The Houston Rockets couldn’t quite snag the most coveted free agent of the offseason in LeBron James. 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, the King is on the Philadelphia 76ers. Instead, the Rockets have made a series of ever-so-slightly lower-profile frontcourt signings over the past week. Here’s everything fans should know about the latest Rockets additions.
Breaking Down The New Rockets Signings
Old Reliable
The first new Rockets signing to mention doesn’t have much newness about it at all. Jae’Sean Tate will return to the Rockets for a seventh season in 2026-27. The six-foot-four forward is the rare example of a player who has stayed with the same team since his rookie year but has seen diminishing minutes in every season since. Tate averaged just 8.8 minutes per game last season. He played 46 games with a single start.
Keeping Tate around should help make up for the Rockets losing some forward depth with the departures of Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Okogie. Tari Eason is primed to be the main beneficiary of extra forward minutes, after the Rockets’ Eason deal secured his services for another five years. But Eason hasn’t had an easy time staying on the floor, an otherwise promising career so far tarnished with frequent leg injuries.
Tate will continue chipping in whenever he’s needed, and his new partially guaranteed veteran minimum contract suggests he’ll be happy doing it. Still, he won’t necessarily be head coach Ime Udoka’s first port of call when scrounging his bench for frontcourt minutes. Instead, he may be inclined to try out some new blood.
The Inflatable Tube Man
On Friday, the Rockets announced the signing of six-foot-eight, inflatable tube man forward Julian Phillips. Phillips is a 22-year-old 2023 second-round draftee out of Tennessee. He played the first two and a half seasons of his career with the Chicago Bulls before a mid-season trade in 2025-26 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s averaged just 11.2 minutes per game over 167 games.
Phillips’ strengths are his athleticism and rebounding. With a near seven-foot wingpan, he is capable of impact plays on defense, but like a lot of young players on limited minutes, he’s quite foul-prone.
Phillips should still be able to fit in fine in Houston on defense. But like a lot of new Rockets signings in the Udoka era, there are question marks on offense. Phillips’ career-high 23 points came in an April blowout versus the Washington Wizards. Unusually, in that game, he shot 3 of 6 from three. For his career, Phillips is just a 32.0% three-point shooter on 4.9 attempts per 36 minutes.
Phillips will get opportunities early to audition for a small rotation role. There’s still hope that some improvement with his jump shot could slingshot him into a Derrick Jones Jr. type contributor. Most likely for Houston, though, he’ll be a “break glass in case of emergency” reserve.
The Oscar Goes To…
The last of the new Rockets signings is not-so-big Congolese big man Oscar Tshiebwe. 26 years old, Tshiebwe has just three NBA seasons under his belt and 49 total games. At six-foot-eight, 255lb, and a complete non-shooter, he is an undersized center who relies on his activity, strength, and quickness to make plays around the rim. He averaged 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds over 27 games for the tanking Utah Jazz last season. Tshiebwe’s biggest claim to fame is probably the time he put up a career-best 29 points with 17 rebounds versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
Tshiebwe is the most intriguing of the new Rockets signings. At minimum, his presence on the roster makes center Clint Capela‘s $7 million salary a possible trade tool at the deadline. Even before that, with Capela’s declining athleticism, it’s possible that Tshiebwe could leapfrog him on the depth chart. Because the Rockets prefer to rest backup (occasional spot starter) center Steven Adams on back-to-backs, the third-string center spot has elevated importance on this team.
New Rockets Signings in a Nutshell
By adding Phillips and Tshiebwe, the Rockets give themselves extra depth for emergencies and even some very low-chance upside. Both players are expected to sign non-guaranteed contracts as well, meaning Houston can always pivot later in the season if they see fit.
The Rockets’ Marcus Smart signing being their biggest move of the offseason certainly hasn’t matched last year’s splash of adding Kevin Durant. But then, that’s probably intentional. After all, because of the season-long injury to Fred VanVleet, the Rockets still haven’t gotten to see what that last big splash should actually look like. They’ll hope that 2026-27 will be the year they do. These new Rockets signings are just there to help settle the waters.
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