NBA training camps open in two weeks, and the Houston Rockets are one franchise that the basketball world will be keeping close tabs on this season after the moves made by the front office this summer.
While some of the members of the starting lineup for the 2025-26 NBA campaign will be easy to predict, there is at least one spot in that opening five that will not be determined until the end of training camp. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said as much during a recent community event while discussing the upcoming season with Ben DuBose of RocketsWire.
Ime Udoka Won't Decide on Houston's 5th Starter Until Training Camp
Despite Udoka maintaining that the fifth and final spot in the starting lineup is to be determined, he did seem to be more than open to the idea of former lottery pick Jabari Smith Jr. holding down that spot alongside Kevin Durant, Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, and budding superstar Alperen Sengun.
“I do think Jabari (Smith Jr.) showed tremendous growth this offseason, and obviously, he started the majority of his time here before the injury," Udoka said. "But we’ll take a look at everything. We feel we have incredible depth this year and a lot of versatility, so we could go a number of different ways, as far as that. I think some of that will be proven in training camp.”
This is the appropriate approach for Udoka to take with Smith and this remaining starting spot at this time. At the end of the day, the Rockets HC will have options depending on the opponent, and that is never a bad place to be from a planning perspective.
If Houston wants to leverage its size against opponents, then using Smith or offseason acquisition Dorian Finney-Smith as that fifth starter would make a lot of sense. On the other hand, if the Rockets felt they would have an advantage by spreading the floor and raising the tempo, they could do that as well by inserting Reed Shepherd into the starting five and having Smith be the first body off the bench.
As a former player, Udoka is more than aware of the fact that the group of five that finishes contested games is far more important than the five that are on the floor at the opening tip. Having these options at his disposal and not rushing into any decisions before training camp will free up Udoka to evaluate every avenue he has to lead the Rockets to their ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.