Getty Images Last season: There were high expectations with James Harden and Dwight Howard being paired in Houston, and the Rockets were good, but not great. Which felt like a first step or a disappointment, depending on your point of view. Make no mistake, the Rockets were a good team — 54 wins, which tied them for the four seed in the West — but the team never really seemed to form an identity. While statistically Harden and Howard were good together (+9.3 per 100 possessions when on the court together) they seemed more to play next to each other than with each other. This all came to a head when the Rockets lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Portland Trail Blazers in about the most painful way possible. Again, the Rockets had a good team and a good season, but they need to hope it’s a first step.
Signature highlight from last season: There were some James Harden game winners and great blocks by Dwight Howard, but was there any play more fun than Patrick Beverley dunking on Chris Bosh’s head?
Key player changes: It was almost a monster off-season for the Rockets, GM Daryl Morey was going to move them into contender status by grabbing Chris Bosh out of Miami to make his own big three. And he came thisclose. But then Bosh took the big payday to stay put and all the moves Morey had made to clear out cap space became holes.
Gone is some key depth: Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons, as well as Omri Casspi and Jordan Hamilton.
In their place comes Trevor Ariza, Jason Terry, rookies Clint Capela and Nick Johnson, Ish Smith, Jeff Adrien, Joey Dorsey, and Kostas Papanikolaou.
Keys to the Rockets season:
Depth behind their stars. James Harden and Dwight Howard are elite players, but that alone doesn’t win you games, especially come the playoffs. The Rockets lost quality role players this summer and some lesser known guys are going to have to really step up for the Rockets to even match last season’s success. Trevor Ariza got paid after a big season in Washington, can he put up similar numbers again? Donatas Motiejunas has to take on a bigger front court role. Jason Terry needs to show he still has some game left. And so on down the line, the Rockets need to find depth and rotations that can work when Harden and Howard sit.
Can they improve defensively? The Rockets offense was top five in the league last season, they put up plenty of points (although Howard/Harden need to reduce their turnovers), but their defense was pedestrian. They were 12th in the NBA in points allowed per possession. Their defense didn’t really improve last season over the season before despite bringing in Howard to patrol the paint and glass. (Howard isn’t as explosive as he was back in Orlando but he’s still a very good rim protector.) They have Patrick Beverley out top, and Ariza should be a defensive upgrade over Parsons. Harden is Harden but says he’s going to work on being more focused on defense. This needs to be a team thing, not just one guy, and the scheme needs to fit the personnel. The bottom line is this is the end of the floor where improvement needs to happen.
Is Kevin McHale coaching for his job? This question circled around the Rockets during last season and this summer: Is Kevin McHale the right coach for this team? McHale is very well liked around the NBA and has done a good job as coach in Houston (they won 54 games last season, made the playoffs the year before when they probably shouldn’t have) but there are questions about his game planning and fit with this roster. Particularly the question is can he coach this team up defensively. Expectations are high and if this team doesn’t take a step forward this coming season there will be changes and coach is the most likely option (especially since this is the last year of McHale’s deal). Remember Howard can opt out in the summer of 2016 so the Rockets don’t want to take a step back, if they do they might give Howard a chance to have a say in picking a coach (something Howard didn’t feel he got in Los Angeles).
Why you should watch the Rockets: James Harden has taken a lot of criticism the past year, but the fact is he remains one of the best and most efficient scorers in the league. The man isn’t just a beard, he’s a legit No. 1 offensive option in this league and just fun to watch play.
Prediction: 50-32, which is still good but in the West nets you more like the 7 seed, which will net the Rockets another first round playoff exit. (That is unless Morey makes a big in season trade, however in season deals are a dying breed.) The expectations remain high around the Rockets and it’s hard to see how they meet them. Which means we could see far more changes next summer (and McHale back calling games for TNT).
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- misremembered72 - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:28 AM
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Parsons was moving…
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:37 AM
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Man, I just feel like they need a 3rd star to put them over the hump. I look at the roster and it just seems like something is missing.
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- edon8334 - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:42 AM
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Howard should be dominating this league
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- andrewwiggins22 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:23 PM
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Then came Anthony Davis
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- ranfan12 - Oct 23, 2014 at 11:55 PM
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Someone with real hunger and desire
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- azarkhan - Oct 22, 2014 at 10:54 AM
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Still don’t understand the logic (if that’s what it was) behind not signing Chandler Parsons on the cheap for this year. The Rockets will miss his 16.6 ppg, 4 apg, and 5.5 rpg. Plus he’s only 25 years old, so still improving.
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- andrewwiggins22 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:22 PM
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Ariza provides 14.4ppg, 6.2rpg and 2.5 apg so not much of a difference.
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- azarkhan - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:53 PM
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Except that Ariza is 29 years old and the Rockets are paying him $7 million dollars more for 2014-2015 than they would have had to pay Parsons. Plus he’s been inconsistent throughout his career.
I know, details…
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 3:04 PM
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Parsons has been in the league 3 years and has increased his scoring, rebounding, and assists each year while playing for a salary well below his value. Ariza’ has been in the league 10 years and his scoring increases whenever it’s time for a new contract lol
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- hannsta - Oct 22, 2014 at 3:48 PM
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That was an outlier/contract year for ariza. I saw Brandon Jennings drop 50 points in a game once but he sure isn’t bringing 50ppg to his team.
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- ProBasketballPundit - Oct 22, 2014 at 11:33 PM
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They absolutely should have picked up Parsons’ team option for $900 this season… but the rumblings around the league are that since Dwight Howard and Parsons share an agent that Parsons release from his rookie contract was part of Dwight’s signing in Houston. Shady sh– I know but that stuff happens in the league.
