Lou Williams Gives Houston Rockets Interesting Midseason Grade

There is definitely reason for optimism.

Apr 5, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Atlanta Hawks guard Lou Williams (6) arrives against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets are on pace to have a better season in 2025-26 than they did last season in 2024-25. Which feels like a shock, as they finished second-best in the Western Conference last season.

Right now, they're fourth-best in the conference. Despite having faced a myriad of injuries to key players. They've gone 53 games without Fred VanVleet.

And may not get him back at all, based on the history of athletes who have torn ACLs in-season.

No one has ever come back in the same season.

Houston doesn't have a replacement for him. They've been seeking to find his replacement all season and haven't been successful. 

Not at the trade deadline, nor internally. 

They'll surely look into the buyout market but won't find the answer there either.

In spite of Houston's lack of on-ball facilitators, the Rockets rank fourth in the Western Conference.

And according to former Rockets guard Lou Williams, who has also won Sixth Man of the Year three times, the Rockets are right where they need to be. 

Williams also gives Houston a B grade for their first half of the season., taking to FanDuel's Run it Back to explain.

"I like where they are. If I had to grade them right now, we're at a B-minus, B-plus because we weren't sure what KD was going to bring to the table coming into this season with pairing him with Sengun. 

We were excited about it but we didn't know how it was going to pan out.

They're playing well and they're represented at All-Star weekend so it works out."

Houston has been quite inconsistent this season and they play down to the level of competition they're facing. 

They've dropped a good amount of games that they should've won.

But have also won against each of the top three seeds in the Western Conference, nabbing victories over the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. 

They've also beat the top team in the Eastern Conference in the Detroit Pistons. 

By the same token, they've also lost to each of the bottom four teams in the Western Conference in the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings. 

The All-Star break comes at the perfect time.