Have a really good feeling that Bari is going to break out this year. I think KD's impact on the whole team is going to be huge, but he's going to do wonders for Bari. Expecting near 20/10 on high% with around 2 BPG. Gonna be NICE
I actually weirdly expect Tari to break out more than Bari. But I'm certainly not going to complain if you're right, that alone on top of what we already have would make us near-favourites rather than contenders. Insane that when you think about it, we have Amen and Alpi who could still leap forward whilst already being great (though Alpi's probably got less space than the rest now between his current and his ceiling) then we've also got Tari and Bari, both of whom if you squint you can see an all-star in there so they could suddenly pop into something bigger. And we've still got Reed who tbh I think has a significantly lower ceiling, but if he could simply become FVV with JJ Redick+ shooting he'd be the ideal 5th starter. Whether by coincidence or by design, I do have to hand it to Stone because I couldn't imagine us being in a better position outside of Fred's injury.
I expect all of the remaining core to progress this year including Reed. We're in for a special season no doubt. As far as Al P goes, especially with VV out, will be if Ime unleashes him and runs the offense through him similar to the way the Turkey national team coach does. He could be pushing double figure assist numbers. You know what that means.
Oh yeah I don't want to jinx it at all, but if Ime really does lean in to the Senhub then we could be looking at individual awards as well as team success. Let's hope Ime can see what's staring him in the face tbh.
Summing up the projected numbers per player, I expect the Rockets to average around 160 points, 80 rebounds and 70 assists per game. I am looking forward to it. Go Rockets! Sky is not the limit.
We should see a huge difference in the starting lineup between Dillon, who always brought the energy and hype, vs Durant. This Rocket's team isn't going to lose its nastiness and adrenaline, but now there's a guy who's always generating smooth open looks. With the pressure to score taken off, Durant's shotmaking will be contagious.
They made some pretty significant off-season improvements! Added: Bradley Beal, John Collins, Brook Lopez, Chris Paul (plus rookies and other non-significant players) Lost: Norman Powell (Amir Coffey and Drew Eubanks) I'd say they overall improved quite a bit - their biggest question mark is not on paper, it is health related. Can Dad's Army stay healthy? Probably not... but I can see why "on paper" they had a good off-season!
I guess I was thinking they were ranking $$ value of the franchises, in which case I thought the controversy would be hurting them.
