I'm excited, but I'm way more excited if Harden stays than if he leaves. If he stays, a core of Harden, Wood and Wall with the quality role players around them and a legit new coach in Silas has a serious chance to compete, even in the stacked West. But if he leaves and the Rockets get pennies on the dollar back, that excitement will fade fast. Even getting a young All-Star caliber guy like Simmons, Siakam or Jaylen Brown in return still pushes this Rockets team from contender to borderline playoff team in a heartbeat.
Health willing this team could be a dangerous sleeper, a # 2 or #3 seed in the playoffs. The key is the aforementioned health and improvement defensively.
This team is a 6th seed at best which I wouldn’t even put money on. Playing exactly how I thought they would play this year. Especially on the defensive end. I honestly don’t know where this excitement from this team stems from. Wood sure can score the ball but that pretty much ends there. He is abysmal on the defensive end and he is a rather low IQ player. John Wall is getting paid huge amounts of money and will always be a slight more efficient Westbrook with a few less stupid plays a game. He’s also not that 2014-15 defender he once was. Terrible fit with James. There are just a bunch of dudes like Tate, Nwaba, Brown, Mac who can do something well but can really be relied upon for a full season to be consistent on both ends of the floor. The team defense and rebounding is significantly worse than last year and might be in the bottom of the league and the offense doesn’t look very creative at all. I think this is going to get pretty ugly this year. I’ll be surprised if Harden remains a Rocket.
Not as excited because unlike many other people here, I can tell this team is definitely not a top 4 team in this year's west.
Def less excited than I have been since before the Harden era tbh. I'll still watch every game I can and enjoy the games they win, but I don't think this is a contender here.
It's never a great sign that when most of your players have such immense flaws, or lack experience. That's not a championship team. When you look at our 2018 team, there were no random rookies, everyone was a veteran who knows their roles and the system. There's no room in this league for you to "figure it out" as the season goes. You either have a system, an identity and the talent to make it work or you don't.
Establishing a defensive identify and clear roles for Harden and Wall is an immediate need. Bruno and Clemons need to be attached with second round picks, along with paid salaries asap. Bring Gibson and Gerald in quickly. Other steps like moving Tucker, EG and House are needed by the deadline. Tate will undoubtedly need to be attached. Perhaps Nwaba too. Silas' honeymoon period is over. @ApacheWarrior @Nook
I'm excited to see what young player comes in and outperforms Harden next! Luka certainly made him his b**** last night, tune in to see who will do it tomorrow night.... or will some sense of pride lead to Harden deciding to care enough to be Harden again? How is that not exciting?
I would say I have guarded excitement for these Rockets. They have the potential to make a lot of noise in the playoffs. They also have the potential to not make the playoffs.
