On the eve of free agency, I've been thinking a lot about which teams am I rooting for and against from a strictly Rockets-centric POV. See below order of teams I am most rooting against to least by tiers. Full disclosure, biggest factors are 1) do we own your draft picks, 2) Do you have players I want on Rockets, 3) Could you threaten our 2023 draft, and 4) Do I hate you for historical rivalry reasons? Would love input, commentary, criticism. Tier 1- Give me your high Draft Picks Milwaukee Brooklyn Controversial choice at the top! My reasoning is even though we have more draft equity from Nets, the likelihood that a bad 2022-23 season helps Rockets this summer is small, given all we have coming is a pick swap. On the other hand, I kinda like the Bucks and hate rooting against them, but the best thing for Rockets is if Bucks pull a 96-97 Spurs and have an injury riddled season except the high pick goes to the Rockets. Not likely, but strange (bad) things happen! Especially after multiple deep playoff runs, you never know. For Nets, they don't even have to be that bad, just bad enough to cause Kyrie and Durant to bolt. Call me a homer, but if Kyrie leaves and Durant requests a trade, is there any chance the Nets, in attempt to avoid history repeating itself, prioritize trading Durant to Houston in exchange for their future back (i.e. give us all our picks back!)? Would you take it? What else would you be willing to give up? Tier 2- I need your stars to ask for trade requests Mavericks Lakers Suns Clippers T-Wolves The chance any given star asks out and puts Houston on their list is small, so you have to root for as many disgruntled stars as possible. Mavs are at top of my list because it's looking dire for them after probably losing Brunson tomorrow and nothing would be sweeter than getting late revenge on them for signing Parsons to an offer sheet (even though that ended up working out for Houston and blowing up in their faces, doesn't matter because Michael Finley was still out of bounds!). Aside from that, I love the idea of an aging star saying, I can't do it all the time anymore, I want to end my career being awesome in spurts, riding young star coattails and passing on my wisdom. Lebron (we'd have to draft his son), CP3 (always makes new team better, will probably retire as all star on a per minute basis but play no more than 15 minutes a night at the end), to a lesser extent PG, Kawhi, KAT all worthy, conceivable candidates. Tier 3 I'm rooting against you by rooting for you San Antonio Detroit Orlando OKC Pacers These guys are obviously also tanking, except for Spurs, unclear what they are doing so I hope they aren't actually tanking and put together a good team for Popovich. I root for them to win inordinate amount of games so Houston has room to show massive improvement but still have one of the worst records in the league. Tier 4 I hope you trade a first round pick for Eric Gordon and then suck (and/or Tate if he gets resigned, Nwaba). Jazz Heat Blazers Bulls Nuggets Cavaliers 76ers I almost put Jazz in tier 5, I have no idea how they turn it around. 76ers are at bottom because if they suck, Nets have their pick and can use to upgrade their team. Tier 5 Meh, you're screwed no matter what I root for. Kings Knicks Wizards Hornets Lol, sucks to be fans of these teams. Pass on Ivey, pay Brunson like a top PG, pay Beal like a super duper star, and hire a coach you fired like yesterday...these guys are all screwed. Tier 6 I guess someone has to win this year Warriors Grizzlies Celtics Hawks Raptors Pelicans Warriors are controversial I know, but hear me out: Every good team needs a villain to overcome. Part of me wants Warriors to continue long enough for Rockets to get second crack at bringing them down. Grizzlies are likable and could be another great new rivalry with Rockets. I have a soft spot for Ime Udoka, former Viper Coach Nick Nurse, and my best college friend roots for Pelicans so hard for me to root against. Hawks are here because I miss CApela and they just acquired Dejounte so maybe they'll be good.
