You do not blow up a #3 seed team. You get another star or two to help him. How likely will your next star be 29/11/8 caliber?
That's why I wish Rockets didn't suck so bad last year. Otherwise they'd had a shot at landing KD, who is not only one of the most efficient scorer but also an elite defensive player now. Harden + KD would have put Rockets right up there with Warriors.
OP not sure if you've tuned into games this season, but we are building around James Harden. We just hit the reset button after last year's disastrous season and you want the hit again after proving that we have a potentially good core? I'd argue that we need to definitely make some adjustments come summer time and see if we can convince Gordon Hayward to join us for the ride, but we most definitely do not need to blow up anything.
This team is already built around James. You don't trade one of the 3 best players in the league (in his prime) for a POTENTIAL superstar.
Is this thread serious? Why would you blow up a team with the 3rd best record in the West(and league)? The Rockets have a very solid foundation in place. They need a couple more pieces, but you look to improve this roster, not discard it and start over. Remember, the Warriors will have trouble keeping that nucleus in place past this summer. Durant and Curry will each be looking for huge pay raises. Iggy and Livingston are free agents and will each be seeking one last fat contract. Even if Golden State does manage to hang onto all 4, they'll never have the depth they did during the last 2 seasons. Which means they'll always be an injury or two away from being overtaken by other teams in the West. The Spurs manage to find new pieces to plug in place for their players who either retire or move onto other teams, but a lot of that core is getting old. Gasol, Parker, Lee, and Manu are on their last legs. And Aldridge is gonna be 32 in a few months. For all the hype the Spurs continue to get, keep in mind they've won only one title since 2007(although it would've been 2 had they not choked in 2013). Then over in the East, the Cavs are clearly on a downward trajectory. Once the Celtics add a free agent over the summer and utilize the Nets' lottery pick, they'll be the new powerhouse in that conference. So knowing all of this, why panic? Why not first see what this team is capable of in the playoffs and then should they fall short, try to fix whatever problems they have during the offseason?
We have a legitimate superstar who's brought the team back to respectability and probably made us attractive to free agents again, and you start an "I love being the contrarian" thread about blowing it up? You might want to change your username. You can keep the "Htown" part, if you like.
We need to trade Harden to rebuild. He's the only asset worth enough to get a top 5 player in return you can build around like a James Harden. Wait a second this thread sucks.
The Rockets were never gonna land Durant last summer. That was always a pipe dream. He hated Dwight, remember?
Not only that, but KD wanted to get to the valley to build on his 'silicon' valley dreams + Nike. You ain't even hear much about Under Armour this season. Curry should've never let that happen
We can't blow it up. By the same token though we have be realistic and realize the era we are in and what we need to do to win a championship. Teams like the Celtics and Jazz are rising quickly. Right behind them are some young lottery teams that are on the verge of huge leaps forward. And the Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs are still better than us. If we keep dilly-dallying around and not being realistic on what it's going to take to become a champion then we will find ourselves as continual also-rans throughout the Harden era. We are not in the 90's now where not many teams were taking advantage of the three-point line. We're not in a league where only a few teams aren't building their offense around the three-point line. So if we stand still we could easily be bypassed by other young and up coming teams who are building around the three-point line. We have to address our needs somehow, some way. Those things that are keeping us from winning a championship. Poor paint defense. Below average rebounding. Lack of shot-creating and passing by everybody except Harden.
You could add any player(s) you want to our roster and there's no guarantee that we could beat the Warriors, that's just the hard truth. I won't give up hope that we could pull it off with this squad. I love this team..sure there are weaknesses and those should be addressed in the off-season. Blow it up? Now way.
Stars are always leaving bad teams, as long as we have James, Houston is a possible destination for those stars. PG and Jimmy Butler are on the way out in less than a year, if the Rockets can grab one of them they can build a team that could compete with anyone.
We have one of the best players in the NBA and the 3rd best record in the league... and this guy wants to blow it up? Is that for real? Sure... we are a couple of steps behind GSW and San Antonio. If we get and stay hot from the 3 point line we could, potentially, beat either one of them but we won't be the favorites. I get that. But if you have an MVP candidate and one of the best teams in the NBA you keep making moves to change the roster around what you have to get better, even if it is just incrementally better. You don't blow it up.
BLOW IT UP enter nba purgatory again! 14th pick here we come! Lets collect assets for years so we can start over and trade for a guy like james harden in a couple years
People need to lay off the drugs. This team has the 3rd best record in the league and a legit chance against any team. SA and GS are both stacked but we have the ability to beat them if the shots fall in the playoffs. Harden's hurt wrist is my biggest concern. If it wasn't for that I like our chance against anyone.
The SAME people crying about NOT blowing it up are the same ones that cried about Morey NOT BLOWING IT UP after we went to the freaking WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS. Of course they didn't cry BEFORE the season started, they waited until AFTER, then pretended to have the foresight to see it coming... If the right deal comes along you take it in a heartbeat. Ryan Anderson can only do 1 thing. Eric Gordon is still injury prone, regardless of how many games he might play this season. Ariza's window is closing. Harrell & Dekker are not going to be all-stars. Boo hoo, get over it. If you can add a stud you do it. Morey can find random pieces to surround stars with, he's great at that.