The 2019–20 Houston Rockets season was the 53rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and their 49th in the Houston area. After what was an uneventful off-season for the Rockets, failing to land Houston native Jimmy Butler, the Rockets acquired star point guard Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul and a trove of future draft considerations, reuniting Westbrook with former Thunder teammate James Harden, who had played his first 3 seasons with the Thunder and was part of the 2011–12 Thunder team that appeared in the 2012 NBA Finals.