The Houston Rockets, who finished second in the Western Conference last season with a 52-30 record, will be among the strongest candidates to take the Oklahoma City Thunder’s top spot and make a deep postseason run. The organization has addressed that issue by trading for Kevin Durant (age 36) and re-signing Fred VanVleet (31), but a number of players expected to be key contributors in 2025-26 were born this century: Alperen Şengün (23), Amen Thompson (22), Tari Eason (24) and Reed Sheppard (21).