What would the media narrative be had the Rockets stood pat?

It'd be super positive if they signed Melo, and had 2 of these 3 players - Luc/Ariza/Ennis. Like how the Warriors added Cousins without losing any contributors...

 

What the media narrative was: "The're going to slip defensively. Ariza is getting long in the tooth and M'bah a Moute is a separated shoulder waiting to happen.They'll definitely be much worse."

What the media narrative is: "OMFG! How will they ever survive without Ariza and Luc? They lost two veteran 3&D guys and only added a 10-time All-Star, a starting-caliber PG and other scraps. They'll definitely be much worse."

 

An annoying, under the radar signing, was GSW declining Looney's Team Option last year (like we are expected to do with Chriss), yet he became a legit playoff defender in his 3rd year. Then, one would think Looney would get an offer just enough to exceed GSW's ability to match* ... but, nooo ... he signs for the minimum.

* (A $2m contract would have stolen him away. GSW wouldn't be able to match due to CBA rules for declining the T.O.)
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Not to say it matters, due to Jordan Bell and Cousins, but just the principal of the thing pisses me off. Guarantee you if we decline Chriss's option, yet he does as well as Looney did with us using him 20mpg as backup center in the playoffs, someone will offer him something we can't match.

 

"Rockets stood pat. Their defense got better last season but from the WCF it was clear that players wore down and the offense got a bit predictable. Clearly need another scorer. Should look to add another versatile scorer to the the lineup to ease the burden a bit from CP & Harden."

// adds Melo

 

And Knight, who can contribute a bit of scoring and ball handling off the bench if he's healthy and can return to form. Maybe we'll end up with "Gordon Redux - Lite Version." At this time of the year, one can hope.