Thinking we take a slight step back, however, if at some point Morey can somehow manufacture a trade for Dragic or Rondo or a moe offensive PG we may actually improve. Still not sold on this bench much though considering they are banking on a lot of improvement and input from guys like Canan, Dmo, Covington, and Daniels in particular... I don't believe losing CP and Lin are as big an issue as many have made it out to be, am a bit concerned with who is going to back up DH (don't know a thing about Dorsey nor Capella).
Jones and Beverley will both take steps forward, each getting more of a role as offensive weapons with the ball their hands. Howard will get a little bit better working with Harden and look a little bit more like Orlando Howard. Harden will improve some more. Maybe even a little on defense. Ariza will shoot the 3 really well, play solid defense, and be to Parsons what Bev was to Lin -- namely a better fit on this team. The defense will be better, largely because of Morey's infuriating resigning of former Rocket players DMo will become a legit bench center and start being coveted by other teams. The Rockets will make a trade mid season (unless they surprisingly pull off something before the season starts) for a key contributor at the PG spot, moving out Jones, the TPE and the New Orleans pick amongst other things. Rockets get 4th seed again, make it to the 2nd round -- from there they may make a run, but there is not enough wood in the world for me to knock on to make me jinx them with a more glorious prediction than this.
Team as is? 50-ish wins, 6th seed, 1st round exit. I think Bev/Harden/Howard will have to play extremely heavy minutes, and will burn out by the time May rolls around. Our bench is awful at the moment.
Off season is not over, appears we are not done dealing. What we have to offer I'm not exactly sure but I'll stay positive and hope for more moves. Regardless, I think if we improve defense and cut down on turnovers a bit we might have a chance to do better than last season. Even without Lin, Parsons, and Asik. Go Rockets.
The Garm will have much less Lin threads, but the threads will still be filled with over emotional fans.
Spurs always relax after a year in which they won it all. This year Duncan Parker and Ginobili will show their age. 1. OKC 2. Rockets 3. LAC 4. MEM 5. SAS 6. GSW 7. NOH 8. PHX Yes I am predicting Portland and Dallas miss the playoffs. This is my "Go on the record" post. The year will not be kind to old teams that rely entirely on their starting line-up without much depth.
Really hard to make a prediction at this point with Morey still calculating to make some moves. So my prediction as of now... With Lin, Parsons, and Asik gone and taking under consideration that Harden and Howard will more than likely not play all 82 games (Lin usually always stepped up when Harden was out) _ with having to gel and develop chemistry with new players and young players like Canaan having to develop and get comfortable on the court. I'm predicting around 48-50 wins hanging on for dear life for the 7th-8th seed with both Harden and Howard having to put up a MVP type season.
Assuming here are no other (big) moves I say they finish with around the same record and end up with the 4 seed again.
Given that the Rockets have finished with better than 54 wins just four times in franchise history, and Hakeem Olajuwon played on three of those teams, it's pretty likely they'll have a worse record. Beyond that, I refuse to believe this is their final roster, so I'm waiting.
People will go on and on for pages in other topics spouting off opinion, but tell them to "go on record" and this thread hardly gets any posts. ....I think 57-60 wins is about accurate. I think we get a 4 seed unless one of San Antonio's big 3 goes down with an injury which may give us a little boost in seeding. How far we get especially with this roster is going to depend A LOT on the matchup. Getting Dallas in the first round would be awesome - Portland still scares me though as we are an even worse matchup with them as presently constructed. I think Terrance Jones will really step up this year and turn into a tantalizing young player - and a lot of talk in the NBA gossip rags about how Morey's got a new "asset". I think Howard regains his playoff form and has one of his best seasons. Harden I feel will have a few nagging injuries which will slow him. He looks heavy up top to me and that screams plantar fasciatis problems as his feet get more miles on them. I think the defense will be much improved and Houston will even win a few with defense rather than winning them all with offense. I also still think we will see another needle moving roster change in Houston before the season is out which change the predictions above obviously.
I think we will have 49 wins, barring any major trades and injuries, of course. 6th seed. After that, nobody knows.
