The Houston Rockets’ playoff series with the Golden State Warriors will begin on Sunday, the 20th of April. On the same day, the 2024-25 NBA award finalists will be announced, as voted for by select members of the media. Touch wood, the Rockets can turn their terrific regular season into tangible playoff success, but NBA regular season awards don’t grow on trees either. Will the Rockets receive any recognition from the voters?
The Houston Rockets’ 2024-25 Awards Chances
All-NBA
The Rockets finished 2024-25 with 52 wins and the second seed in the Western Conference. That’s the kind of season that the All-NBA voters tend to want to reward. The Rockets only have one possible candidate for such an honor: 2025 All-Star Alperen Sengun.
By some measures, Sengun had a down year in 2024-25. He averaged 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. Of those, Sengun only led the team in rebounds, though he also edged lead scorer Jalen Green narrowly in turnovers. His field goal and three-point percentages both dropped from 2023-24.
But Sengun was nonetheless an integral part of Houston’s excellent season. He played in 76 games, and his post-up scoring ability was the number one bullet point on the opponent’s scouting report in every one of them. Indeed, he bit the bullet in terms of his overall efficiency and production, partly as a result. His slight drop from last year may also be attributable to the energy he put into his significant improvement on defense. Sengun may never be Houston coach Ime Udoka‘s first choice for a starting center, but Sengun has worked tirelessly to turn himself into the rim protector and defensive presence that his coach craves.
Similar to his All-Star campaign, Sengun is by no means a lock for All-NBA. His candidacy is in the realm shared by the likes of Jaren Jackson Jr, Trae Young, and Jaylen Brown. Above him are the likes of James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jalen Williams, and even those players aren’t all guaranteed to receive a spot. Voters will want to reward the Rockets with awards of some kind, but they might not sacrifice a top-15 spot in the NBA for it.
Award For Best Non-Serbian Passing Center
One player who won’t be much debated about being over Sengun this time around is Domantas Sabonis. Sengun’s selection over Sabonis for the All-Star game was viewed as somewhat controversial at the time. Even now, Sabonis’ statistical profile is significantly preferable. But Sabonis’ Sacramento Kings had a turbulent reign this season. Head coach Mike Brown and franchise point guard De’Aaron Fox were both sent to the chopping block, though in Fox’s case, by abdication. The Kings barely scraped a play-in spot and were summarily dispatched by starting point guard Naji Marshall and the soulless remains of the Dallas Mavericks.
Coach of the Year
Realistically, Houston’s Udoka doesn’t have much of a shot at this. Kenny Atkinson is the clear choice for Coach of the Year. The Cleveland Cavaliers won 64 games. Atkinson also has the benefit of this having been his first year with the team. If this were Udoka’s first year with the Rockets, then there might be a conversation. Certainly, jumping straight from Houston’s 2022-23 record of 22 wins to the second seed would turn plenty of heads. As it is, Udoka’s excellent progress over two seasons will be held against him. Lottery, to .500, to second seed is more than enough to keep the fanbase happy, but it’s not quite splashy enough for COTY voters. He’s got a good chance of being declared a finalist, but don’t expect him to take any hardware back to Houston.
All-Defense
If nothing else materializes for the Rockets this season, they should have at least one award pretty much locked up. Amen Thompson has easily been a top-five defender in the NBA this season. His name may not come up on Sunday as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. Bigs like Mobley, Jackson, and Draymond Green would be hard for a player who only started 42 games to bump off. But along with the dastardly Dyson Daniels, Thompson is likely to round out a five-man First Team All-Defense squad.
Thompson led the Rockets in blocks and was a key part of their fourth-best defensive rating this season. As such, he was 13th in the league in defensive win shares. Individually, he was fourth in the league in defensive field goal differential among qualifying players. He had memorable late-season defensive performances against stars such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Stephen Curry. Such is Thompson’s defensive prowess that a seven-game series of the latter matchup is eagerly awaited by fans and media members alike. Thompson is already known as one of the league’s best athletes. With a full-time starting spot in 2025-26, he may truly assert himself as one of its very best defenders.
Sixth Man
Lastly, we have more of an honorable mention. Tari Eason only played 57 games this season and therefore won’t qualify for end-of-season awards. His averages of 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks aren’t typical award-bait fair either. Still, even after Thompson’s promotion to the starting unit, Eason continued to change the energy of games coming off the bench this season. He probably wouldn’t have won even if he were eligible. Still, Eason’s tenacity might have earned him a finalist spot for Sixth Man of the Year.
The Last Word
Whether the Rockets’ season gets the awards recognition some fans crave remains to be seen. What every Rockets fan craves is the chance to definitively turn the page on a chapter of Rockets-Warriors shared history. Nothing will ever quite make up for the heartbreak of 2018, but the 2024-25 Rockets have already won over and patched up those broken hearts admirably. Skipping a step in their development by beating the Warriors would certainly have those patched-up hearts skipping a beat as well. Awards would be nice, but beating the Warriors would be the reward any fan would opt for.
Photo credit: © Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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