Since its March launch, the Mind the Game podcast by NBA legend LeBron James and former player (and current league analyst) JJ Redick has drawn a substantial amount of interest and praise for its insights related to professional basketball, both past and present. On a new episode, unfortunately, the 2017-18 Houston Rockets caught a stray from James (who laughed upon making his comments). Led by James Harden, Chris Paul, and head coach Mike D’Antoni, those Rockets finished with an NBA-leading record of 65-17, which remains the best in franchise history. They were the No. 1 seed in the 2018 West ..read more

Sunday, May 12 is less than two weeks away, and with that comes the NBA’s annual draft lottery. For teams holding first-round lottery assets, or at least the potential to hold one pending lottery results, it’s one of the most important days on the league calendar. Picks originally belonging to the 14 teams who didn’t make the 2023-24 playoffs will be included in a weighted lottery to determine the top-four overall selections in the first round. From there, the remainder will be sorted by record, from worst to best. The Houston Rockets own Brooklyn’s 2024 first-round draft pick as pa ..read more

In new comments, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta confirmed his interest in bringing the WNBA back to the city and said he plans to register his interest with the league in the coming weeks. From 1997 through 2008, Houston was home to the now-shuttered Comets. “I feel like WNBA expansion is going to always work better and has a better chance of success in a city like Houston, where the Rockets are one of the strong [NBA] teams from a financial standpoint,” Fertitta said in a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle. “I think that I would probably be the natural owner.” A WNBA spokeswoman decli ..read more

By virtually any objective measure, 2023-24 was a very successful season for the young and rebuilding Houston Rockets. After averaging fewer than 20 wins per season over the previous three years, the 2023-24 Rockets (41-41) became just the 10th NBA team in history — and the fifth in the last 30 years — to immediately follow a season of 60 or more losses with a non-losing season. Houston’s 19-win improvement from 2022-23 (when they finished 22-60) was the largest year-on-year increase in the NBA this season, and the second-biggest annual jump in franchise history. General manager Rafael Stone p ..read more

Though he has technically been with the Houston Rockets since early February, veteran center Steven Adams will not play his first game for the team until this fall. He missed the 2023-24 NBA season after undergoing surgery for a lingering knee injury in October. But he is expected to be fully healthy when 2024-25 training camp begins in late September or early October. At that time, Adams will slide in as a backup and defensive complement to Alperen Sengun. Here’s what general manager Rafael Stone told Vanessa Richardson, courtside reporter for Space City Home Network (the team’s regional broa ..read more

Though his season ended a few weeks early because of a March 10 ankle injury, the 2023-24 campaign was a massive breakthrough for third-year Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun. On a per-game basis, the 21-year-old Turkish big man led Houston in scoring (21.1 points) and rebounds (9.3) while shooting 53.7%, a team-high among rotation players. With Sengun as an offensive focal point, the Rockets (41-41) improved by 19 wins from the previous season, which was the best year-on-year growth of any NBA team. Sengun was a finalist for the league’s Most Improved Player award and drew heavy All-Star ..read more

Entering their fourth NBA seasons, the Houston Rockets have two promising prospects in Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun who are eligible for contract extensions during the preceding 2024 offseason. But to maximize financial flexibility relative to the NBA’s salary cap, the Rockets could be incentivized to wait until 2025. If Green and Sengun are each seeking a maximum-salary deal, there isn’t much upside to signing a contract a year early, since Houston would have matching rights in restricted free agency and lower cap-hold figures. The calculus could change, however, if either player would do a ..read more

Have the NBA Playoffs been kind to the Chicago Bulls over their franchise history? See how the Bulls have performed in the NBA postseason every year below. Chicago Bulls Playoff History Playoff Record: 187-162 Appearances: 36 Last Playoff Appearance: 2022 (Defeated in First Round by Bucks) Finals Appearances: 6 Championships: 6 Chicago Bulls Best Playoff Player Performances Michael Jordan vs. Boston Celtics (1986) Playoff Round: First Round Result: Loss, 135-131 Points: 63 Rebounds: 5 Assists: 6 Steals: 3 Michael Jordan vs. Miami Heat (1992) Playoff Round: First Round Result: Win, 119-1 ..read more

As the No. 4 draft pick of the NBA’s 2023 first round, Amen Thompson joined the Rockets last year as Houston’s point guard of the future. Eventually, that could still be the case. But as a rookie on a team with veteran Fred VanVleet at point guard, head coach Ime Udoka found different ways to utilize his athletic 6-foot-7 prospect, including a number of off-ball roles. With considerable value as a rebounder and defender, Thompson quickly showed off his versatility, and that became more important once starting center Alperen Sengun went down with a season-ending leg injury in March. Sengun’s ab ..read more

Citing their different positions, the Rockets have expressed confidence in the long-term fit of Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun. The same goes for other members of Houston’s emerging young core. Yet, general manager Rafael Stone acknowledges that blending different playing styles together isn’t always easy. The key, as he sees it, is to minimize weaknesses. In a new interview with Vanessa Richardson of Space City Home Network (SCHN), the team’s regional television broadcast partner, Stone was asked about the his views of the Green-Sengun pairing. Among his comments: I do think it’s incumbent u ..read more