The 2021–22 NBA season was the Rockets' 55th season in the National Basketball Association and 51st season in the city of Houston.^[1] On August 20, 2021, the NBA announced that the regular season for the league would begin on October 19, 2021, returning to the typical 82-game schedule following the schedule disruptions that resulted from COVID-19.^[2] After a woeful 17–55 record compiled in the previous season^[3] following the departure of James Harden in a trade to the Brooklyn Nets,^[4][5] the Rockets started a new era by drafting Jalen Green from the G League with the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft.^[6]

The Rockets were eliminated from playoff contention for the second consecutive season, which was the first time the Rockets missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2010–12.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	2	Jalen Green	SG	United States	G League Ignite (G League)
1	23	Usman Garuba	PF/C	Spain	Real Madrid (Spain)
1	24	Josh Christopher	SG	United States	Arizona State (Fr.)

The Rockets held the second pick in the 2021 NBA draft, along with two other first-round picks from the Portland Trail Blazers and the Milwaukee Bucks entering the draft.^[7] This was the first time the Rockets had a lottery pick since the 2012 NBA draft in which they selected Jeremy Lamb with the twelfth overall pick, and it was their first time with a top-4 pick since the 2002 NBA draft in which they selected Yao Ming with the first overall pick.

The Rockets traded two future first-round picks^[a] to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the draft rights to Alperen Şengün.^[8]

2021–22 Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From G 9 Christopher, Josh 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2001-12-08 Arizona State C 20 Fernando, Bruno 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1998-08-15 Maryland F 16 Garuba, Usman 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 229 lb (104 kg) 2002-03-09 Spain G 10 Gordon, Eric  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1988-12-25 Indiana G 0 Green, Jalen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 2002-02-09 Prolific Prep (CA) F 33 Lamb, Anthony (TW) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 227 lb (103 kg) 1998-01-20 Vermont F 6 Martin, Kenyon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2001-01-06 IMG Academy (FL) G 25 Mathews, Garrison 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1996-10-24 Lipscomb G 15 Nix, Daishen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 226 lb (103 kg) 2002-02-13 Trinity International (NV) G/F 2 Nwaba, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1993-01-14 Cal Poly G 3 Porter, Kevin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 2000-05-04 USC G 21 Queen, Trevelin (TW) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-02-25 New Mexico State G 17 Schröder, Dennis  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 1993-09-15 Germany C 28 Şengün, Alperen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 243 lb (110 kg) 2002-07-25 Turkey F 8 Tate, Jae'Sean 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1995-10-28 Ohio State G 1 Wall, John  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1990-09-06 Kentucky F/C 35 Wood, Christian  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1995-09-27 UNLV

Head coach Stephen Silas Assistant coach(es) DeSagana Diop Rick Higgins Jeff Hornacek John Lucas Will Weaver Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: April 15, 2022

• Point guard John Wall missed the entire season due to a hamstring injury.

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot
• pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot
• * – Division leader

The preseason and regular season schedule were announced on August 20, 2021.^[9]