Shooting Is Priority No. 1 For The Rockets

The Houston Rockets have a glaring weakness that separates them from the top tier teams in the NBA. Most of the top teams have at least a few elite shooters who can knock down three-point shots at a high rate. These players help space the floor for their stars to give more space for the best players to play their ideal games.

If spacing is the ultimate goal of having shooters, the Rockets are suffering from the lack of this element.

With several non-shooters on the floor, the remaining starters must contribute even more to the three-point shooting to balance the court and create more space for the team's best players.

Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün are the two, high-volume non-shooters who initiate much of the offense. Teams have countered against this duo by placing a big on Thompson to guard the paint and force Thompson to shoot. Şengün will then be forced to play isolation against handsy wings that don't allow him to fully turn towards the basket without them getting a hand on the ball.

The return of Fred VanVleet and Kevin Durant, along with improvement from Jabari Smith Jr. should result in more space for these players to play in the middle of the floor and in the paint.

Thompson's presence in the dunker spot creates vertical pressure on the rim when Şengün is rolling to the rim. The only way to benefit from his presence in that spot is by making sure there are secondary threats on the perimeter to knock down shots whenever teams collapse into the paint.

Smith Jr. must be better in the regular season, and Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard must be more consistent from three.

Eason had an incredible shooting start, but his struggles later in the season carried over into important games to end the season and into the playoffs. Sheppard hasn't found consistent ways to get efficient shots for himself, despite being an excellent floor spacer when he's on.

The issue is, the Rockets aren't getting consistent enough shooting from their top shooters to make defenses pay. Steven Adams should return and bring back the element of elite offensive rebounding on missed shots. Offensive rebounds can create some of the most efficient three-point shots in half-court offense.

However, the team actually has to finish those opportunities. So far, they haven't gotten enough production from their shooters to play the type of offense that could be viable in the playoffs. Whether through improvements from returning players, or by acquiring shooters in the offseason, shooting is a major factor needing to be addressed by the Rockets heading into next season.

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