Houston Rockets Roster 2025: Full Breakdown of the Team

The Houston Rockets have gone through a major shuffle in the recent season and are one of the most versatile teams in the NBA right now. However, they were ignored for a long time since they were in their rebuilding phase. This year, this team has suddenly come to the highlight recently for locking a big star. The Houston Rockets roster has got a convincing guiding light who can finally lead the team of young ones to a competitive presence in the world. It is one of those chances that we will discuss in the following piece, but it can be said for sure that the Houston Rockets have gone through a groundbreaking change this year. There are chances that this team might contend for the playoffs this year. So let's move ahead with the discussion on the Houston Rockets roster in the 2025 season, key players to watch, new additions, and what we can expect from the team in the 2025-26 season.

Houston Rockets Roster 2025

This year, the Houston Rockets have not made any major changes. Rather, instead of doing multiple trades, the team management performed a seven-team trade to handle the lack of a star player on their roster. The Rockets lost a number of players that we will discuss later in the piece. However, they also got Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns and Clint Capela from the Atlanta Hawks. Apart from the offseason changes, the Houston Rockets front office also picked up two players from the 2025 NBA Draft class. So, after all the changes that the team has gone through, the Houston Rockets roster for the time being looks like the following, as per ESPN archives:

The Rockets made it to the playoffs for the first time in 2025 after their 2020 appearance. They even ended their regular season with second place in the Western Conference and a winning percentage of 63.4%. Since they have gone through immense change this offseason under head coach Ime Udoka, there are chances that the Rockets are eyeing a greater finish in the 2025-26 season.

Houston Rockets Key Players

The Houston Rockets ended the 2024-25 season just below the 2025 NBA Champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the Western Conference. Rockets had a 52-30 record with a 63.4% winning chance in the regular season. A major credit for that performance goes to the center, Alperen Sengun, who recorded above 10 points and rebounds with above-average shooting accuracy from the floor and three-point line. There is another player whom the Houston Rockets have added is Kevin Durant, who might become the backbone of the team in the upcoming season.

A few standout players have shaped the Rockets’ resurgence in 2025. These key Houston Rockets players have emerged as the engine behind the team’s newfound cohesion, growth, and increasing win totals. Let’s dive into the top 3 who have left the biggest mark this season.

#1: Alperen Sengun (Center)

Alperen Sengun carried the Houston franchise throughout the 2024-25 season as the guiding light. At just 22 years old, the Turkish big man has made sure to establish his separate identity in the league as a creative center. Sengun’s passing vision and footwork around the rim are not anything less than the elite centers of the league, like Nikola Jokic. His presence even under the rim provided opportunities to the perimeter shooters of the Houston Rockets. Eventually, it added edge to the team's offense in the NBA.

In the 2024–25 season, Sengun dished out 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game, while shooting over 49.6% from the field. Before that, in the 2023-24 season, Alperen tallied 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. His points tally might not be better than the previous season. Yet his rebounding has improved. Moreover, his quick horizontal movements have elevated the level of pick-and-roll play that the Houston Rockets roster performs on the court. With a frame of 6 feet and 11 inches, he was an original pick for the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, his ultimate destination in the NBA was the Houston Rockets with whom he has been playing since 2021.

#2: Jalen Green (Shooting Guard)

Jalen Green was hailed as one of the most dreaded shooters when he entered the league as the overall second pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Over the years, the 23-year-old shooting guard has made sure that he stands up to his reputation. This year, Jalen recorded 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Even in terms of accuracy, Jalen had a much better record on the team. He shot 42.3% from the floor and 35.4% from the three-point line. Moreover, he has also improved his other traits, like a lower number of turnovers on the court, along with greater efficiency and sharp reflexes.

In the 2023-24 season, Green averaged 19.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. The best performance that Jalen Green has delivered in the NBA in terms of scoring was in the 2022-23 season. The Rockets' shooting guard had 22.1 points per game, along with 3.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. However, his floor accuracy and parameter shooting were not efficient at that time. In the 2022-23 season, he had shot 41.7% from the floor and 33.8% from the three-point line. What’s worth noting is that Green’s has become more focused on defense. He has worked on his quick movements and athleticism to maintain consistency in those aspects.

