The season is suddenly over for the Rockets ... but the possibilities are just beginning

Few NBA teams boast the optionality to make moves this summer like Houston does. Yet the team that just threatened to overturn a 3-1 series deficit against Golden State may well opt for more patience

A season-ending Game 7 loss at home to the Golden State Warriors was only going to the dampen the self-belief that oozes from Fred VanVleet so much.

"We're on track," VanVleet told reporters Sunday night. "We're on schedule."

It's a viewpoint that, even in disappointment, is shared by Houston Rockets management. This maiden voyage into the postseason for the Rockets' young core, their first taste of the playoffs since James Harden was Houston's engine, delivered a lot of what team officials were hoping for from the 2024-25 season.

The Rockets, league sources say, did not see themselves as a championship threat … not even after snagging the West's No. 2 seed. They understand that the Thunder, while even younger, are farther along in the chase for true contention. Yet much like Oklahoma City last season, Houston had been planning to use this entire season — especially the playoffs — to evaluate a roster filled with recent lottery picks. The plan was always to capitalize on the crucible of the postseason for crucial data collection before deciding what major swings, if any, to take this offseason.

Now the Rockets, crushed as they obviously were to fall one step short in their comeback from 3-1 down against the Warriors and all those playoff-tested vets, will have several weeks to study these results.

They nearly came all the way back on this revamped version of the four-time champions and believe that they would have won a pivotal Game 4 in San Francisco if they had just taken advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line. Yet there were also clear weaknesses exposed by Golden State that the Rockets have been tracking throughout the season. There are natural areas for growth, most notably on the offensive end, that will have to be addressed either by way of internal development or upgrades to the roster.

The good news: Houston might be as well positioned to go either of those routes as any team in the league outside of Oklahoma City. The Rockets are flush with draft capital and young talent. And there is particular enthusiasm coursing through Toyota Center that Amen Thompson, in particular, is a star in the homegrown making.

For the record: The Rockets, sources say, believed that even before the Golden State series.

Houston, however, didn't fill up its cupboard with future draft picks just to continue adding young players to the back of Ime Udoka's bench.