Sad Moment of Reflection TL/DR: Our players took a step back collectively last season and realistically speaking, next season’s optics don’t look all that rosy either. Spoiler So offseason has kind of sucked so far and saying that last season didn’t quite meet the Rocket’s fanbase’s expectations would be an understatement. Fast forward to now, we are essentially looking at a starting lineup of: PG: Patrick Beverley SG: James Harden SF: Trevor Ariza PF: Ryan Anderson C: Clint Capela To start with the obvious, Harden had a down year and had to work his way into shape and past the Kardashian curse (cross your fingers guys). Beverley had obviously lost some quickness and is shown to be unable to sustain his intensity over the course of starter minutes, though he is still one of our more consistent shooters. Ariza has obviously taken a step back as well, but is not our biggest problem, not by a long shot. Capela still has much to learn and really needs to learn how to shoot FT’s at a respectable percentage. Anderson is definitely a huge improvement on offense over whatever Dwight+PF on offense, but not exactly known for his defensive prowess. Unless some magic voodoo happens and Capela channels his inner Akeem or Beverley can regain his Wolverine durability to match his often misguided intensity and ferocity, this upcoming season has a strong chance of missing the playoffs in a conference that remains scarily strong. Upshot TL/DR: Offense will still be good and that’s ultimately what wins games. Defense will still be bad, but even a little effort and attention would make us worlds better than last year. Harden is not dating a Kardashian. We still have money! Spoiler So, for those of you who are as crazy a Rockets fan as I am and piss Rocket Red zeal, what’s the bright side so far? Well, believe it or not, I can come up with quite a few actually: 1. Offense: While we weren’t poor on offense, a large part of it had to do with our extraordinary playmaker carrying the team on his shoulders despite it being a down year, while our supposed superstar pouted and half-assed games due to everyone telling him that he can’t partake anymore in the area that he was weakest in. We won’t name names here, but I’m sure you guys know who I am talking about. That said, the truth is, we sucked at O outside of Harden. Josh Smith spent his remaining luck and powers in the playoffs 2 seasons ago and D-Mo simply has not recovered the way we were hoping. Enter Pringles and Anderson. Let’s face it, Anderson is offensively better than last year’s Dwight, Smith, Jones, and D-Mo combined (jury is still out on Beasley) and depending on who you believe, Pringles is a savant on offense when he has an intelligent guard who can shoot (Harden!). As depressing as this offseason has been thus far, at least the offense should be exciting this season. 2. Defense: OK, so we definitely took a step back going by paper, but paper is not what plays on the court. Last year we thought we had an incredible team on paper and look where that ended up for us? Bright side however, Dwight didn’t try last year (and when he did, was a shell of his former self) and Smith and Jones both sucked. Beasley wasn’t any better either, so the fallout on D with an Anderson/Capela frontcourt may not be as devastating as we are thinking, especially if coaching makes it a priority this year. Heck, with even a little bit more effort on D, I think we could actually be better than last season, because yes, I really do think we were THAT BAD defensively last year. Capela is young, promising, and most importantly injury free. Jones is not around to be used as a chew toy for the elite bigs of the west and Anderson has at least shown the mental fortitude of not going fetal when chewed on and spat back out by opposing PF’s. 3. Kardashian Curse: Believe it, don’t believe it, we can all agree that it WAS a distraction last season, for Harden and the rest of our team. An affair with a separated, but not divorced woman that belongs in a family known for their shenanigans is NEVER a situation you want to see your young superstar in, especially one that puts him near Kanye West, one of the dumbest and worst “artists” in the hip hop community. Fact is, they are not together anymore and that can only mean good things! 4. Cap Space: Mostly due to being spurned by some of the more desirable FA’s we still have enough money to max out a player. Do we spend it on a singular player, flesh out our roster with role players, or hang on to it? I don’t know, but it sure will be interesting to see where that money goes and how it ends up being used. So there you have it, at least 4 things that we might be able to look forward to in our upcoming season. It’s definitely a long read, but that’s why I provided TL/DR for the less attentive!
