The Houston Rockets have seemingly made a decision on how to handle their long-impending starting lineup conundrum. On Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they elected to have career starter Jabari Smith Jr. make his injury return coming off the bench. But the Rockets still have yet another starter on his way back from injury. Is it any clearer yet how the Rockets’ starting lineup will close the season?
Is The Rockets’ Starting Lineup Situation Any Clearer?
Why The Rockets’ Starting Lineup Is In Flux
The Rockets have had a conundrum awaiting them for some time. It’s a good kind of problem to have. They have too many starter-quality forwards. The problem, such as it is, came to the forefront during Smith’s injury. His spot in the lineup was filled by the versatile Amen Thompson. Thompson proceeded to establish himself as one of Houston’s three cornerstone pieces.
Though the Rockets’ record eroded during Smith’s absence, the injury that really chipped away at it was to starting point guard Fred VanVleet. The hope was for the Rockets to return from the All-Star break in full health. With Smith and VanVleet available, Rockets fans would have gotten the first unobstructed look at the teams’ starting lineup to close the season. As it turned out, VanVleet was not available as quickly as the team had hoped. The Rockets played their first game back from the All-Star break still missing the pilot who steers the ship. So it was telling that head coach Ime Udoka still opted to bring Smith off the bench.
Smith’s New Role
Somewhat bizarrely, Smith came off the bench but still played 38 minutes. That has Udoka’s egalitarian basketball manifesto written all over it though. When players play well, Udoka keeps them on the floor, when players do not play well, he does not. There are exceptions of course. Udoka has no qualms with shoving VanVleet out there for forty minutes during a poor shooting performance because of how much he values his leadership and decision-making.
Initially, one might suppose that Smith coming off the bench could be specific to his return. But with 38 minutes played in the first game, there’s not much ramping up going on. Instead, it would seem that Smith was being introduced to his future role. The flow of the game merely tossed some extra minutes his way. So what is that role?
Smith played as the primary backup to starting center and All-Star Alperen Sengun in this game. Steven Adams appeared as a more traditional option in that spot for only four and a half minutes and was an unusual -10 in them. In some matchups, where the bigger body of Adams would hold more value, things would be different. Even in this game though, Smith spent the majority of his minutes alongside an established center, so he’s more of a stretch-big than a stretch-five. The logic may simply be that offensively-starved bench lineups need Smith’s shooting even more than the starters do.
A Seventh Possible Starter?
There’s also the player who wound up starting in Smith and VanVleet’s place to consider. That was Tari Eason. Eason has proven himself to be an electrifying impact player for Houston all season long. Whether Eason should start over Smith was a question fans were asking back in November while Smith endured his opening shooting slump. Since then, Smith is up 36.6% from three on the season though, a valuable number in a team with such limited shooting.
So with Eason being reintroduced as a seventh available option to start, the starting lineup question only mutates instead of resolves. Who will go to the bench when VanVleet comes back? The most likely answer is still Eason. VanVleet himself is a popular choice among some fans though. It’s understandable for a fanbase to want to see the youngsters handed more responsibility. Can Thompson ever be a point guard? Can the enigmatic Jalen Green leave fans feeling ecstatic more often than anemic? The team has undoubtedly grown during VanVleet’s absence, with Green, in particular, being excellent against Minnesota.
But the chances of VanVleet sliding to a bench role this season seem exceedingly slim. Whether he or Eason will be available for Saturday night’s second of a back-to-back against the Utah Jazz remains to be seen. Beyond that, the veteran and culture-setter Dillon Brooks is another potential option as a sixth man. Benching Brooks would be out of character for Udoka though. He notably elevated a similar player in Marcus Smart during his lone Boston Celtics season.
The Last Word
Fans were hoping to have the starting lineup question laid to rest for this season. Until everybody’s healthy on the same night though, it will unavoidably continue to prowl. The Rockets have a favorable remaining schedule, a fresh win in their pocket, and a real chance at securing a top-four playoff seed. Whatever the Rockets starting lineup winds up being to close the season, the fans can feel good about it.
Photo credit: © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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