Some sports writers are sports experts. Some are writing experts. Those who are both are few and far between, and there’s a decent chance their name rhymes with (Tic) Tac Toe.
(Zach Lowe. It’s Zach Lowe).
I’m not here because I have any formal background in basketball. I’m a trained writer. Basketball is merely the conduit. I say all of that to say this:
Bear with me.
My understanding of the triangle offense may not be much stronger than yours. If I’m way off base, I know someone will softly inform me in the comments. Consider this more of an invitation to discussion than an article:
Do Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Reed Sheppard make a perfect triangle?
The Rockets may have the perfect triangle
In rudimentary terms, the idea is to get the ball to a strong passing/scoring big on the low block, where he has three options: 1. Try to score, 2. Pass to a guard who can shoot in the corner, or 3. Pass to a cutter. Those three players form a “triangle” on the strong side.
The Rockets have all the pieces to make this work. Sengun’s offensive abilities are well-documented. Sheppard is a nuclear three-point shooter. Thompson is generating 1.51 points per possession (PPP) as a cutter this year, which lands in the 81.5th percentile. That’s solid, and in an offense that caters more to his cutting, he could likely do better.
None of this will be applied in 2025-26. Firstly, the Rockets aren’t going to explore an offensive dynamic that doesn’t include Kevin Durant for the time being. Moreover, it would be too ambitious to try to add this substantial a wrinkle midseason. It could be something to consider moving forward:
Should the Rockets run the triangle full-time?
The Rockets can modernize an old strategy
No.
A triangle offense doesn’t cater to Reed Sheppard’s strengths. These sets would mostly be leaning into Sengun’s decision-making faculties. That’s something the Rockets should be doing, but Sheppard is earning on-ball trust as well.
Generally speaking, the triangle rests on read-and-react principles. The broader point here is that the Rockets’ three most exciting young players are all high feel guys, so Ime Udoka should trust them to make reads. Instilling some triangle principles could be useful, but that’s not to say the Rockets should become “the triangle team”.
They should be thinking about their post-Durant identity. Sure, we don’t know what the future holds. The Rockets may make a blockbuster trade or draft someone who changes the entire calculus.
Here’s what we do know: Barring catastrophe, Durant will retire long before Sengun, Sheppard, or Thompson. We also know that Sengun, Sheppard, and Thompson have all looked like cornerstones. So it’s logical for the Rockets to start considering life after Durant.
What do three cornerstones make? A triangle.
It won’t be your grandfather’s triangle. This won’t be straight out of the Tex Winter playbook. When the Bulls ran the triangle, it was mostly to get Michael Jordan (ostensibly the cutter) a better position in the midrange area. When the Lakers ran it, it looked closer to what the Rockets could run, but where Shaq was very focused on scoring, Sengun should be leveraging his passing chops to find Sheppard for three or Thompson for a layup more often.
I’m at least 90% sure that makes sense.
