The Whiteboard: How the Rockets howl at the moon

The Houston Rockets howl at the moon.

I can talk about how they’ve got that dawg in them, but if you’ve watched them play for a minute this season, you don’t need my help in gauging their canine tendencies.

There are a lot of ways to win 50-plus games in the NBA. You can be more talented than everyone else with a pretty good infrastructure. You can play with discipline and control, beating the bad teams and division opponents, win your home games and just play to a high enough floor that the 82-game season gives you enough opportunities.

Or you can be that team that tries to tear the throat out of every game. It’s not just hustle, because even the bad teams have guys who will work for it. It’s a collective attitude that means you want to win every possession. Every dribble. Every pass. Every shot.

Houston’s that squad this year, third in schedule-adjusted defense, third defending the rim and fourth defending the 3, and eighth in steal percentage.

The Dawgiest Dawgs

If you want proof of their dawg-ness, the biggest praise for the Rockets has come for two players off their bench, the aptly named “Terror Twins” Tari Eason and Amen Thompson. Space City Scoop broke down what their defensive metrics indicate about their breakout seasons.

Thompson has been so impressive, including huge plays like he made on offense late in the Cup win vs. the Wolves last Tuesday, that one league insider texted me this week, “Amen Thompson might be their guy going forward.”

As in, “The Guy.” As in, “The Franchise Star.”

It’s all good times and fun vibes with the Terror Twins and how good Houston’s been overall.

An unlikely hero

Much of their success with the starters is due to … Dillon Brooks?! That’s right, Dillon The Villain has been one of the most impactful players in the league this season, a fact no one seems to want to acknowledge because of preconceived notions about him after the Memphis debacle.

Remember the “Get Ready To Learn Chinese” memes? Instead, Brooks has had the 18th-best on/off differential in non-garbage-time per Cleaning The Glass.

Space City Scoops made mention that the Brooks contract has aged like fine wine. Now, I don’t expect that to hold. Brooks has been shooting great and made huge shot after huge shot, but regression is likely. When it comes, people won’t remember how important he’s been to this early start.

If it holds? That’s a different deal.

The kids are all right

Meanwhile, Alperen Şengün has shrugged off a slow start and is all the way up to 14th in EPM at DunksAndThrees.com. There still seems to be some uncertainty from Houston about Şengün being the franchise guy, but he’s absolutely a player that’s going to help them win.

And then there’s Jalen Green. Green had a great start for about 10 days, and has turned back into a pumpkin. Green is fifth worst in TrueShooting% added at Basketball-Reference. This would be fine if he were a top-tier playmaker (he’s fine-to-good, not great) or defender (he’s the worst defender among the starters).

The Rockets explored trading Green last season, according to multiple league sources (and several reports). That’s not uncommon for a player coming up on the extension he was last summer when Houston committed to a three-year, $106 million extension.

Whatever the future holds for Houston building a contender, Green is likely the odd man out.

The trade conundrum for the Houston Rockets

The Rockets were linked to trade talks for Kevin Durant last season and then shorted KD’s current team by trading for all of their future picks from Brooklyn. They were linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo as a potential suitor if Giannis asked out several weeks ago. The Athletic refuted that report], but it should be noted Houston — like most teams — tells national reporters one thing and local reporters another.

You can easily argue that Houston shouldn't trade at all. Thompson, Sengun, maybe Reed Sheppard could become anything, even a superstar! But the model of this team looks much more like teams that have the structure of a contender, but not the ability to score well enough against well-scouting defenses. And that's OK! They're young and not ready for that. But long-term, having four guys who could be No. 2's on a title team is an exciting and dangerous place to be.

Houston has to be careful, though. They have to not just make a superstar trade, difficult enough, but the Right Trade. What does that look like? Well, go back to 2012. A Houston Rockets team that had been competitive for a half-decade without a marquee star built up draft equity (the Suns’ picks) and then cashed them in for a potential star in a Sixth Man role named James Harden.

It can’t be Jimmy Butler. It can’t be Joel Embiid. It can’t even really be Durant. It’s got to be a star ready to become a superstar on the younger side of 26. That kind of player, alongside any combination of their young players (Sengun, Thompson, a quietly improving Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard), sets them up.

Houston’s regular season resume looks like a contender. Their team profile looks like a team that can make the conference finals. Defense, efficiency, and DAWGness can take you far, but not all the way.

The question is how to capitalize on what feels like an infinite upside without making the misstep of one wrong turn in the superstar department. This year is super fun for the Rockets.

This summer is when the big questions have to be answered.

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NBA news roundup

• The Cavaliers knocked off the Celtics Sunday, getting revenge for Boston handing them their first loss two weeks ago. No Jaylen Brown or Derrick White for the Celtics, but Cleveland will take it as they even the season series behind an electric Donovan Mitchell performance. Still, the Cavs allowed 49 3-point attempts for Boston, and in a prospective playoff series, that dog won't hunt.

• The Rockets got their best win of the season, this time over the Thunder. A phenomenal back-and-forth game with some pushy officiating finished with Dillon Brooks hitting the big fadeaway after using a fallen Alperen Sengun's legs to screen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander free. Houston continues to show they're ready to contend for the West crown right now.

• The Lakers edged the Jazz when Jazz coach Will Hardy called timeout just as Collin Sexton was putting up what would have been the game-winning layup. I'm sure the Jazz front office was real heartbroken before they returned to watching Cooper Flagg highlights.

• Hall of Famer Marc Stein reports Utah Jazz bigman John Collins could be on the move again soon. Collins is having a nice bounce-back season and provides a versatile stretch for a team looking to add firepower.

The best of the best

As we enter play Monday, here are the teams that are top-five in both schedule-adjusted offense and defense at DunksAndThrees:

1. Boston Celtics (first in offense, ninth in defense): Boston's defense isn't quite what it was last year. They're still going wild from three so it likely doesn't matter, but it's something to watch as they are even more dependent on threes falling than last year.

2. Dallas Mavericks (fourth in offense, ninth in defense): I don't think anyone realizes how good the Mavericks have been, even with Luka Doncic out until Sunday night. With Doncic back and putting up MVP numbers in his return, there's a good chance the Mavericks become the "it" team in the West before Christmas.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (seventh offense, first defense): Playing OKC continues to be like what one coach referred to it last year, "a root canal." They switch everything, contest everything and lead the league in steals. Their shooting hasn't even caught up yet. Of the three, this is the team I'm most confident will finish top five in both categories.