Can Houston's Vets Return To Their Level Of Play?

The Houston Rockets are preparing to get their veteran players back for next season, a vital piece to the team's perfomance next year. However, each of the most impactful veterans could not finish the year due to injuries. As these players get older, will they be able to return to their level of play before their injuries?

Fred VanVleet was the first major injury to hit the Rockets, suffering an ACL injury before the season even began.

His injury caused a ripple for the rest of the season, forcing Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard to step up into a larger, on-ball role for the offense. Those young players weren't able to recreate VanVleet's unique ball security, taking away one of the super powers of the Rockets' offense from the prior season.

VanVleet's game hasn't been dependent on his athleticism at any point in his career. His ability to knock down shots and initiate offense could be a factor of his game that stays at a high level after he recovers. However, his defense may suffer a drop off as he faces against the elite guards that populate the West. He'll have support from defenders like Thompson and Tari Eason, but he'll still be forced to play defense against teams with solid offensive players throughout the roster.

Another superpower of the Rockets was their ability to dominate the offensive glass. Eason is still a quality offensive rebounder, but missing Steven Adams was a major difficulty to recover from.

His injury required other players to do more on the glass to help keep the team's elite rebounding philosphy. Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Şengün were able to contribute to the rebounding efforts. However, the Rockets dropped from a historic rebounding pace to just an elite rebounding team. Just being elite wasn't enough to hide some of the offensive deficiencies the team had last season, and there's no guarantee Adams will be able to provide the same level of elite rebounding after his recovery.

Some of the offensive deficiencies fell on the shoulders of Kevin Durant, despite him being asked to fill a role he isn't accustomed to or suited for. He was asked to lead the offense as an initiator instead of being a play finisher, like he has been for the rest of his career.

Durant's injury was the most recent setback, but seemed less serious than his fellow vets. He should be able to return to his elite scoring level next season as the Rockets are likely to run it back with their main cast.

The Rockets are putting a lot of hope on their veterans to return to their top level of play to help bring the team to contention level

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