Although there was a ton of hoopla regarding the Houston Rockets’ desire to make a major win-now move this offseason, that ultimately ended up not happening. Granted, it takes two to tango.

The Rockets can’t make a team trade their best players if they’re not willing to part with them. In spite of that, the Rockets’ front office has drawn criticism, as illustrated by Michael Saenz- Sir Charles in Charge’s senior writer, who cited the Rockets’ lack of activity as their biggest mistake of the offseason.

“Considering how inactive the Houston Rockets have been so far this season, it truly makes you think twice about their moves last summer. Last offseason, the Rockets were adamant about building a roster that could compete in the Western Conference.

Even though you can argue against the additions of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, they were clearly moves to help the team win. That may not have happened last season, but the blueprint moving forward for the Rockets was clear. Not making any moves so far this offseason has to be considered a huge whiff on behalf of the Rockets.

It was reported before the start of the offseason that the Rockets have big plans for the offseason. The fact that the only additions that Houston has made this summer include drafting Reed Sheppard brings about big questions.

What’s next for the Rockets? Is their pursuit of building a win-now team over? Are they going to pivot back to developing their young core? The Rockets have completely whiffed on the offseason so far; there’s no denying that.”

The Rockets, of course, haven’t necessarily been totally inactive this summer. They acquired AJ Griffin from the Atlanta Hawks, who was a fringe lottery pick just two years ago, for the small price of a second-round draft pick.

They also added Jack McVeigh, the Australian sharpshooter who was named MVP of the NBL championship series.

Neither moves were considered substantial moves, of course, but roster building isn’t entirely about adding stars. Fringe moves also tend to have the potential to be grand moves, especially on the road in the postseason.

Even more, the Rockets saw the need for roster depth, based on the injury bug that hit them last season. But it’ll ultimately be on the team to silence the critics and skeptics.

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