The Houston Rockets improved substantially this summer, but the Western Conference was never going to rest on its laurels. The conference is improving, but the Rockets don't need to worry about the Clippers' recent signing of Bradley Beal.
They have bigger fish to fry. The Rockets will struggle to overcome the Thunder. The Nuggets will also pose a challenge. That said, flipping Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks for Kevin Durant, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Clint Capela put the Rockets in a different world than the Clippers. Their acquisition of Beal does not change that:
He doesn't move the needle enough.