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- flyrocket31 - Oct 22, 2014 at 11:06 AM
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I think Harden and Howard can carry this team far with just themselves. I always hope championship but we’ll see how much they step up.
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 11:53 AM
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Ordinarily I would agree. But the NBA has so much talent now most good teams have at least 2 all stars PLUS a fringe all star and above average role players. (See: Thunder, Spurs, Bulls, Warriors, Clippers, Cavs).
After Harden and Howard, they don’t have much other than slightly above average players like Beverly, Ariza, and T Jones. Those 3 are good, but after them, who do they have? I felt like Parsons was perfect for their team because he was a glue guy on offense and defense. Ariza is better defensively but I think they will miss Parsons’s versatile offense. Will also miss Lin’s change of pace as a scorer vs Beverly as a defender.
With Asik, the Rockets made the same mistake Orlando made when they had Dwight. They let Gortat get away and he was a GREAT back up big man for them.
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- arrondior - Oct 22, 2014 at 1:15 PM
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A few issues. The Rockets did the best they could to get some depth after the bid for Bosh failed and they let Parsons walk. I think Ariza is a solid replacement for Parsons. Offensively he’s about the same as Parsons but defensively, he gives you a bit more. Kostas is also another solid addition to the roster. I actually am not mad at their bench and think they will probably land right around 50 Wins (but I would guess a bit over 50). Dwight is looking like his old self. He is playing a lot more physical now and I’d wager that he’s finally not thinking about his back at all. I think they will advance to the second round.
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- 1forest1 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:19 PM
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Beverly Ariza and Jones are solid starters and above average defenders. I’m not too worried about our depth. We’ve been looking pretty good without harden and Dwight in the preseason. I’ve been especially impressed by Jones. Also Asik didn’t really do anything last year for us due to his constant complaining.
I think the rockets got a decent bench, I’m also liking Kostas. Dwight looked great in the playoffs, hopefully he can bring that to the season too. But the rockets will only go as far as Harden and Dwight can carry them.
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:29 PM
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They tried, that’s fine, but the team is worse than last year no matter how you slice it.They could advance to the 2nd round but is that really their goal? That’s the point, they have a team that will make the playoffs and maybe win a series but nothing more. They need more to get them into that title contention conversation. I don’t think Ariza is as talented as Parsons is offensively. If I had to choose one or the other I would pick Parsons.
Their bench is garbage though man. Ish Smith and Isaih Cannon? Nick Johnson? Old Jason Terry? jeff Adrian? Montiejunas? Garcia lol?
Montiejunas is the only solid contributor out of that list. The rest of those players aren’t the worst but certainly nowhere near the best bench in the NBA. I would trade that entire list of players to have Lin and Asik back.
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- mogogo1 - Oct 22, 2014 at 12:07 PM
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I like truehooper’s take. I’ll also add that with just two major stars it makes more of a difference that Harden is so one dimensional. If you’re going to have just two guys carrying the team they need to be major contributors on both ends.
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:36 PM
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With that said, the surprising thing with this team is that defense is what will win them games. I know Harden is out there, but with Dwight, Ariza, and Beverly, they should have one of the best defending starting lineups. Ariza can guard the best wing player so Harden just needs to stop losing his man and they should be fine. Jones is a decent defender as well, at the least he can block some shots.
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- xLith - Oct 22, 2014 at 12:01 PM
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Ariza is an upgrade over Parsons for now. He’s a better shooter and defender. Parsons has more upside of course.
Where I’m worried is the bench. Guys are REALLY going to need to step up. Montejunas has looked good during the summer league and preseason but it’s summer league and preseason. Nick Johnson has shown flashes too.
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- xLith - Oct 22, 2014 at 1:52 PM
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Thanks for the down votes. Just shows there’s plenty of people that know nothing are on this site.
http://www.reddit.com/r/rockets/comments/2cl833/a_trevor_ariza_chandler_parsons_comparison_and/
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 22, 2014 at 2:37 PM
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If anything, Ariza and Parsons cancel each other out. Ariza is a little better defensively and Parsons is a little better offensively. That’s it. It might help the Rockets to have a more defensive oriented wing man alongside Harden.
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- hannsta - Oct 22, 2014 at 3:40 PM
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Comparing contract year ariza, a player who has always played WAY better in contract years than non, to a regular year for a player 5 years younger and still growing is apples to oranges. Ariza averages 9.6ppg on his career, I noticed your ‘proof’ article fails to mention that.
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- xLith - Oct 23, 2014 at 5:53 PM
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You know people keep mentioning that but I have yet to see anyone prove that he’s that much better contract versus non-contract year. I provided facts. Please provide yours then.
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- 7bigal7 - Oct 22, 2014 at 1:23 PM
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McHale may loose his job and maybe he should but Morey is the one i would axe if i was the owner.
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- 1forest1 - Oct 22, 2014 at 4:38 PM
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Why should Morey go? He’s not amazing, but he’s still pretty good. Morey got Harden and Dwight. Sure he struck out on Bosh and had to let Parsons walk, but he’s been doing a great job, and has made Houston an appealing place for future FA. He’s also great with cap space. He gambled and lost, yet he still managed to pick up the pieces rather well.
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- lakerade - Oct 23, 2014 at 6:26 AM
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Get ready for a lot of free throws from two guys, one whose best move is angling for them and the other who the opposing team would love to chucking them all game.
