The Houston Rockets' 2025-26 campaign was identical to their 2024-25 season, in more ways than not. The team won 52 games in both seasons and were early outs in the postseason, falling in the first round each time.The difference, however, is that this year's team had a surefire superstar in Kevin Durant. Which raised the expectations, for many, as the general belief (especially to those outside of the organization) was that Durant would be the missing piece that would push last season's up-and-coming second-seeded ball club to championship contention. For that reason, many view the Rockets' season as a failure. Certainly a disappointment. However, Fred VanVleet, Houston's point guard and captain, disagrees with that sentiment, taking to his signature Unguarded podcast to explain. "If you told me in September that I would miss the whole season, Steven would miss 75% of the season, and we would win 52 games and play the (Los Angeles) Lakers in a four-five matchup, take them to six without KD, I would probably say, ‘Okay, that doesn’t sound crazy to me.’ And it’s not a failure. I wouldn’t feel bad about that."The NBA champion continued."Now, while you’re in it, it’s crazy, right? It looks bad some nights. You’ve got the blown leads, you’ve got the mishaps, you’ve got guys’ performances up and down. So, if you’re riding that roller coaster of emotion, then yeah, you’re going to feel some type of way. I know fans struggle with that sometimes because they’re just so passionate. They want everything to be perfect all the time."VanVleet highlighted Durant playing 78 games (while also finishing second in total minutes played during the regular season), Amen Thompson's growth in his third season, Reed Sheppard's ascension to Houston's best outside shooter (especially factoring in the proficiency and volume), Alperen Sengun’s second All-Star season and both Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason's boost in development. Buy and large, VanVleet is right. Winning 50+ games in the Western Conference isn't easy. Especially with Houston's roster.And the team did see a number of players take their respective leaps and bounds. At the same time, there are a number of things to work on.Rockets coach Ime Udoka’s rotations oftentimes left a lot to be desired. And again, Houston's roster is rather uninspiring, as it pertains to depth (or a lack thereof).Top-heavy continues to be the best way to coin it. Would the outcome have been any different if the team had a traditional table-setter to make life easier for Sengun, Durant, Smith, Sheppard and Eason? Or if they had more shooters?Certainly. And those issues could have been remedied before hand. Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow