs don't make, and well, we are going to get blown out.
