What the Rockets Can Take Away From the Knicks’ Championship Blueprint

If the New York Knicks can do it, anyone can.

After 53 years, the Knicks are NBA champions. For anyone who watched New York before its epic turnaround in 2021, that sounds extremely strange. But with no back-to-back champion since 2017 and 2018, the window is open for everyone, including the Houston Rockets.

Houston came into the 2025-26 season with high hopes, but so much derailment in the form of underwhelming production and injuries has kept the organization in that second tier. How does it break into title contention?

The Knicks (and the champions before them) proved what it takes to win it all. This is a new NBA where the pieces that led to rings before no longer work. What can the Rockets take away from New York's run?

Small Guards Can Win Too

Stephen Curry. Isiah Thomas. Jalen Brunson. The only guards 6-foot-3 or shorter to lead their teams to championships. In a league dominated by height and building your teams around forwards and centers, Brunson has proven that the little guys can get it done too.

There isn't one thing about the 2026 Finals MVP that makes him a superstar. Brunson is stronger than the fastest and faster than the strongest.

The Rockets don't have a Brunson, but Fred VanVleet is already an NBA champion with a similar skill set in a much smaller capacity. The veteran and former All-Star is a great ball handler with great leadership and the ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor as an elite role player in this chapter of his career.

With a $25 million player option looming, Houston should keep this in mind when figuring out how it wants to build the roster for 2027. The Rockets can restructure VanVleet's contract for the second summer in a row, and with so few viable replacements on the market, they should keep him for the future.

Depth, Not Star Power

Houston has been linked to a few stars, and as much as we want to speculate and create scenarios in which the organization lands a Giannis Antetokounmpo or Jaylen Brown (guilty!), the most important aspect of a champion in a modern era is depth.

The Knicks' rotation went from barely scratching seven players under Tom Thibodeau to legitimately reaching nine or even 10 under Mike Brown. New York kept its players well rested for the big moments, but a major part of that is also having the talent to go that deep.

The Rockets could certainly sacrifice some assets to land a big star if the right player is available for the right price. But they can't afford to run a six or seven-man rotation in the playoffs. There have to be options with different specialities. Not to mention, Houston's young core is still developing at an impressive rate.

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