#3: Kevin Durant (Power Forward)

The league veteran Kevin Durant will start his new innings as a power forward for the Houston Rockets from the 2025-26 season. The Rockets got him through the 7 team trade that took place on July 6, 2025. KD might not be the dagger that he once was on the court, yet his edge is still better than the young ones. Last year, he won the Paris Olympics gold while representing the USMNB with his prolific three-pointers. Even at the age of 36, he is redefining what the standard of players in the NBA should be.

In the 2024-25 season, he dished out 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. What's worth getting attention is that he shot with 43.0% accuracy from beyond-the-arc and 52.7% accuracy from the floor. But he displayed such performance for the Phoenix Suns while getting 36.5 minutes of average playing time. If he gets the same or better playing time at the Houston Rockets, there are chances he might give a better look to the audience at what he can still do as a player. Durant is still one of the legends of the game who can pull a team out of trouble with their fades and sharp moves. The innate ability to move at will is what makes Kevin different from other aged ballers in the NBA.

Houston Rockets Draft Picks 2025

Coming to the Houston Rockets Draft Picks 2025, there were only two players. The first one was the round 1 tenth pick and round 2 fifty-ninth pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The first pick they got was from the Phoenix Suns, while the second-round pick came to the team through a three-team trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Later on, the Rockets traded their first and second-round picks along with Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to the Phoenix Suns. This trade was announced on June 22 and later took place in July. Apparently, the Houston Rockets does not have any draft picks player in the team right now. Rather, they traded them to gain a star like Kevin Durant. So let's move ahead with the discussion on the draft picks of the Houston Rockets.

Khaman Maluach (Center)

Khaman Maluach is a 7'2" center who goes by the full name of Khaman Madit Maluach. Maluach is known for his shot-blocking and originally hails from South Sudan. He attended Duke College for a year and then started playing in the Basketball Africa League. He is just 18 years old, yet he earned his place so early in the NBA. Maluach has made his reputation through international appearances and defensive prowess for rebounding, along with an evolution of offense under the rim. Right now, he is with the Phoenix Suns since he was part of the trade under which the Rockets got Kevin Durant.

So in the long term, he can emerge as the defensive center of the Suns and earn the star title with hard work and on-court success. Khaman is quite agile around the arc so that he can move quickly and be the screen for the primary scorer on the opponent's end. Overall, he has the potential of a great player, but he just needs the right guidance. And who knows, he might end up at the Houston Rockets once again in the future.

Jahmai Mashack (Shooting Guard)

With a height of 6 feet 4 inches, Jahmai Mashack is a shooting guard for the Memphis Grizzlies. Through the Houston Rockets, Jahmai was first traded to the Phoenix Suns and then to the Memphis Grizzlies. He went to the University of Tennessee for four years from 2021 to 2025 and pursued collegiate basketball there. After completing four years of his collegiate eligibility, Jahmai Mashack entered the NBA world. As a shooting guard, Mashack was not a standout performer on the Volunteers' team. That's why he got his place among teh second-round picks in the draft. In the last year of his college, Jahmai averaged 6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, which is not a mind-blowing stat, but enough to contribute to the team. Overall, the shooting guard has the scope of evolving as a team piece who can stand up to the team's expectations in the late quarters of the game. It might not be as flashy as the individual prowess, but it helps in the rebuilding phase of the teams.

Houston Rockets Season Expectations

The Houston Rockets have carefully carved the roster for the 2024–25 NBA season. By the end of the 2024-25 season, the Houston Rockets finished 4th in the league. So with the arrival of Kevin Durant into the team, they now have the guiding light to lead them in the clutch moments. Moreover, more than a decade of experience with KD might also develop skills in the young players of the team who will later form the backbone of the team. That's why the NBA franchise has a scope of going beyond the first round of playoffs and even chances of topping the Western Conference rankings.

So far, they have signed Dorian Finney-Smith in the Free Agency and have landed Clint Capela during the trades. So already this defensive squad seems to be capable of going in the finals and competing for their earned place. However, coach Ime Udoka must maximize his tactics of forming a strong defensive core and moving ahead with a smooth offensive transition. Dillon Brooks might not be there to support the team, but the Houston Rockets have got new pillars who must learn to move together as a team. They took the first round of playoffs to Game 7 against an elite team like the Golden State Warriors. So there are chances that we might get to see an upset in the upcoming playoffs of the 2025-26 season.