Dillon the Villon Is Back?
When the Rockets signed Dillon Brooks to a four-year deal last off season, the move was much derided in the NBA Commentariat. There were jokes about the Rockets bidding against themselves. There were jokes about Brooks playing in China, playing on a minimum, not playing at all. There were maybe, a few, jokes about shirtless vests as a fashion statement.
Once Dillon started playing for the Rockets, and the team went from 22 wins in the 2022-23 season to 41 wins in 2023-24, most of the jokes stopped. They haven’t really been reprized with the same gusto this off-season. It certainly appears that changing culture, playing hard on defense, and setting a “take no crap” example, was in fact useful to the young Rockets.
Was Brooks a perfect player? No. But teams can’t sign practically perfect veteran defensive wings for $22 million a year. The start of the season for Brooks was, frankly, fantastic. He shot the three ball well and played like his hair was on fire. He didn’t cause controversy.
Dillon’s shooting season overall was described as perhaps bad, but it wasn’t. Here’s his three-point percentage by month:
October – 54 percent
November – 41 percent
December – 38 percent
January – 35 percent
February – 38 percent
March – 25 percent
April – 40 percent
By month. that’s a much better three-point shooting season from Brooks than I had imagined. Except for March. That’s ugly.
In most months, he shot between 51-68 threes. In March he shot 80. The thing is, Brooks’ highest usage was in his best months, topping at a very reasonable 19.6 percent in November, and was at its lowest in his worst month, at 15 percent. So whatever you may think of Brook’s offense, he wasn’t doing a lot of it.
I think Brooks will feature even less, which means his spots should be even more advantageous. If he’s shooting 37-41 percent from three and playing tough defense, Brooks is a winning player.
The other talk about Brooks is that he’s redundant. That he’s stealing minutes from Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore (attempting defense), Jabari Smith. Well, maybe. Right now, however, part of the winning formula in the NBA seems to be waves of big, physical wings. The Rockets have that. They have it in a variety of options, from the blinding speed of Amen Thompson, to the all around force and rebounding of Tari Eason, to the scoring punch of Cam Whitmore to the actual punch of Dillon Brooks.
There’s something to be said for that. There’s also something to be said for not being under pressure to trade Brooks. Perhaps the 2025-26 salary structure will require a trade of Brooks, but that’s the earliest something needs to be done. Right now? No pressure. None, except that we want to see the prospects play more.
Remember those “Rafael Stone is bidding against himself! Nobody wants Brooks! Why give him a raise?!?!” jokes? That declining contract looks mighty nice now, doesn’t it? Brooks is paid $22 million this season, $21 next season and $20 in 26-27, as the salary cap is rising. Front-loading the deal seems a little smarter now.
A lot of teams could really use Brooks, especially shooting the three around 40 percent. Maybe he moves, maybe he doesn’t. In the meantime? Don’t sweat it.