[OFFICIAL] 2017 ROCKETS OFFSEASON THREAD

That sucks, he has kids.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...-lineups-potential-moves-more-info-every-team

Depth chart
Starter Backups
PG Chris Paul | Isaiah Taylor (NG) | Tim Quarterman (NG)
SG James Harden | Eric Gordon
SF Trevor Ariza | PJ Tucker | Troy Williams | Cameron Oliver (NG)
PF Ryan Anderson | Luc Mbah a Moute | Shawn Long (NG)
C Clint Capela | Nene Hilario | Tarik Black | Chinanu Onuaku

Guaranteed salary (2017-18): $114,745,663

Hard cap room: $5,918,117

Restrictions
•PJ Tucker, Tarik Black, Troy Williams, Luc Mbah a Moute, Cameron Oliver and Nene cannot be traded until Dec. 15.

•James Harden cannot be traded for one year (July 7, 2018). Harden also has a 15 percent trade bonus in his contract. The bonus is voided for the 2017-18 season based on his no-trade clause.

Extension candidates
•Trevor Ariza, Clint Capela and Chris Paul are eligible for contract extensions. Ariza can be extended for four seasons at a starting salary of $9.4 million in 2018-19.

•Starting Dec. 28 (six months from the time he was traded), Paul can be extended for an additional four seasons. The starting salary for Paul in the first year of an extension would be $29.1 million, 120 percent of his 2017-18 salary.

•Capela is rookie-extension eligible and can sign a new contract up until Oct. 16.​

 

more evidence that morley is a horrible gm. how could he handcuff us like that?

 

They totally left out Zhou Qi, Bobby Brown(not sure if he has officially signed though) for some reason. Also would add D.Jackson as our 2 way deal

 

really does deserve its own thread.

also, media conspiracy.

checking off ALL the boxes

 

Nenê excited to play alongside Paul, Harden on new-look Rockets

 

I'm guessing most of us are stuck at home right now. Here's some trivia I found on The Beard in case if you're as bored as me... https://hoopshangout.com/2017/06/17/quiz-james-harden-general-trivia/

 

I didn't realize the statistical impact that Nene had on our defense. Crazy that he was ranked higher than DeAndre on something defensively.

 

Points of emphasis for NBA refs this season: closeouts (player safety) and continuation plays on the perimeter (mostly involving screens).

NBA referees can review replay and turn fouls such as the one Zaza committed by sliding foot under Kawhi into flagrant or tech this year.

 

Those uniforms

 

Mike who???

 

I like how Isaiah Taylor played in the Summer League, but I was hoping the Rockets would add another veteran in case any of our play making backcourt players go down with an temporary injury. As far as I know the following guys are still looking for a team.
1. Rodney Stuckey
2. Sergio Rodriguez
3. Norris Cole
4. Trey Burke (apparently he turned down the Thunder)
5. Leandro Barbosa

Which one of these guys would you like the Rockets to try to pick up.

 

Mike Jooooooooones

 

Last year due to injury the Rockets had to rely on Tyler Ennis to sometimes run the offense and he struggled. Perhaps due to a combination of going through a NBA point guard learning curve and the Rockets were not the right fit for they way he likes to play. With the West stacked and a lot of competition for the top four spots the Rockets could add an experienced player in the event one of play makers are temporarily hurt.

 

Zach Lowe's League Pass Rankings

4. HOUSTON ROCKETS (36.5)
Preemptive Rockets schadenfreude is flowing through the league. People love when Team Smartypants collapses amid farty chemistry, and critics are not ready to revise the narrative that Chris Paul and James Harden quake on the biggest stages. They are tapping their fingers together, Mr. Burns-style, in anticipation of the first time Paul undresses Harden for some comatose defensive blunder, grabs the ball, walks it up, and runs the slow-poke set hewants.

That will happen. But this team is going to be awesome, and a killer watch even beyond the puzzle-solving Harden and Paul have to do in learning to share the joystick.

Houston's free throw frequency fell from "unwatchable" to "normal high-volume" last season after they ditched Dwight Howard and jacked more 3s early in the shot clock. It might fall further if the league really cracks down on those fraudulent three-shot fouls, when Harden dances around a pick, feels contact, and vomits up a brick.

Paul and Harden get to flex different muscles. Paul can stand on the wing while Harden runs a pick-and-roll, wait for his defender to sag inside to help, and zoom into a slicing drive when Harden kicks him the ball. Paul sometimes runs into airborne passes, so that he's already at full speed by the time he catches it.

Daryl Morey has amassed enough long-armed wings in PJ Tucker, Trevor Ariza, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and Troy Williams that he can play one of them at center in super-small, Warriors-specific lineups. When they play traditionally, Clint Capela and Nene Hilario -- one of the all-time angry dunkers -- make for ideal Mike D'Antoni centers.

D'Antoni makes funny faces. Bring back the Pringles 'mustache!​

 

Season begins