The NBA's offseason's most intriguing feature – the free agency market – is coming to an end. Right now, the biggest fish on the free market is Markkanen of the Jazz, but Angie's outrageous asking price could make a deal difficult to close. In the absence of a trade and the uncertainty of Shin Kyung's and Green's contract extensions, the Rockets still have three pieces of news today, let's take a look.
First of all, the first piece of news is about Shepard, the Rockets' scout. According to ESPN's real-time rankings and the voting results of many authoritative experts, they are unanimously optimistic that Shepard will win the best rookie next season.
After the end of the summer league, everyone saw Shepard's strength. Although Shepard's static talent is not excellent, his delicate skills, excellent big-picture vision and winning mentality have determined that he will not become a parallel commodity. Throughout the Summer League, Shepard averaged 20 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, while shooting over 50% from the field!
Shepard was a member of the Summer League Team of the Year, and only Shepard was selected for the 2024 Lotto Show. At the moment, there are not many players who can compete with Shepard for the best rookie, none other than Spurs Castle, Lakers Cornekt and Grizzlies Zach · Eady. But Shepard will definitely be on top of these players next season, and he has a good chance of winning the ROY award!
The second news is about VanVleet, according to Jeremy · Gretzer, the Rockets will most likely not exercise VanVleet's player option after next season. VanVleet, who is averaging 17.4 points and 8.1 assists per game this season, is 30 years old and should have been just a transitional option for the Rockets at the No. 1 spot.
Van Vliet is inefficient offensively, limited by his size, and extremely limited in his defensive impact. What's more, VanVleet's contract for the 2025-2026 season will reach more than 44 million, which will seriously affect the Rockets' next contract renewal operation, and it should be no problem to let him go. Not to mention that after Amen and Shepard grow up next season, the Rockets' No. 1 spot will not be too short of people.
The final piece of news is about Tari · Ethan, who, according to the bleachers, has improved significantly in the offseason. If Eason is measured by the standards of a 3-and-D player, his current shortcoming should be only shooting. It is precisely because of this lack of basic ability that the coaching staff team has stepped up training for Ethan in the off-season.
Ethan's three-point shooting is still good, and his three-point shooting percentage is 38 percent for the new season. If Ethan can successfully achieve his goal, he will definitely be part of the Rockets' future plans!