Luc barely played in the series, so it's hard to use him as a reason as to why the Rockets had any shot.
Yeah, they have really **** on the Rockets pretty hard in the post season wrap up, the offseason preview, the FA coverage, etc. I like their coverage of the game strategies, but although they are knowledgeable about cap mechanics, they are right far less often there. Zach Lowe is one of the few who recognizes that Morey has a long history of pulling rabbits out of hats when it seems their offseason is lost so he seems to be giving Houston an "incomplete" pending Morey's next move. I look at it like this - standing pat with last year's roster(that would only decline because of age) would have ultimately been a regression and the obvious place in need of upgrade was the age of our wing defenders - so Luc and Ariza are gone and at least Ennis is a much younger wing(though not yet a stud). I expect Morey is playing the long game on trying to get Butler to town so we may be waiting around until late in the trade season or even next offseason before we make our big move.
The Lakers do have some pretty good young talent but we do as well. CP3/MCW/Melton Harden/Gordon/Gerald House/Adel/Ennis PJ/Clark/Hartenstein Clint/Zhou Chi/Nene Unfortunately D'antoni doesn't have it in him but a infusion of young talent is what we were missing last year.
melton over mcw any day, green at the 3 over adel... adel shouldn't even make the final cuts lol, he had one good game
I don't think this is a particularly unreasonable view as the roster is currently constructed. If Morey has some big moves left up his sleeve then our window could re-open, but beating the Warriors with Trevor and Luc was a monumental task. Without them and with only James Ennis in their stead? I'm not optimistic. CP3 will be a year older, maybe Harden shocks us again by coming back better yet again, maybe Capela improves some (assuming they work it out with him one way or another) but currently we took a big step back defensively and on the wing and we haven't really improved anywhere unless we are actually going to call the additions of MCW and DeAnthony Melton an improvement to the guard rotation. Again, I'm open to the idea that Morey isn't done and that guys like Ennis will thrive in our system, but at this very moment it appears we took a major step back while other teams in the West either maintained or improved. The Warriors might be better come the post season with the addition of Boogie. The Lakers are obviously much improved by adding Lebron. The Thunder maintained (and will improve if Roberson returns healthy and has a healthy season). Hell, even San Antonio, who played without Kawhi all last season, could theoretically improve if they trade Kawhi for literally anybody who can play average to above average minutes in their rotation (though maybe with Aldridge and Pau getting older and Parker being gone they take a step back too).
Have to argue against the premise that the Rockets window has closed …. No , they aren't as good as last year. Any team with a prime James Harden & Morey as GM is going to make noise. This team wont be a finished product until the trade deadline has passed …. and most of us expect Morey to pull a rabbit outa his hat and until then , Harden & co can keep the team close to the top of the standings.
I hate to bump this but after Pelicans loss, last year rockets had the right team. I dont know about this team. That could easliy been a game 0-1 loss in round 1 against the 4-5 seed for houston and pelicans. I dont know what to think, lets hope adjustments are made and maybe some defensive trades in feb if this team is a shadow of it self, and are in the hole all year.
Omg the sky is falling after one game, no chemistry,jitters and incorporating so many new players and a defesive coach. Chilllll
