#RunItBack: Klay with torn ACL, Rockets now the best team in the West?

You people are really delusional.

 

other teams will improve while y’all want to run it back with the same short, old, and slow roster that can’t rebound or get key defensive stops...CP0 will be even worse

bring in a forward that can actually make a play for himself and others and a legit big that can spread the floor...Rockets have all their play making centered around dudes 6’5 or smaller while no one in the frontcourt can pass, dribble, create, etc

I’m tired of us being undersized and outmatched athletically

 

Run it back? Whaaaa? All I've read is how Harden has no help! Why we gonna run that back?
OK, they Warriors are "gone". They'll lose to someone else. What about the Raptors? Bucks? Sixers? Lakers? Clippers? Thunder(the team everyone has feared and hasn't wanted to see in the playoffs )

This right here.

 

The Rockets need to get better, just running it back is likely not going to be enough. If the team stays the same there's no upside left, only downside due to Chris declining actually, PJ might get worse too, he's 34.

- the Bucks will likely stay the same but they're a younger team so, they have more upside than us, and they already beat our ass this season
- if Kawhi stays the Raptors will be there, if he leaves he turns the Clippers (i guess) into a new contender
- Sixers will be a threat if they just resign Jimmy
- the Lakers will likely get Davis and another all star or borderline all star in free agency -> new contender
- Warriors won't have homecourt but by the playoff they'll have Klay back and still be a threat
- Blazers will be though to beat once Nurkic comes back, they were better than some people credit them this season
- Utah will be better if they just get a solid pg
- OKC will still be there...like they were there in the last game of the regular season
- Spurs will have Murray back, which means more athleticism, lenght and defese, White will get better, and they have a chance to add a solid player in free agency

If the Rockets don't upgrade the roster they're definitely able to compete, but they won't start as one of the favourites, that's for sure.

 

We’ll see, this is going to be a busy and cray offseason for tons of teams. We gotta see who comes out as contenders.

It begins now.

 

Raptors and Bucks are the teams to beat ....which means Rockets need to get taller and quicker. Imo.

 

Well the Rockets really just need to worry about themselves, and make decisions based on (if they are still committed to Harden the next 3 years) putting the best team around Harden that we can. That still might mean trading CP3, EG, or whoever to reshape the roster, or reset for trade deadline - 2020 moves for the last two years of Harden's prime.

I also have a nagging suspicion that the Warriors are going to retain Klay and KD on one year deals essentially. I think there is still a chance they have a good enough year without those two to make the playoffs, and Klay & maybe even KD are able to come back for the playoffs. I also think next season could be a monster season for Curry. I think we are going to find out alot about how great Curry really is.

So I think the Rockets just need to do what they were going to do regardless.... only unless this changes the calculus of trading Harden.... which I doubt was ever seriously considered.

 

Yes, certainly. GS is still a threat if KD re-signs with them too. Who knows another shooter like Reddick might sign up for the MLE with them until Klay heals.

 

The Rockets need more length, bounce and need to get smarter. We’re so far away. Harden makes it looks like we’re close because he keeps getting better. But we are so far away. The CP3 contract is really makes it hard to improve.

 

Totally this, if a player is responsible for 30 wins of 53 games, then it is clearly not a complete team.

 

remains to be seen. right now they have one current all star that will be playing for them

 

doesn't matter. this what's been talked about for years. if curry is as good as people say he is, then he'll be able to carry that team to the playoffs etc. lets see.

 

I agree that they need to get better, that should always be the case, for any team (even the Warriors, who definitely took that message to heart). BUT everyone forgets how successful the Rockets were with what they were doing. They had the Warriors beat the previous year except for extreme intervention from the refs (albeit with a steadfast refusal on their end to stop jacking up threes that weren't going in), they might well have beat them this year if the same thing hadn't happened in game 1, AND the Warriors aren't even necessarily the team that will need to beat to get over the hump.

I disagree. I think the Rockets, as they are, would be listed as one of the favourites. Whether or not they follow through on that would be the question.

Who were you thinking would be favored over them in the West? Portland?? Denver?? Doubtful, but in the conversation Golden State? I suspect not. I think most people, when looking at that group, would probably have Denver and Houston at the top, and looking at how well Houston played when at full strength, and how they fared against those other teams, Houston would be the overall favourite.

 

the minute the lakers get AD and whoever decides to follow them, their odds would immediately become one of the favorites. Out of all of the west teams, the team's odds that will change drastically is the lakers because they'll likely have impact players coming in. other than that teams like utah, denver are all about improving internally. how much they can get better remains to be seen. we already know what portland, okc, spurs are

 

Raptors have 4 people score 20 plus. Houston does not have.

 

Great point, and their defense is much better than ours too.

 

Send this message to the statistician and TF. The Rockets need a lot of luck though with no cap room or picks, and increasing age.

 

rockets not the best team still, we still have philly, milwaulkee, boston, portland, and toronto to go through lmao

 

I mean, you're talking about two seasons ago at this point, Bucks weren't a thing, same for the Raptors, the Sixers...as for the West, Warriors healty in the playoffs is what matters, even without KD they can very well beat us, the Lakers will likely have their big 3, the Blazers got better in the last season and they're a younger team, other teams have a chance to improve with a good move (Jazz/Spurs).

The Rockets are old, there's no upside whatsoever with this roster, there's only downside in fact, Paul is more likely to get worse at this point, certainly not better, PJ is 34, i don't expect him to have a drop since he hasn't been in the league for a lot of years, but he's still 34. Harden and Gordon are 30...keeping the same roster as two season ago (which btw isn't even true cause Ariza > House) already means we'll be worse than two years ago since we won't get that Chris Paul back anyway, and i doubt House (assuming he's still year next season) will ever match Ariza impact.

 

Are we assuming that Chris Paul is healthy and playing like an all star ?
Or we pick up someone awesome like Carmelo Anthony?