Who are the "legit NBA contenders" this season? OKC. Then who else. Maybe Denver or Lakers who have "champion pedigree"? Is anyone really scared of Pistons, Knicks, Spurs? Are we saying the Rockets as-is can't beat any of those teams in a 7 game series?
The problem is simple. This roster is great with all pieces dependent on one another. But losing FVV was devastating. Dorian Finney-Smith hasn’t played a second this season. But problem is, with Durant 37, you’re in win now mode. I would say damn the torpedoes and trade every stockpiled draft pick and whoever you need to trade to get Giannis, other than Durant and Sengun. Play those three together and run that for three years. If that doesn’t work, blow it up.
Poor 3pt shooting impacts a player's lack of gravity, but doesn't completely define it. Shot creation plays a huge part as well. Apart from KD and Reed, no one on our team can reliably create his own shot other than Sengun, and his shot creation is limited to the paint. Bari seems pretty good in the post too, but they never go to that for some reason. KD is our only 3 level scorer. The thing about Fred, Dillon, and Jalen is that they weren't particularly efficient 3 level scorers, but at least they were threats. It would really help if Bari had even half the confidence that Dillon has.
KD and Reed are the only 2 Rockets with significant positive gravity. Okogie, Capela, and Amen near the bottom of the entire league.... with Amen's negative gravity being almost as much as Reed's positive gravity. So we have 2 of the worst in the league in the starting lineup and people wonder why things stop working so often.
Hell no for me. The rest of the roster hasn't hit their prime yet. Another rebuild is another 5 years. If it doesn't work this season you trade Durant or you dump Ime. Super simple.
