I had to take a step back off the ledge and really look at what we lost and gained this offseason. Losses Ariza - Average defender...below average offensively Luc - Good defender...below average offensively Additions Melo (reported to sign with us soon) - Below average defender...above average offensively Melton - above average defender...rookie...below average offensively Ennis - above average defender...average offensively Ariza is a good role player, but his defense at this stage in his career is overrated and he was too inconsistent on offense to be a starter. Luc played well before the shoulder injuries, but he simply was not the same player afterward. I haven't heard about him having surgery so I can only assume that shoulder is waiting on it's next opportunity to pop out. We become a much more versatile team offensively with the addition of Melo, but will suffer on D too. Byzdelik will have his work cut out for him in trying to hide Harden and Melo on defense, but hopefully staggering their mins played will help with that a little. I like the addition of Ennis for depth purposes. He will help mitigate the loss of Luc as he is a similar defender with a little better offensive game. MDA will of course have to figure out whether it's more important to play for a higher seed and go all out during the regular season like last season or rest guys and focus on health going into the playoffs not worrying about seeding. Bottom line - We didn't lose as much as everyone including me believed. Teams still won't have an answer for Harden, Capela, and CP3 playing together. We still have way to much firepower (even more now) for most teams to stay with us and our defense should only be slightly worse then it was last season.
Rockets won 65 with Paul missing 30 games. With decent health on our side, Houston is a lock to win 60 games.
60+ wins = no championship guarantee. I hope the Rockets just make the playoffs then be the first to win 16 games.
We're still the second best team in the league, frankly I don't care if we win 55 or 75. How we match up with GS is all I'm concerned with. The regular season is something we merely have to tolerate and survive health wise.
There are going to be some chemistry pains this season. CP3 is a super cerebral player so his integration last year was no issue. Ariza was a floor general. The little things without Ariza will take some adjustment, and adding Anthony to the mix even more so. I say 55 wins, and still 2 seed. Everyone will freak out for months over regular season pains, and then we'll be just as effective in the playoffs.
If Fat Mellon doesn't explode like a Gallagher prop by mid season, we should hit 60+ with a prime Harden.
I am thinking 70+ wins...The first year with cp3 was a new thing, now the engine should run more smoothly
Regular season doesn't matter as much anymore. We've been there done that. Just like the Astros are the defending champs, slow-playing this regular season because we know we have the guns for September...so the Warriors have been doing to the past 2-3 regular seasons. They slow-play them. We made them pay for it last year with our added confidence, and should have beat them if not for CP's injury and rigged officiating in game 6. But just realize that nothing that happens in the 2018-2019 regular season matters as long as we get a top two seed. That's the sole objective. The rest is decided in the playoffs.
Ariza - Average defender...below average offensively Luc - Good defender...below average offensively Ennis - above average defender...average offensively I doubt 6'2" Ennis is a much better player than both Ariza and Moute.
Voting no - Rockets somewhat surprising #6-ranked defense was the primary reason they beat everyone's projections last year, and I can't imagine fielding a gang of stoppers that fierce with the personnel we've acquired. I would set the over-under at about 57.5. The team will absolutely still contend to win the West. 60 would not shock me at all, I just think it's less than 50% likely.
I disagree with u on few assessment of players we lost and gain. Ariza is not average defender and Luc certainly isn't better defender than Ariza. No way you are putting Luc above Ariza as a defender, if that's true why we wouldn't retain Luc? The logic of this makes no sense. Melton is a rookie saying he is above average and above Ariza u are insane. Just because Ariza signed with Suns for more money u can't discredit his value. Has to keep things all consistent and fair.
