Earlier this week, the Rockets suffered a devastating blow to their championship contention aspirations. It was announced that veteran point guard Fred VanVleet had torn his ACL in what could potentially be a season-ending injury. With such a big loss before the start of the season, it's clear that the Rockets will not be hoisting the championship in June. But could they still make a deep playoff run?
In spite of the Rockets' brilliant offseason, their lack of a serviceable backup guard who could both play make and conduct the offense was readily apparent. The Josh Okogie pickup reinforced the Rockets' defensive blueprint rather than adding an offensive threat.