Signed, signed! A 4-year deal joining forces with Durant! The Rockets have completely gone wild

Gone wild, gone wild.

The Rockets signed Fini Smith in free agency with a 4-year, $53 million contract.

This player was traded from the Nets to the Lakers late last year. Last season, he played 43 regular season games for the Lakers, averaging 28.8 minutes, putting up 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, shooting 41.1% from beyond the arc; in the playoffs, he appeared in 5 games, averaging 34 minutes and scoring 6.2 points, grabbing 4.2 rebounds, and dishing 2.6 assists per game.

Smith is a highly valuable 3-and-D player, who last season limited defensive All-Stars to a 47% effective field goal percentage on his side. He is also a plug-and-play type, so there’s no worry about him fitting into the Rockets’ system. In short, Houston now welcomes another fierce warrior to the city.

The surprises from the Rockets don’t stop at signing Smith; they also signed old familiar face Capela back on a fully guaranteed 3-year, $21.5 million contract.

Capela spent the first six seasons of his career entirely with the Rockets, serving as a core interior player who helped the team reach the Western Conference Finals twice, averaging 12.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1.5 blocks per game. Last season with the Hawks, he averaged 8.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1 block per game.

However, this return to Houston is a brand-new chapter for 31-year-old Capela, as all his former teammates, coaches, and the general manager from his previous Rockets era have since left, making it a completely different environment.

Back to the main point, so far the Rockets have assembled a very strong roster as follows:

PG: VanVleet, Holiday, Williams;

SG: Amen, Shepherd;

SF: Durant, Smith, Whitmore, Tate;

PF: Little Smith, Eason, Jeff Green;

C: Sengun, Adams, Randall, Capela.

Without a doubt, the Rockets are one of the top championship favorites for the 25-26 season. Their strength might even rival the recent champion Thunder team. Durant is making big strides toward his first title since leaving the Warriors, enough to wake up laughing from dreams in the middle of the night.

Last season, the Rockets finished second in the West with a 52-30 record, but were swept 4-3 by the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, becoming the laughingstock of the league. With this new roster, that embarrassment should not happen again. The past humiliation will serve as a strong motivation for them to reach the top.