Pretty good analysis of the Rockets team this year, good read While we praise the Hawks, Spurs and Warriors for playing the beautiful team game, the Rockets rode Harden's inexhaustible resourcefulness and an ever-changing cast of role players to the the second seed in the Western Conference and now into a commanding position in their first-round playoff series. There is no third wheel, unless you consider that all of their players outside of Harden and Howard serve that function. Not that Morey didn't try to find that third star. He pursued Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony in the offseason. In the end, he came back with Ariza -- a role players' role player -- plus bargain bin veterans like Jason Terry and a basket full of rookies. He traded for Brewer and Prigioni (for a couple of role players, obviously) and landed Smith after Detroit turned him loose on the waiver wire. That's the thing about role players: you can always find more of them. The Rockets have cycled through 20 different players on their roster this season. . . http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/4/22/8466675/rockets-vs-mavericks-strange-josh-smith-dwight-howard