On paper, the Houston Rockets are one of the deepest and most talented teams in the NBA. It's easy to argue that they don't need much else to be a top-tier championship contender to begin the 2025-26 season. Yet, the best teams in the league don't stop looking for value on the margins and bringing more talent in the door.
The NBA regular season is a long grind, and every member of the 15-man roster, plus the three two-way players, will get an opportunity at some point in the 82-game campaign. Considering how important it will be for the Rockets to have home-court advantage in the loaded Western Conference, they need to have reliable depth.
That is why it behooves general manager Rafael Stone to add one more backcourt player with some offensive juice and shooting ability. Enter Landry Shamet.
Landry Shamet Would Be Ideal Late Offseason Addition for Rockets
Shamet, who spent last season with the New York Knicks, is still unsigned in free agency and would be a great fit in Houston. The 28-year-old is not only a former teammate of Kevin Durant from Phoenix, but he is also one of the better shooters left on the market. The veteran shooting guard is a career 38.5% shooter from downtown and is coming off a season in which he hit 39.7% of his threes on 3.1 attempts in 15.2 minutes per game.
This would immediately make the 6'4" guard one of the best shooters on the Rockets' roster. While Shamet may struggle to find consistent playing time in Houston, reliable shooters who can space the floor are always needed.
The Rockets will always have at least one non-shooting center on the floor between Steven Adams, Clint Capela, and Alperen Şengün. Plus, Amen Thompson and Tari Eason are poor shooters for their positions. To optimize lineups that have multiple of these non-shooters on the floor together, the Rockets may need to put floor spacers like Shamet around them.
There is a reason why Shamet is still available. He doesn't do much else on the court. However, he is not completely hopeless on the defensive side of the ball. Plus, the Rockets don't need him to do anything else but take threes and play hard on the other end. If Shamet can do that, he would be a good addition to this Rockets team.