HOUSTON — For a second straight year, the Rockets went 52-30 in the regular season and lost a home elimination game late in a first-round playoff series. Offensive ineptitude in halfcourt settings was again a leading theme.
When asked to sum up the 2025-26 season at Monday’s end-of-season media availability, general manager Rafael Stone didn’t mince words.
“I think the season was frustrating and disappointing,” Stone told reporters. “We expected to win more games in the regular season than we did, and I think we expected to win more games in the playoffs than we did. I understand that we took a lot of injuries this year, and I do care about the injuries, but the expectation for winning is with the players we have playing.”
“That feeling of disappointment is definitely felt everywhere in our locker room, with all of our players, coaches, front office staff, and ownership.”
There were some caveats, of course. All-Star forward Kevin Durant missed five of six playoff games due to ill-timed injuries. Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, a pair of rotation stalwarts, were lost months ago to season-ending leg surgeries. Dorian Finney-Smith seemingly never recovered from his ankle surgery in the 2025 offseason.
Nonetheless, for a Houston squad that entered the year with hopes of at least competing near the top of the Western Conference, not having any more success than the 2024-25 team (which didn’t have Durant) is a bitter pill to swallow.
“We had expectations that we fell short of,” Udoka said. “With what we had, we feel we should’ve won more than 52 (regular-season games), still should’ve won the first-round series (against the Los Angeles Lakers). We should’ve done better.”
Even with the disappointment, Stone and Udoka didn’t suggest that major roster changes were likely. Repeatedly, they pointed to the team’s belief in the continued development of its “young core” of prospects, comprised of five recent first-round draft selections (Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard, and Tari Eason).
As additional reasons for optimism, Stone and Udoka also pointed to the healthy return of key veterans such as VanVleet and Adams, along with the potential to add more shooting throughout the roster.
Then again, none of these words should be taken as binding. At the 2025 end-of-season media availability session following a playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors, Stone and Udoka fiercely defended Jalen Green and expressed their belief in his future with the franchise.
One month later, Green was sent to Phoenix as part of the Durant trade.
For reasons related to both market value and scenarios where a trade doesn’t materialize and the roster stays as is, it serves little purpose for team leaders to be overly critical in on-the-record interviews.
So, the initial comments and reviews in these settings are usually positive. Time will tell as to whether the team’s 2026 offseason actions are in alignment.
“We’ll look at everything over the offseason, and all potential deals,” Stone said Monday at Toyota Center. “But we think the players in our locker room can win a lot of games and be very competitive. We have players coming back from injury that will help us. And if we bring back the same group, I think continuity will help us.”
“But the single biggest thing, my expectation is that Tari, Jabari, Reed, Alpi, and Amen all need to be way better basketball players next year,” Stone concluded. “And I think they should be. So I expect to be an improved team next year, regardless of our ability or willingness to bring in any outside help.”
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘Frustrating and disappointing’: Rafael Stone on 2025-26 Rockets season
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
