2019–20 Houston Rockets season

The 2019–20 Houston Rockets season was the 53rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and their 49th in the Houston area.^[1]

After what was an uneventful off-season for the Rockets, failing to land Houston native Jimmy Butler, the Rockets acquired star point guard Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul and a trove of future draft considerations, reuniting Westbrook with former Thunder teammate James Harden, who had played his first three seasons with the Thunder and was part of the 2011–12 Thunder team that appeared in the 2012 NBA Finals.

With the San Antonio Spurs missing the playoffs for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the Rockets would hold the longest active playoff streak in the NBA qualifying every year since the 2012–13 season.

In February, Westbrook and Harden became the first teammates in NBA history to average 30+ points and 5+ assists per game.^[2]

This marked the team's third straight divisional championship, as well as James Harden's 8th straight All-Star selection as a Rocket.

In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook and Harden's former team, in Game 7 of the first round. However, in the Western Conference semifinals, they would lose in five games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. This was Houston's last playoff berth until 2025.

The season was suspended by the league officials following the games of March 11^[3] after it was reported that Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.^[4] On June 26 the NBA and National Basketball Players Association finalized a comprehensive plan, and it was announced that the 2019–20 season would resume in the NBA Bubble on July 30, with health and safety precautions and rules enforceable by warning, fine, suspension, or campus ban, including establishing a hotline for players to report violations of COVID-19 restrictions, a single-site campus at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and an intentional goal to take "collective action to combat systemic racism and promote social justice."^[5][6] Fourteen-year NBA veteran player Thabo Sefolosha opted out of continuing on with the team in the wake of the pandemic.^[7] Westbrook also tested positive for the virus and the diagnosis was formally announced in July prior to the team heading to Orlando.^[8] He flew to Orlando to join the team on July 20 following NBA mandated quarantine requirements and two negative COVID-19 test results.^[9] The league's July 20 COVID-19 testing update stated that no players of the 346 at the "NBA bubble" complex had tested positive within the week prior.^[10] A July 16 news report stated that the Rockets were the first NBA team publicly known to file a lawsuit to recover COVID-19-related losses by suing Affiliated FM Insurance for denying its business-interruption claim.^[11]

The Rockets did not hold any picks for the 2019 NBA draft.^[12] This was the third time in franchise history that they did not hold any picks in the draft; the last time was in 1989.

2019–20 Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From F 5 Bruno Caboclo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1995–09–21 Brazil F 9 DeMarre Carroll 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1986–07–27 Missouri C 19 Tyson Chandler 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1982–10–02 Dominguez HS (CA) G 3 Chris Clemons 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997–07–23 Campbell F 33 Robert Covington 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1990–12–14 Tennessee State G 21 Michael Frazier (TW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1994–03–08 Florida G 10 Eric Gordon  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1988–12–25 Indiana F 32 Jeff Green 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1986–08–28 Georgetown G 13 James Harden (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1989–08–26 Arizona State F 4 Danuel House 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1993–06–07 Texas A&M F 12 Luc Mbah a Moute 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1986–09–09 UCLA G 16 Ben McLemore 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1993–02–11 Kansas G/F – David Nwaba 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1993–01–14 Cal Poly G 25 Austin Rivers 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992–08–01 Duke G/F 18 Thabo Sefolosha 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1984–05–02 Switzerland F 17 P. J. Tucker 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1985–05–05 Texas G 0 Russell Westbrook 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1988–11–12 UCLA

Head coach Mike D'Antoni Assistant(s) Matt Brase Brett Gunning Dan Hartfield John Lucas Elston Turner Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Updated: 2020–07–08

Player	Signed	Former team
William McDowell-White	July 3, 2019	Brose Bamberg
Shamorie Ponds	July 3, 2019	St. John's Red Storm
Chris Clemons	July 5, 2019	Campbell Fighting Camels
Tyson Chandler	July 18, 2019	Los Angeles Lakers
Ben McLemore	July 23, 2019	Sacramento Kings
Anthony Bennett	July 25, 2019	Agua Caliente Clippers
Thabo Sefolosha	September 23, 2019	Utah Jazz
Ryan Anderson	September 27, 2019	Miami Heat
Jeff Green	February 18, 2020	Utah Jazz
DeMarre Carroll	February 20, 2020	San Antonio Spurs
Luc Mbah a Moute	July 7, 2020	Los Angeles Clippers