There have been several columns and reports, most recently one by ESPN Insider, that mention the Rockets potentially including their 2011 first round draft choice in a trade.
There have been several columns and reports, most recently one by ESPN Insider, that mention the Rockets potentially including their 2011 first round draft choice in a trade.
Only one problem — they can’t.
ClutchFans confirmed on Friday that, due to the Ted Stepien rule that restricts teams from trading away future first rounders in consecutive years, the Rockets can not currently trade their first round pick for this summer’s draft. The Terrence Williams trade, which sent Houston’s lottery-protected 2012 pick to New Jersey, has restricted the Rockets in the same fashion as the Knicks were handcuffed by the Tracy McGrady-Jordan Hill+picks deal last February.
But wait — don’t the Rockets have a 2012 pick? Technically they may have two. If the Rockets finish in the lottery in 2011-12, they keep their pick. If the Knicks’ pick doesn’t end up in the top 5, it goes to Houston.
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However, the Rockets do not have a guaranteed pick that year. If the Rockets make the playoffs and New York’s pick strikes top-5 gold, the Rockets have nothing.
There are some loopholes. The Rockets can be free of that restriction by acquiring another team’s unconditional 2011 pick or an unconditional 2012 pick. If not, they will be able to trade the pick on draft day the moment the selection is made, so technically they could work a deal beforehand and make the pick for another team, similar to what they did when they picked Rudy Gay for the Memphis Grizzlies at #8 in 2006.
One other draft pick asset to keep an eye on — the 2011 second round draft choice of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets have the option to switch second round picks with the Clippers by virtue of the Steve Novak trade in 2008. The Clips are looking like a bottom five team once again, which could make that a high second rounder (the kind that Daryl Morey and the Rockets love).
Armed with a bizarre fascination for Mario Elie and a deep love of the Houston Rockets, Dave Hardisty started ClutchFans in 1996 under the pen name “Clutch”.
For a second straight season, the Houston Rockets will be part of the eight-team Western Conference playoffs. Their seed, however, remains unknown.
With wins in their last four games, the Rockets (47-29) clinched a top-six spot in the West standings when the Suns lost at Charlotte on Thursday night. Phoenix (42-35) is currently at No. 7, and Houston owns any tiebreaker after winning the head-to-head series.
In each conference, teams seeded sixth and above advance directly to the playoffs without having to go through the NBA’s play-in tournament. Since the Rockets have only six games left in their 2025-26 regular season, it is no longer mathematically possible to fall below the Suns.
As a franchise, Houston’s playoff berths in 2025 and 2026 are a welcome turn of events after a multi-year rebuilding project at the start of the decade. From 2021 through 2024, the Rockets missed the playoffs each spring.
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With a loss by the Suns, the Houston Rockets have clinched a spot in the playoffs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Z2zAqa2hdC
Led by the All-Star duo of Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun and a pair of rising stars in Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard, the Rockets are currently seeded fifth in the West. As the regular season winds down, that ranks just ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves (46-30) and narrowly behind the Los Angeles Lakers (50-26) and Denver Nuggets (49-28).
Each team is well behind the West’s No. 2 seed, the San Antonio Spurs (58-18), so it’s a certainty that those four will be the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds, in some order. The teams seeded third and fourth will own home-court advantage (Game 1, Game 2, Game 5, and Game 7) in the resulting best-of-seven, first-round series.
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Since the Rockets will be in either the No. 3 versus No. 6 or No. 4 versus No. 5 series, it guarantees that either the Lakers, Nuggets, or Timberwolves will be their eventual first-round opponent. For the Rockets, playoffstatus.com currently lists the Nuggets at a 66% probability; the Lakers at 29%; and the Timberwolves at 4%.
As of Thursday, PlayoffStatus.com gave Houston only a 20% chance at securing a top-four seed and home-court advantage in the first round. Then again, fans learned one year ago that having home-court advantage does not guarantee success.
Houston might have an opportunity to make amends as a lower seed in 2026, though its first-round matchup won’t be against Golden State.
Furthermore, there’s this fun fact to consider: Houston’s most recent NBA championship came as a No. 6 seed, in 1995.
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Whether in Houston or away, Game 1 of the 2026 first-round series will be played on Saturday, April 18 or Sunday, April 19. A complete schedule will be announced shortly after the regular season concludes on Sunday, April 12.
With Phoenix's loss tonight, the Rockets have officially locked in a top-6 seed in the West. Houston is guaranteed a first-round best-of-seven series.
In the first two weeks of January, fourth-year forward Jabari Smith Jr. went through a brutal eight-game shooting slump, and the Rockets were 3-5 over that span.
But since mid-January, Smith’s fortunes have changed in a big way — and so, too, have those of the Rockets as a team.
In 17 games since Jan. 18, the Auburn product is averaging 17.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 51.0% overall, 42.6% on 3-pointers, and 81.4% on free throws.
Smith’s true-shooting clip is a robust 64.8% over that period, and the Rockets are 11-6 (.647) during those 17 games — second-best among all Western Conference teams. In their previous 22 games, Houston had gone 11-11.
“The last month or so I think Jabari has been catching his rhythm, understanding more his role,” All-Star forward Kevin Durant said postgame. “I know guys have been here for a while but it’s still a different team from last year, so guys have got to understand their roles a bit more. I think Bari has just stepped into his position and been great for us the last month.”
For Smith, it was his first time since February 2024 to score 20+ points in consecutive games.
Yet, it wasn’t just about the scoring, as Smith also finished with 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals against the Jazz. In postgame comments from Toyota Center, the versatile 6-foot-11 forward said he believes those types of defensive contributions often fuel his offense.
“I think it was about my mindset going into the games,” Smith said of his recent improvements. “Like I always say, if I do the other things, I usually play well.”
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”I’m not going into the game worrying about when my shot is going to come, or when I’m going to get the ball. I’m just trying to focus on crashing, and doing other things. Playing defense, rebounding. Usually, when I focus on those things, the game just comes more naturally to me. I’m not thinking about it, and I just feel like I’m in a better flow.”
And at just 22 years old, Houston’s No. 3 overall pick from the 2022 draft still has plenty of time to get even better. Asked Monday whether he feels he’s emerging as one of the better two-way players in the NBA, Smith didn’t mince words.
“For sure,” Smith told Kelly Iko of Yahoo! Sports.
“As I keep focusing on the defensive end and on the little things, I think I’m only going to keep getting better. The game is slowing down for me this year, and teammates are helping me. I feel like I’m in a good flow right now.”
“To answer your question, yes, for sure.”
For the 2025-26 season overall, Smith is now averaging career-highs in points (15.6 per game), 3-point shooting (37.0%), and true shooting (57.1%), and his combination of size and shooting allows him to space the floor and impact games without being ball dominant.
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Defensively, Smith ranks in the 88th percentile in blocks and 78th percentile in defensive rebounding among NBA forwards, per Cleaning the Glass.
As a team source recently told ClutchFans, “He’s Mr. Reliable.”
For more insight on Smith’s recent play, check out the ClutchFans YouTube channel for live postgame reaction to each game! Monday’s late episode features Dave Hardisty and Jeff Balke.
Will Kevin Durant’s alleged social media “burner” comments affect the Rockets?
At least through one game — Thursday’s impressive road win at Charlotte, led by a dominant showing from Durant — the answer appears to be no. (At least not negatively!)
With that victory and a Denver loss, Houston (34-20) climbed to No. 3 in the tightly packed Western Conference standings. Next up is Saturday’s showdown at Madison Square Garden, where tipoff versus the New York Knicks is at 7:30 p.m. Central on ABC.
In recent days, we had a pair of YouTube live streams reacting to the latest developments. Wednesday’s show with ClutchFans’ Dave Hardisty and Ben DuBose broke down Durant’s interview comments related to the scandal, while Thursday’s show with Hardisty, DuBose, and Chron.com’s Michael Shapiro offers key takeaways from an important win over the Hornets.
