Team owner Tilman Fertitta believes Rockets have the NBA’s deepest roster

You could say that the Rockets are coming off a pretty quiet summer, and felt they did enough by adding Aaron Holiday in free agency and landing the No 3 overall pick in the NBA Draft lottery, which earned them a potential superstar Reed Shepard, the former Kentucky guard who has Houston fans very excited. 

Nevertheless, this hasn’t kept their team owner Tilman Fertitta from praising his team, who showed immense improvement last season, after several years trapped in the Western Conference’s basement. According to the Rockets governor, no other squad compares to their depth entering this 2024-25 campaign.

“There’s no deeper team in the NBA than us,” he assured reporters this Tuesday, as he received the press in the franchise’s newest training facility. “We’re expecting a great year.”

Owner Tilman Fertitta held a news conference following the Rockets' official unveiling of their new training facility. Fertitta also answered questions about Houston’s chances of landing expansion franchises within the WNBA and NHL. #khou11 @JBristolKHOU 
https://t.co/DkMtkUyXfn

— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) September 24, 2024

And, well, if you take a look at their squad, you could say that Houston roster runs deep, especially with a starting five that includes Jalen Green, Javari Smith Jr., Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun and Dillon Brooks. Their second unit is pretty impressive as well, with players like Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Jeff Green and of course, Sheppard.

Last season, they ended with a 41-41 record that wasn’t enough to reach the Play-In Tournament, but Tilman is convinced they’ll only grow from there. “We’re still very young,” Fertitta recognized. “And as we watch all the greats who ever played the game, you’re not great until your third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh year. I don’t think Michael Jordan won his first championship until his seventh year.”

He’s convinced that the Rockets will continue to develop because he’s seen this already happen in the past. “Hakeem (Olajuwon), when did you win your first championship, your ninth year?” Fertitta asked the Rockets legend and Hall of Fame center, as he sat next to him. To what he replied that he conquered it during his 10th season.

“We don’t want to wait that long,” the franchise owner answered, while most of the press attending laughed. “The point is, we’re very young, there’s high expectations, but to be great, we have to get a little older.”

Young forward AJ Griffin finally reached terms on a contract buyout in Houston, as it had been rumoured earlier this month that he considered an early retirement

The Houston Rockets and forward AJ Griffin have reached terms on a contract buyout, per the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. Griffin, the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, was set to enter the third year of his four-year, $17.1 million contract. The buyout is worth $250,000, according to Spotrac.

The former first-round draft pick plans to step away from the game while mulling whether to continue his NBA career, sources confirmed to ESPN and Bleacher Report on Friday.

The Athletic’s Kelly Iko and Shams Charania reported that AJ Griffin is stepping away from basketball and in doing so is “giving up a significant portion of the $3.9 million he was owed for the upcoming 2024-25 season, per a team source.”

Griffin appeared in five games for the Rockets during Summer League this year and also participated in voluntary workouts. However, Iko and Charania reported that “as training camp edged closer, Griffin’s appearances — and communication with the organization — diminished.”

Both the team and the player were “preparing for his departure from the game.” Iko and Charania added that the Rockets “understand that his personal life takes priority and have offered their support.”