Too soon. I dont think Morey's finished yet. I wouldnt be surprised to see Rondo in a red uniform next season.
Man your options make it really tough to pick. Most polls give broad ranges so you can have a big cover.
53. I want to say 53. There was a lot of games we could of won. But thanks to lack of defense, we lost. We have dropped a little offense and gain more defense. Good balance.
Too early to predict. I think Morey has something prettu big up his sleeve. Remember how he pulled the Harden trade days before the start of the season. I expect and hope for osmething similar.
With current roster, probably looking at 53 - 55 range (obviously D12 needs to stay healthy through out the season). Also, if Rockets can somehow make a trade to bring another star player (specially the big), might increase the number to 57 - 60 range. Honestly, I really don't think losing CP25 hurts rockets that much. Losing Asik & Lin (consider Lin is the second player who can run the offense besides Harden last season) might hurt Rocket more in the playoff. CP25's effect can be easily replaced by our new starting SF - Ariza. However, nobody can guard the opponent's big better than Asik besides D12. Although Lin's low basketball IQ might cause us couple of games, but for the games he plays well, he definitely helps Rockets at least 1 - 2 games. So hopefully Nick Johnson can fill in Lin's role (not sure if he can be the 2nd play maker) or DM shows his magic and brings us the real 3rd star
The offseason is to incomplete and has a ways to go for Rockets and opposing teams moves for me to make a prediction.
Howard/ T Jones/ Ariza/ Harden/ Beverley/ Cannaan/ Covington/ Daniels/ N Johnson/ Kostas?/ Capela/ ...4 more spots
There really weren't any major blows. The major blow came from who the Rockets missed out on... not because their roster is severely downgraded. Parsons was replaced with Ariza. They are pretty comparable players. So that's about a wash. The only difference is that Asik and Lin are gone. The team's records were about the same when Asik was hurt and when he was healthy. He didn't really have much of an impact in his very limited minutes. Somebody else can fill that role nearly as well. I thought before the season that "48 minutes of elite rim protection" would be awesome. It turns out, the 13-15 minutes that Asik played really didn't impact the game that much like I thought it would. He can be replaced for those limited minutes. And as for Lin... he did some good things, but most fans wanted him gone anyway. He also did a lot of stupid things. He can also be replaced. The team itself will improve after having played 1 year together. The young guys will improve individually. They'll be alright. They are still a 50 win team.
