The 2024-25 season ended earlier than some Houston Rockets fans had hoped for, as their team suffered a 4-3 loss to the Golden State Warriors despite having home-court advantage. While the home Game 7 loss was certainly disappointing, the future is bright for the young Rockets, as no one before the season expected this team to be a 50-win group who would be a top-four seed in the Western Conference.
Even though there is plenty of reason to be optimistic for the future in Houston, making the jump from a playoff team to a contender is much harder than going from a lottery team to a playoff group. That means that GM Rafael Stone has to nail the offseason decisions, including free agent signings to address the weaknesses of the roster.
The primary weakness of the Rockets is obviously the half-court offense. The team struggled to get consistently good looks in the half-court against the Warriors. They more than made up for it through offensive rebounding and getting out in transition in the regular season, but that is harder to rely on when things get bogged down in the playoffs.
Rockets Must Target Ty Jerome in Free Agency
That is why Houston needs to sign another shot creator to help ease the burden of Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun. One of the first names they should target on the free agent market is Ty Jerome.
Jerome is coming off a career season for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In less than 20 minutes per game, Jerome averaged 12.5 points and 3.4 assists on 51.6/43.9/87.2 shooting splits and became a finalist for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
However, the former Virginia standout has been struggling so far in the second round of the playoffs as the Cavaliers have surprisingly fallen to a 0-2 hole against the Pacers. Considering Jerome's poor playoff fit next to Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and how expensive of a team the Cavs are, they might be willing to let Jerome walk in free agency.
If that is the case, the Rockets should swoop in and make the 27-year-old their backup point guard for next season. He should be able to fit in seamlessly as the rest of the Rockets can make up for his defensive deficiencies. Whether Stone sees it the same way and targets a shot creator in free agency remains to be seen.