After a great regular season last year, the Rockets are poised once again to be one of the top seeds in the West.
They have a roster filled with talent and depth, but they just got an injury update on a key player that could make a huge difference in their output for the rest of their season.
What Rockets player will be out for the rest of the season?
ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Rockets center Steven Adams will undergo season-ending surgery on his left ankle.
This is a brutal blow for a team that came into this season with promising odds of being a top contender.
They already lost Fred VanVleet to a season-ending injury before the season even started, and now Adams joins VanVleet as the next Rocket to unfortunately be out for an extended period.
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Houston should still be able to manage playing without Adams, but there will be times when his absence will be felt.
Adams has been a core part of Houston's rotation, averaging 22.8 minutes this season.
Injuries have played a role in limiting Adams time on court in recent seasons, so the Rockets have some familiarity with playing without him, but this is a new hurdle they'll have to get past, as he's been a bigger part of the rotation this season.
Luckily, Houston has Alperen Sengun and Clint Capela, but we could now see them make some trade deadline moves to improve their center depth with a big name out.
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