[ESPN Insider] Roster Reload: Rockets should chase Love or Aldridge

As teams complete their seasons, ESPN Insider's NBA team will take a look at the offseason picture and priorities for all 30 teams. Below, Kevin Pelton offers a snapshot of the Houston Rockets.

2014-15 record: 56-26
Pythagorean record: 50-32
Offensive rating: 104.2 (12th)
Defensive rating: 100.5 (6th)

Under Contract For 2015-16
PLAYER SALARY RPM WARP
James Harden $15,756,438 8.3 20.2
Trevor Ariza $8,193,030 1.1 5.2
Dwight Howard $22,359,364 0.9 3.1
Terrence Jones $2,489,530 0.1 2.6
Donatas Motiejunas $2,288,205 0.3 1.0
Clint Capela $1,242,720 -1.8 0.0
Joey Dorsey $1,015,421 -0.6 -0.3
Nick Johnson $845,059 -4.0 -0.9
Possible Free Agents
PLAYER TYPE RPM WARP
Josh Smith Unrestricted -1.6 3.9
Pablo Prigioni Partially guaranteed -0.9 2.5
Patrick Beverley Restricted -1.2 1.9
Jason Terry Unrestricted 0.1 1.9
Corey Brewer Player option -1.0 1.6
K.J. McDaniels Restricted -4.2 -0.3
Kostas Papanikolaou Team option -3.0 -0.6
Draft picks

New Orleans first-round pick (18th)
New York second-round pick (32nd)

Projected cap space

Maximum: $9.4 million
Minimum: $0
Likely: $0

What's returning

Four of the Rockets' five starters are under contract, starting with the runner-up in MVP voting. James Harden will be a bargain during the remaining three years of his rookie extension, which will pay him a combined $50 million as the cap escalates. The value proposition is a bit more dubious for Dwight Howard, the team's highest-paid player at $45.6 million over the next two years. Howard wasn't the same during an injury-plagued regular season that saw him play just 41 games. However, he was terrific in the postseason, averaging 18.4 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per 36 minutes. Houston will hope to get that Howard over a relatively full season, though injuries may remain an issue as Howard nears his 30s.

In his second tour of duty, Trevor Ariza saw his 3-point percentage regress from 40.7 percent with the Washington Wizards in 2013-14 to 35.0 percent. Ariza was much better at the defensive end, playing a key role in the Rockets' improvement to fifth in defensive rating.

Young big men Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas give Houston depth behind Howard in the frontcourt. Despite dealing with his own litany of injuries, Jones averaged 15.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per 36 minutes while on the court. Motiejunas enjoyed a breakthrough third season, starting 62 games in place of Howard and Jones, before his own campaign was ended prematurely by -- you guessed it -- injury.

Rookies Clint Capela and Nick Johnson saw intermittent playing time. Capela was effective in the D-League and flashed potential as a pick-and-roll finisher and rim protector off the bench late in the season and in the playoffs.

Free agents

Point guard Patrick Beverley hits restricted free agency after a season marred by -- you'll never imagine! -- injuries. Beverley was limited to 56 games and missed the entire postseason after wrist surgery. When on the court, he wasn't nearly as effective, making just 42.6 percent of his 2-point attempts and failing to play his typical bulldog defense. That may limit his value on the market.

Several veteran Rockets reserves will be unrestricted free agents. Jason Terry was seemingly on his way out of the league before resurrecting his career in Houston. He can still help as a combo guard off the bench. According to Grantland's Zach Lowe, Corey Brewer agreed to decline a player option for 2015-16 as a condition of his midseason trade to the Rockets. He padded his value with impressive play as part of an up-tempo bench unit.

Speaking of enhancing value and resurrecting a career, Josh Smith will be an unrestricted free agent after demonstrating to teams he can still play a role on a contender. While Smith's shooting will always be an issue, in Houston he played to his other skills as an undersized rim protector and playmaker from the frontcourt.

Biggest need: Secondary playmaking

Harden effectively served as the Rockets' point guard, making a team-high 7.0 assists per game. On the rare occasions opponents were able to contain him one-on-one, Houston's offense became disturbingly one-dimensional. Adding Smith helped, and his pick-and-rolls with Howard were a major factor in the Rockets carving up the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round. But Beverley, Terry and veteran Pablo Prigioni aren't really playmaking point guards. While a player who needs the ball in his hands won't fit well with Harden, Houston could use a player capable of setting up teammates in a pinch.

Biggest question: What does GM Daryl Morey have up his sleeve?

Fresh off 56 wins and a trip to the conference finals, most teams would probably be content to stand pat and re-sign their free agents. That seems unlikely with the Rockets, given their GM's predilection for bold strokes. The defeat at the hands of the Warriors reinforced that Houston must still improve to win a Western Conference title, and Morey has set up the Rockets for flexibility. They could create more than $9 million in cap space. Despite not currently having enough money, Houston will be in the hunt for top free agents like LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love -- both of whom would play a role similar to the one the Rockets hoped Chris Bosh would fill last summer -- via either sign-and-trade deals or by trading players to clear the necessary room. If a max player signed on, Houston could put together a package of Ariza, Jones or Motiejunas, Prigioni and a free agent or two signed to a new contract -- better value than their previous teams are likely to get elsewhere if Aldridge or Love decides to leave.

Ideal offseason

Love decides to reunite with Rockets coach Kevin McHale, who originally drafted him in Minnesota, to give Houston another shot creator on offense. After completing a sign-and-trade, the Rockets re-sign Beverley to a three-year, $15 million deal, and also bring back Brewer and draft Cameron Payne with the first-round pick they acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans last summer for Omer Asik. Smith takes a discount to re-sign for one year using Non-Bird rights, allowing Houston to use the mid-level exception to re-sign McDaniels to compete with Brewer to start at small forward.