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You can watch those shows below, and if you haven’t seen the alleged Durant commentary regarding at least two of his teammates, you can read those messages here. Judge for yourself.
Houston didn’t make a move at Thursday’s in-season trade deadline, but the Rockets did get a much-needed victory in Saturday’s 112-106 win at Oklahoma City.
For the Rockets, it’s their first win of 2025-26 against the defending NBA champs. Houston (32-19) remains at No. 4 in the Western Conference standings, while the top-seeded Thunder (40-13) continue to own the league’s best record.
Featuring Ben DuBose, Paulo Alves, and ClutchFans’ Dave Hardisty, Saturday’s postgame show reacts to both the trade deadline and that nationally televised Rockets-Thunder showdown.
Topics include offensive growth by Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr.; an apparent step forward for Alperen Sengun on defense; what general manager Rafael Stone considered at the deadline; and potential buyout options and trade targets over the coming weeks and months.
The Rockets began January with a 3-5 record in their first eight games, and that included a winless road trip in Portland (twice) and Sacramento.
But after finishing with seven wins in nine games, Houston (30-17) enters February at No. 4 in the Western Conference standings.
Late Saturday, ClutchFans Editor Dave Hardisty teamed up with Ben DuBose (USA TODAY’s Rockets Wire) to recap the ABC primetime showdown. That video is available to watch here, as are postgame notes issued by the team.
Topics on the show include recent improvements from both Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr., with the latter on a clearly upward trajectory in late January.
— With the win, the Rockets split the season series versus the Mavs, 2-2. Houston closed out January by winning seven of its final nine games, while Dallas has lost a season-high tying four straight. The Mavericks had previously won a season-high four in a row.
— Houston held Dallas to 107 points and improved to 21-1 when allowing fewer than 110 points this season. The Rockets held opponents to 106.4 points per game in 17 January games, down from 112.0 points in the first 30 games of the season.
— The Rockets won despite shooting 41.7% from the floor. Houston has won three of its past four games while shooting below 45.0%, all after having just three previous wins (in 2025-26) when doing so. The Rockets had 108 shot attempts, tying for their second-highest total in a non-overtime game going back to 1986-87.
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— Houston had a season-high tying 33 assists with a season-low 6 turnovers. The Rockets are averaging 27.3 assists over the past seven games after averaging 20.8 the eight games prior. Houston has recorded 12 or fewer turnovers in consecutive games for the second time this season (Nov. 12-Nov. 14).
— Six Rockets scored in double-figures, including all five starters. The last time Houston’s entire starting lineup scored 10+ points was in Brooklyn on Jan. 1.
— Amen Thompson had 21 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. He has scored 20+ points in two of the past three games and 20 times overall this season, all after doing so 18 times in his first two seasons, combined. For the month of January, Thompson averaged 18.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.71 steals per game. [Video Highlights]
— Tari Eason had 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals while shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He has scored 15+ points in five of his 10 games played this month after doing so five times his first 16 games played this season (the Rockets went 7-3 in those games). Eason has recorded 2+ steals in each of his past four games played, marking his longest streak since a five-game span in November 2024. [Video Highlights]
— Josh Okogie had 13 points, 5 rebounds, a steal, and a block off the bench while shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range. He has scored in double-figures in each of the past two games after not scoring 10+ in any of the 21 previous games. From 3-point range, Okogie has hit 10 treys on 47.6% shooting over the past seven games, and he is shooting a career-high 39.3% this season. [Video Highlights]
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— Cooper Flagg had a game-high 34 points along with a career-high 12 rebounds and 5 assists. He scored a career-high 49 points in the Mavs’ last game versus Charlotte on Jan. 29. Dating back to 1996-97, Flagg’s 83 points is the third-highest two-game total by a rookie. He is the fourth different Dallas rookie to have scored 30+ points in consecutive games (Mark Aguirre, Luka Dončić, Jay Vincent).
Houston resumes play Monday at Indiana (13-36), and our ClutchFans Live postgame show will react to both that night’s action and the in-season trade deadline of Thursday, February 5. Chron.com’s Michael Shapiro will be our featured guest, so tune in!
