Rockets Fan Vote Reveals MVP, Future Stars and the Team's Most Chaotic Personalities
An offense that looked impressive early became an ongoing late-game catastrophe for the Houston Rockets, though their defense remained a top-10 operation.
Kevin Durant scored as if he'll never age, Alperen Şengün ran into people a lot and Amen Thompson did everything well but shoot. This was a weird team that had its plans thrown off by critical injuries to Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, but the season was mostly successful anyway.
You helped us try to make sense of it by voting on some hardware.
Who Is the Most Valuable Player?
1 of 10
Winner: Kevin Durant
Sengun finished first among Rockets in rebounds, assists and blocks while trailing only Durant in total points. Amen Thompson ran away with the minutes lead, and he was easily the team's top defensive weapon.
That said, Durant's scoring was singularly important in Houston. Whatever late-game offense this team had, most of it stemmed directly from KD and his second-to-none shotmaking.
Stuck on the bench for much of the year, Reed Sheppard made his stretch-run case as an indispensable scoring sidekick for Durant.
Who Is Most Underrated?
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Winner: Reed Sheppard
Jabari Smith Jr. actually topped the much more celebrated Sengün in Estimated Wins, which suggests he didn't get his proper due. Nobody inside or outside of Houston would rate him as one of the team's top three players, but at least one set of numbers suggests he was.
Sheppard's vital spacing and scoring (and team-leading steal total) mattered a lot for the Rockets, and that ultimately swayed voters who narrowly chose him over Eason. Tari Eason's intensity seemed inherently tough to measure, but not for voters. Only six percent singled him out here.
The injured Steven Adams, whose offensive rebounding was a legitimate superpower prior to season-ending injury, landed him in third.
Who Is the Best Athlete?
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Winner: Amen Thompson
There might be one guy in the entire league who measures up to Amen Thompson's level of raw athleticism, and that dude, Ausar Thompson, is genetically identical to Houston's spring-loaded wing.
From a pure strength standpoint, Adams is similarly in a class by himself.
This was a true runaway for Thompson, who secured virtually every vote.
Who Is Most Likely To Be a 1st-Time All-Star In the Next 5 Years?
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Winner: Amen Thompson
Thompson's overwhelming win here suggests voters aren't concerned about his stalled shooting progress. Sheppard can already stripe it and showed in his second season that he has a star's mentality when freed up to play his game, but only 15 percent of the field picked him.
After those two, Smith and Eason had the best shots to make an All-Star game. They combined for just two percent of the vote.
Who Has the Best Contract?
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Winner: Amen Thompson
Dorian Finney-Smith was a preseason candidate on the strength of a four-year, $53 million deal with only two guaranteed seasons, but he was a zero for Houston and might not even be worth a minimum salary at this point.
Smith Jr.'s extension will never pay him more than $25.5 million in any season over the rest of the decade, which is a great rate for a stretchy, defensively useful big man who can move his feet.
In the end, Thompson's rookie-scale contract earned him the win. He grabbed 48.0 percent of the vote, one percent less than the share earned by Smith Jr. and Sheppard combined.
Who Has the Worst Contract?
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Winner: Dorian Finney-Smith
There wasn't a ton of bad money handed out in Houston, though Durant may struggle to deliver $46.1 million in value when he's 39 in the final year of his deal.
It's also possible that Sengün's contract, which was originally celebrated for coming in below his rookie-scale max, won't age well if he continues to pose no threat as an outside shooter. Voters decided a deal that averages around $35 million per year through Sengün's prime won't be all that onerous. He's made two All-Star games already and should at least hold this level for a while.
Finney-Smith is due $13.3 million next year but can be wiped off the books after that, a fact fans didn't seem to care about. He cruised to a 70.0 percent share of the vote.
Who Is the Best Trash-Talker?
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Winner: Kevin Durant
Durant deeply offended Bruce Brown earlier this year (according to Brown) and even got into it with Gary Payton. No, not the second-generation version, the legendary original who rates among the most verbose players to ever wear a jersey.
Sengün did his fair share of chirping, but he mostly irritated opponents with his physicality and flopping. Eason was aggressive in everything he did, while Adams' genial silence was probably as intimidating as anything another player might say out loud.
KD had no issue taking this one, snagging 86.0 percent of the vote.
Who Is Most Likely To Have a Burner Account?
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Winner: Kevin Durant
I mean, this category exists because of one guy. If this vote hadn't returned 100 percent in favor of Durant, it would have been because he logged in with one of his burners to skew the results.
The guy loves life online, and he can't seem to stop himself from getting caught up in wars of words with strangers. It's also not out of bounds to claim Durant's recent bout of burner activity caused the Rockets to fracture.
Who Are You Taking With You Into the Zombie Apocalypse?
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Winner: Steven Adams
Adams could singlehandedly end a zombie apocalypse—either by calmly asking the undead flesh-eaters to knock off all the nonsense, or by tearing them apart when they failed to comply.
He's the guy you want in your corner when society comes unglued, and that's true because of the chill vibes and superhuman strength. You can't do any better than him. Rockets fans agreed, handing him 95.0 percent of their votes.
Who Is Most Likely To Be Playing Overseas In 2 Seasons?
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Winner: Jae'Sean Tate
Fans couldn't quite imagine Jeff Green, who has already made it to his 18th NBA season, trying to extend his career to, say, 30 years by heading overseas.
Retirement doesn't seem to be something Green wants to consider, but that couldn't keep Jae'Sean Tate's name from appearing on 48.0 percent of ballots. That one has to sting a little, but at least Tate is sharing the pain with Finney-Smith, who came in second with 31.0 percent of the vote.
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