I think Harden probably thinks of himself as a Lebron only with the lesser athleticism, defense, offense, and playmaking. Did I mention much lesser defense?
Huh? If Lebron wants to come here then you take him with open arms...that's a no brainer but it's a longshot. Anthony is much more attainable and I'd welcome the addition. So why would I be paying if Melo comes? Because I got my wish?
I would want him here but I don't know if I would consider him Rocket blood. He's one of those players that comes and goes and follows the "best opportunity". Rocket blood is Hakeem, Clyde, Steve, Horry, Vernon, Yao, etc etc. I like having Dwight and James H but they have to re up before I consider them a true Rocket as well.
Look at the poll results. Almost 80% would be happy to have Lebron. That seems like a lot of support for Lebron, and not much hate.
The Miami Heat lost to the Spurs this year...Badly...yet Vegas has the Heat as favorites to win it next year. The Lebron effect is so big, that it even clouds the minds of line makers...Lebron to Houston would be a total wet dream and every single person on this forum should want the best player in the game on this team. Being a real contender is much different than being a pretender every year. Lebron takes this team over the hump, and dreams of attaining titles become much more of a reality, especially in this competitive West. If Lebron did the unthinkable, and moved to Houston...Imagine getting to see Lebron getting to go at Durant, the Spurs, Griffin and Paul, Kobe, Dirk, Portland...at least 4 times a season...that would be incredible...
People who voted otherwise probably are fans other teams that troll here. If Lebron decides to come to Houston (highly unlikely he'll even leave Miami), it makes us legit contenders and nothing short of a finals appearance will be a disappointment.
Exactly. LOFL at anyone who claims the title would be "tainted." Oh, please, they would be right in front of the barricade at LaBranch or Smith or whatever street they would have the parade on.
Oh, you mean Clyde Drexler, who openly lobbied Portland management to trade him to Houston and no one else? Oh, you mean Vernon, who as much as he did for us the first year, outright quit on us in 1995? Rocket blood... damn, you people are really funny. You put on the Rockets uniform, you're a Rocket, period. But, that's OK, you have the right to feel how you want. Just think it's a bit silly.
Admittedly, I am not a big fan of Lebron. Not really his fault, mainly because of the ridiculous amount of media attention that he gets. I do not need a Lebron app. I do not care about hearing hours of coverage about Lebron's cramps after a game....in the NBA Finals! While watching ESPN, not a single other player or moment was talked about except his cramps with a couple minutes left in the game. Is it really a huge story that he lost his headband in a game of the Finals? Do we really need to talk about that? All of that aside, he is a great player. The media says he is the best player in the World (a lot)- I honestly think that is debatable, but just the fact that he is in that conversation proves how good he is. The Championships with Hakeem were special because our star player was Houston born and spent his whole career to that point on our team. We were able to see that heart of a champion being born. If Lebron joined us, assuming we won a title (and I think we would have an amazing shot at that), I can completely understand how it would feel slightly cheapened. But only slightly.... If he joined us, I would learn to like him. I would learn to accept the media coverage, as well as the bandwagon Rockets fans as well as the bandwagon 'anyone but Houston' fans. LBJ, Harden and Howard would be ridiculous, especially when you consider Beverley and Jones or Parsons (depending on Parsons' contract worked out). It would be fun to watch, dominant and consistently competitive. It would be the end result of years and years and years of asset collecting and team building. And it would be amazing. Hoping for the best!
The Heat lost the Finals this year, and it was considered a disappointment. I think that a big 3 of LBJ, Harden and Howard would be much, much, much better than LBJ, what's left of Wade, and the overly passive Bosh. It would almost become champions or bust for the Rockets. And that's a good position to be in.
That's not the Lebron effect. That's the Weak Eastern Conference effect. Replace the Heat with the Rockets and we're almost a lock to get to the Finals every year with the current roster. Then we run through a stupid easy conference, win even MORE than our 54 games (Heat's record) and are completely rested to face whichever team comes out of the West. That alone increases your odds of winning dramatically.
This guy here believes making the finals in the East is easier than losing in the first round in the West. You have numbers to back up any of your rambling and is this how you justify getting killed in the first round by a team that doesn't even play defense? I'm going to assume you're using your "eye test" and believe the Warriors/Blazers would eliminate the Heat in the first round. Yeah, Heat are favorites to win the title in Vegas because those guys don't watch the games -- On topic, if Wade and Bosh don't opt out and take a paycut, there's no way LBJ should stay in MIA. Bulls/Rockets are the best options. Going to either team would make them instant title favorites. Put your hate aside, it would be amazing to see LBJ, Harden, and Howard
I was going to worm my way out by pleading the fifth altogether. Screw that I'm all in if it happens. My main reason is I don't think I can emotionally and physicaly handle ridiculously close and stressful games like I used to. Health reasons, I need this.
I have been a Rockets fan since Yao became a Rocket, I have never been more excited entering this summer knowing we have Howard and Harden and possibly adding another superstar like Lebron or Melo. I cant BELIEVE some fans saying no to Lebron(best player on the planet) or Melo(at least a top 10 player in my opionion). Go Rockets! Win multiple championships!
Are you serious? How many teams in the East do you believe are favored over the Rockets outside of Miami? Indiana after their horrific meltdown? Just do the math... half the equation is getting TO the Finals. Let's say you're a massive favorite to win each round of the play offs in the West (70%). The odds of making it out of the West are 70% x 70% x 70% = 34.3%. Even if you're a MONSTER favorite in every series, you only make it out of the conference 1/3 of the time. In other words, the Heat is favored but not a sure bet against any team like GSW or the Blazers. Make them run through that gauntlet 3x and most of the time they will NOT make it through. Blazers - OKC - Spurs ... That's what they'd have to go through if they swapped places with Houston. Now how many times you want to bet they make it out of that set of teams? That they get NO bad bounces? No off nights? No injuries? That NONE of those teams have great shooting nights? A series to 7 with the Blazers, do it 10x, do the Heat win all 10 times? How about OKC? How about the Spurs? That's my point... when you have a stupid easy path TO the Finals, then it's just down to a single series against the survivor. Except the team that comes out of the West had a tougher road, playing against tougher competition, and had to fight a LOT harder to get their wins during the regular season. The Heat had 54 wins... the same as the Rockets. That got them the #2 seed. They rested Wade 1/3 of the season. Do you think they could get away with that in the West? They would have needed 59 wins to get the #2 seed in the West. How much more would Wade have had to play? How much harder would it have been on Lebron playing so many more games against 50+ win teams? EVERY team in the West was a 50+ win team except for Dallas, which had 49. Phoenix missed the play offs entirely and would have been the #3 seed in the East. If Miami were the #2 seed in the West their first match up would have been MEMPHIS. Yes, beating Memphis is probably not that much easier than going through Charlotte AND Brooklyn combined. Charlotte was a joke. Brooklyn wasn't much better. Miami has a cakewalk to the Finals every year because they're currently the only legitimate team in the East. That could change next year if Rose is healthy or the Pacers get their act together. However, as it stands now every team the Heat faced in the play offs was basically playing like a LOTTERY team in the West.