1.) We now have the stretch four we have been looking for --- even though he comes at a big price tag. 2.) We still have our defensive minded players in Beverley, Ariza, and Capela. 3.) Speaking of Ariza, he is now a valuable contact based on his skill set and experience. 4.) Brewer might look amazing in MDA's system. 5.) At the same time, Brewer's contact looks cheap in comparison to the current contracts.
1. We truly don't know what we have in Harrell and KJ McDaniels in terms of actual NBA production. I really like Harrell if he can learn to control his anger, as he can be a very interesting PNR player and a crazy long defender out on the perimeter. 2. Statistically speaking, it's less likely that essentially the entire team poops the bed at the same time. 3. I am a big believer that last was an anomaly and wasn't truly indicative of what the Rockets have. With that "positivity" said, we are still probably a first round exit team unless something changes (trade and/or internal growth).
Why do we need so many "big picture" threads? Can't we just have one thread for everyone who hates how the offseason is going and is two seconds away from killing themselves and another thread for sane people who realize free agency started less than 48 hours ago and there are still months left in the offseason? Personally, I think we should save these big picture type conversations for when we actually have an idea how the roster is going to look. It's WAY too early to start freaking out and/or jumping for joy.
We can hope for positive regression from bev and Ariza . We can hope from internal improvement from the youngsters . We can hope we retain Dmo and he's healthy . We won't be awful , I don't see a super high upside either . There's also a lot of offseason left.
With Ryan Anderson and Donatas Motiejunas having breakout years with D'Antoni, our offense will be insanely gorgeous, bringing Houston back to thinking positively about their team, and changing the media perception. Getting rid of Dwight makes everyone happy.
If you are looking for reality, they s is the reality. You should expect a team to score a lots, faster pace, horrible defense, and hopefully some of our young players can develop into some solid rotation players, as for playoff, 6-8 seeds seems reachable, but most likely a first round exist. If you are a Harden fan, you should start to think what should he go in two years, if you are a rockets fan, you should tell yourself that this may actually be a good thing.
6-8 seed is the upside, of course the downside for this team is crash and burn, and the chance of this outcome actually is pretty high.
Is the best case scenario and not that bad . And hopefully we have a few of GP2 , Harrell , and KJ left from the Ariza and Rubio trade .
Silver Lining. A team with Pringles, Harden and Ryan Anderson, will be a VERY entertaining and prolific on offense! They might not win at an elite pace or even go far in the postseason, but boy will they be FAST and FUN (Lex Alexander approves)!!! Now if they add another top notch shooter/skilled scorer like Seth Curry/Morrow/Gasol, WATCH OUT! season slogan. It's In !!!
Another upside, with T-Jones and Howard gone, we don't have too many players opposing teams can hack away at anymore, just Capela and... do we still even have Smith anymore?
Every fans ultimate goal is that your team acquires the player/s that will lead the team to a championship. Even with Horford we were a second round bust at best. If we could have signed Durant And Horford, we just had a chance at a Championship. With where we are now, we are an 8 - 11 seed with no hope for a championship. Period.
They'll win a bunch of games this upcoming regular season under MDA and hopefully an inspired Harden, but if you can't stop teams in the playoffs its all for not.
I wanna post on this again , becuase really this is an incredible idea . Depending on contracts of Dmo and Gordon we might still have cap space to get someone like harkless. The crux is getting Rubio for people like Brewer and Ariza which I don't know how receptive min is going to be for that . We are going to have to throw in other assets or work with a third team . Maybe offer bev instead/ in addition . If we can find a way to get Rubio ( even if it means giving up a lot of our young talent we might just have to do it .. Because he is the key to this team you suggested ) Beasley is a good asset he might have to be the one . A future first might have to be involved . If you can do that and get rid of Brewer I'd be willing to give up a lot .
