The Houston Rockets are on pace to finish last in the Western Conference for the third straight season, and changes should be coming for a franchise that hasn't found the least bit of success since James Harden departed midway through the 2020-21 season.

Things in Houston have been so bad of late that ESPN's Jonathan Givony said during an appearance on The Lowe Post podcast that "you just don't hear good things" about the team's culture and locker room.

"When you talk to people around the NBA about Houston, you just don't hear good things about their culture, about their locker room," Givony said. "People that are on that team, they're like, 'We are a mess.'"

The Rockets, who entered the 2022-23 season as the second-youngest team in the NBA at 23.58 years old, lack any sort of leadership as they try to navigate the landscape in the post-Harden era.

Houston's starting lineup when everyone is healthy would likely be Kevin Porter Jr. (22), Jalen Green (21), Kenyon Martin Jr. (22), Jabari Smith Jr. (19) and Alperen Şengün (20). The team's oldest player is 34-year-old Boban Marjanović, who has averaged just 4.4 minutes per game in 19 contests this season.

The Rockets have been in complete disarray this season. While they sit last in the Western Conference with a 13-45 record, they also boast the NBA's worst offense with a 109.2 rating and the league's third-worst defense with a rating of 117.8.

Because of the team's struggles, Houston remains in contention to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, which would give it the chance to select Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, who is widely considered the best player in this year's class.

However, ESPN's Brian Windhorst recently questioned Wembanyama's fit in Houston during an appearance on The Tony Kornheiser Show (h/t Josh Criswell of Chron.com):

"I think Houston is a dangerous fit for anybody, because that team is out of control. They have have completely destroyed and broken down [head coach] Stephen Silas, who is a good man but cannot handle the renegade operation that has become. Pretty much everything the Rockets do is a mess right now, so if I were Victor, I would be a little bit worried about Houston."

Wembanyama has said that it doesn't matter where he ends up come draft day, which doesn't come as a surprise given he's a generational talent who has the tools and the skill set to revive whichever franchise selects him, including the Rockets.

Adding Wembanyama would allow the Rockets to accelerate their rebuilding process and hopefully fix whatever mess has been created in the locker room.