Rockets forward Dillon Brooks vows to be more himself next season after adjustment to Houston

SALT LAKE CITY — The Rockets’ playoff hopes had officially ended Sunday afternoon in Dallas when Dillon Brooks let his thoughts go to next season.

He was not just thinking of the next step the Rockets hope to make, but of how he can help take them there. He did not point to the season-best 29 points he had scored against the Mavericks, but how he could do more.

Brooks could have been venting after the disappointment of the most disheartening of losses, yet he made a point to say how happy he remains that he chose to sign with the Rockets as a free agent, calling the decision and experience “amazing.” But he also wanted to feel like himself again.

Brooks had heard teammate Fred VanVleet suggest that challenges such as his matchup with the Mavericks’ Luka Dončić fuel him, maybe even keyed his best offensive game of the season. Brooks agreed but added that he hasn't gotten to play that way as often as he prefers in the Rockets’ defensive style and that next season he plans to be more of himself.

“I felt like this whole year I couldn’t be that,” he said. “And going into next year and the years to come, I’m not going to change. So you’re going to see a lot of that to end the year, and I’m going to bring the juice every single night.”

Brooks hasn't lacked any of his familiar aggressiveness, but he said he was wary about being as physical as he can be while playing in a spotlight.

“I don’t want to stir the pot too much, but I feel like the NBA restrained me from playing that type of game,” Brooks said. “But I've got to be on a ‘I don’t care’ mentality and just deal with what comes with it.”

Brooks has not seemed inhibited. His 14 technical fouls are tied with Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards for the league lead. His 3.3 personal fouls per game are sixth most in the league, tied with teammate Alperen Şengün. He has committed just two flagrant fouls, both penalty ones.

If Brooks believes he has been too cautious, coach Ime Udoka contends that Brooks has brought the toughness and physical defense the Rockets wanted when they signed him to a four-year, $86 million contract. But he has had to adjust to do it.

“I would say the intensity comes out every night,” Udoka said. “He brings that physicality and the effort. If anything, some of the schemes we are running are different from what he was asked to do before. He’s a guy who really keys in on the matchup and really locks in on the guy. We were doing a lot more switching, talking, communicating.

“You can have some hesitation there until you get that down. (When) you’ve been locked into chasing a guy over every pick-and-roll, every off-ball (screen), staying with your matchup all game for your whole career, you’re going to have a little bit slow reaction at times. I think he’s improved in that area. We’ll take another step next year.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the league watching as much as what we’re doing, and I think he’s grown in that area.”

There was a learning curve for Brooks to fight when not fighting over screens. He needed to apply to every matchup the same determination he always had when focusing on defending a top wing scorer.

“With him, I think it took him a step to learn that stuff,” Udoka said. “It took him a little bit of time to not just be the guy he’s been his whole career. That may have set him back a little bit.

“It’s something we’ll look at big-picture wise and what works for the team. But I think his versatility across the board makes him extremely valuable for us on the defensive end.”

That could indicate Udoka will reconsider how to best use Brooks’ defensive abilities. Brooks’ importance this season might be better illustrated not in any one matchup but by the way the Rockets used him in the next game after Dallas, going from defending MVP candidate Luka Dončić, the league’s leading scorer, to Orlando’s Paolo Banchero. There have been even greater extremes in his assignments this season.

“Dillon specifically, the versatility — you see him on the fives, (Victor) Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Naz Reid and these guys,” Udoka said, “then you see him guarding the point guard and all the big wings.

“His versatility there allows us to do what we want to do. That mindset (of) every night bringing it. Doesn’t let anybody else off the hook, as far as that. Love what he’s done for us. And (he will) continue to grow and build into a well-rounded, all-around player. I think you’ve seen some of that growth offensively as well this year.”

Brooks’ scoring is down — he averages 12.8 points per game — but his efficiency is up. He had made 43.1% of his shots, 36.7% of his 3s, going into Thursday night’s game against the Jazz.

He is on pace to play 73 games, matching the most since his rookie season, having gone out with just one injury, a strained left oblique, in late December and early January. A season after the Grizzlies were ready to move on, Brooks is also viewed as a leader, by word and example.

“Before he had the abdominal injury, he was like, ‘I’m playing every game.’ ” Udoka said. “We talked about him sitting out one early. He said, ‘I want to play all 82.’ That mentality and what he brings to a team, what he rubs off on a team goes without question as far as importance.

“We love what he brings on a night-to-night basis. We want to see him grow and improve just like the young guys. He’s taken some steps this year. The foundation has kind of been set.”

With his first Rockets season ending earlier than he wanted, Brooks looked back on how he played before as a way to move forward. But he has none of the uncertainty he took into last offseason.

“I feel like it was the right choice — being around this young core, being around Ime, being around Houston itself,” Brooks said. “I love the city. I love the people.”

Part of that happiness with his choice, a decision he said he “never” second-guessed, is that he sees potential for more and already is considering how to get it.