Do you think the Rockets as Currently Constructed is a Championship Team?

Bev
Harden
Ariza/Brew
DMo/Smoove
Howard/Cap

Is a title winning rotation. Just need one more piece: another Playmaking guard. Trade our spare parts for such and we can definitely win it all.

 

I dont think a championship team and a contender are the same thing. I'm not sure if the OP was trying to make that distinction or not, but I assumed so, and voted no.

Rockets will contend and maybe with a favorable bracket they can win it all, but i don't think they're strong enough to deal with anything that comes their way. You see what happened with LA this year. As good as their first five are, the lack of depth just killed them, against a deep team.

I would say only a healthy OKC, GS, and the new Spurs are championship teams. Maybe a healthy Cleveland.

 

I am gonna have to say no at this point in time. Still need a playmaker/ball handler. Still do not have good enough shooters surrounding Howard and Harden. Would love to go get Anthony Morrow or Reggie Williams (AKA another shooter) and Ty Lawson somehow. I kinda hope that a package of a draft pick, Terrence Jones, K-Pap, and maybe Nick Johnson could get the job done. I don't know what they are asking though. Oh yeah and there is the small matter of Josh Smith as well. If we bring him back we are even closer but primarily we need that other PG.

 

Hey we need a player like these guys that can knock down a 3 when everyone else is brickin....I hope we can just get lucky with one of these summer league guys but then i know Mchale won't give them any playing time if the do make the roster

 

If the season started tomorrow morning and we don't add any other pieces including Smith?...

nah bruh

 

Steve Blake is an absolutely upgrade over what we had in the playoffs. That's all it's about. Not all this hype because we didn't get stars this offseason. It's about getting better. And the return of DMo who has improved every year and the return of Brewer who with Ariza will have another with the rockets under their belt. If we can add Blake with Beverly both are better than what we had this past playoffs.

That's what other teams know. The Rockets played with a damaged roster. The Clippers not really and the Warriors almost nothing. Let's see what a healthy Rockets team can do. I also think Dekker is goint to help out a lot. He can play 2 through 4 and if he can shoot behind the NBA arc which he claims he likes much better than he will be a big help.

The bottom line if we did nothing we would have been better just from getting the wounded back. But I am convinced Harden hasn't peaked yet and he will only get better. In fact you can say that about almost all of our roster except maybe howard and he got injured in the playoffs so he should be better than that.

We are a young team that went to the WCF and all we lost was Josh Smith. And I honestly think with DMo back that isn't much of a loss. I know not getting LMA hurt but I think the drop off from LMA to DMo is not as big as perceived.

DMo is a better low post scorer than LMA and he is a better defender than most think. If Dekker picks up the game as quickly as I think he will and TJones plays like he is capable of we are improved at the 4.

My only disappointment is not drafting a pg but if we can get a solid backup in trade or otherwise I think drafting Dekker was the right choice.

 

Nope.

 

Nope.

Do we have a team to make a deep run in the playoffs again? Yes.

 

No but we can get there. It wont be easy to crack into the upper echelon now though. The major threats, SA, GSW, OKC, CLE, LAC all have multiple scoring options and offenses that can hurt you in a lot of different ways. Memphis failed to add the scoring they needed but Green has an opportunity to find a groove and Wright is a good value/asset.

After the Warriors series I felt we needed a few tweaks to get there. Right now I think we'll probably need a more substantial move. I'm fairly confident we'll make that happen but you never know.

I'm sure Bev, DMo, Capella, Smith (if he returns) and KJ will improve next year but as of right now we haven't addressed the holes that held us back (still plenttttty of time to go, just a lot of holes) - defensive rebounding, playmaking, shooting.

 

These guys do not, it appears .....

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Which team is best in the West: Warriors, Spurs, Clippers, Thunder?

VOTE! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PulseOfTheNation?src=hash">#PulseOfTheNation</a>
<a href="http://t.co/EtLOokTiAf">http://t.co/EtLOokTiAf</a> <a href="http://t.co/btESasxTte">pic.twitter.com/btESasxTte</a></p>&mdash; SportsNation (@SportsNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsNation/status/619253104144334848">July 9, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Simple answer: NO

 

Very simple answer.......NO

 

There's only one championship team in the NBA...GSW.

Are the Rockets contenders...absolutely yes. They lost to GSW without two starters.

To get to the NBA Finals next season, we need to resign Josh, get Dmo back to where he was before injury, add depth at PG, and carefully distribute minutes next season to minimize injuries.

Specifically, we need to limit D12's minutes as carefully as possible....with Capella and with a resigned Josh that is readily achievable. We also need to dial back James' minutes somewhat and not rely on him so much. He is one of the top three players in the world...but he needs some help.

Do these things and add quality PG depth and absolutely yes, we are contenders for an NBA title.

 

Missing two critical players
An establish ball handler who can score and create
A bench player like Jamal Crawford or the okc version of Harden. A bench guy that comes in an can get buckets and impact the game.

 

We're sadly completely relying on Harden ISO and his hero ball, have really high doubts that we'll win a ring if he keeps demanding the ball all the time and chucks up contested shots. We desperately need a capable PG and a coach telling Harden to play more off-ball.

 

once we resign Josh and make the trade for a second pg (Collison?)... we'll have the horses...

PBev/Collison?/NJohnson
Harden/Brew/NJohnson
Ariza/Brew/Deck
DMo/JSmith/Harrell
D12/Capella

....I think that 12 man roster can compete...

 

I'm getting tired of saying this...

We made it to the WCF. In the process We played 2 "PG's" that were both 37 years old, while our best perimeter defender was on the bench. We played with a 20 year old kid that was not ready for the NBA at backup C, while our best post scorer was on the bench. We won 56 games, while the best C in the NBA missed 41 games. Oh, Almost forgot... Our starting PF missed what 50 games?

Yes we're freaking contenders! There is a decent chance that, if healthy, we could've won 60+ games. And had Bev and Dmo not been hurt, I think there's a decent chance we could've beat GS and play in the finals.

Yes! We are contenders. That's not my biased opinion, that's a fact. Proven by what we accomplished with the same players we're gonna have next season.

 

Rockets, or should I say "James Harden," needs another Playmaker on Offense do No. #Rockets

 

If completely healthy defintely yes. How can so many people argue the opposite coming off a 57 win season and the longest playoff run in 20 years?

 

The main issue I have with the Rockets is their ability to score points through four quarters and beyond, to go toe to toe with GSW and their ilk and win consistently and convincingly. Current personnel inconsistencies, high variance in team shooting performances, too much Harden, health issues, match-up issues etc. were recurring themes in this season past. On the bright side, it was good enough for 56 wins, a division title and a WCF berth.

We want rings not analytics ad nauseam. Get it done Morey!