What Is Next For The Houston Rockets?
After losing in the playoffs again, the Rockets have some decisions to make during the offseason. What is next for the franchise?
After losing in the playoffs again, the Rockets have some decisions to make during the offseason. What is next for the franchise?
The Rockets have been one of the more consistent franchises over the past few years. With Mike D’Antoni and James Harden along with co-stars like CP-3 and Russell Westbrook, the Rockets have made the playoffs consistently and usually win a playoff series or two. But the Rockets have not made it to a Finals, or much less won one. Now with the franchise at a crossroads, what it next?
First of all, I’m a fan of small ball. The league is heading towards it more and more, and while the Rockets aren’t perfect at it, they can be very good. And while the Rockets have pieces and shooters that fit the system well, there are some flaws.
For one, it is very simple. It’s isolation, drive, kick, repeat. Harden is usually the perpetrator, and he finds shooters. And they shot 50+ 3’s a game, which is not so unusual nowadays. But when the Lakers shut down Harden and get the ball out of his hands, the Rockets falter. Now you would think that Russell Westbrook would take over. And you would be right in theory, but Westbrook is not the right guy.
First of all, Westbrook is a terrible catch-and-shooter shooter from 3. So defense don’t have to worry about that. Also, Westbrook can be out of control and make poor decisions. He is at his worst when he shoots 3’s. He’s at his best when he does the opposite. But while Westbrook is a great talent, his basketball IQ and clutch play are poor. And that is why having him as the 2nd option on this small-ball team is going to fail. Chris Paul would have been much better, but him and Harden didn’t get along.
But while Westbrook doesn’t fit with the system because of his poor decisions and inability to make 3’s, you would think that the Rockets would move him. Unfortunately, they can’t really do that. The rest of the NBA knows what Westbrook is. Talented, but cannot be the 1st option on a championship team. His flaws outweigh his strengths, and he doesn’t fit well in the modern NBA. Westbrook is making about $38 million dollars, making him tough to move. So while Westbrook doesn’t work with Houston, he really can’t go anywhere.
The Rockets have guys who fit, but their depth is poor. They don’t have many draft picks because of the CP-3 trade, and they don’t have much cap space to work with (-$20 million to be exact).
One of the only ways I think that the Rockets can go is getting rid of Mike D’Antoni. While I think D’Antoni has done nothing wrong and has done a great job in Houston, it might be time to try something new. I think that they could go for more of a playoffs coach, who can make adjustments on the fly. Billy Donovan, Nate McMillan are guys on the market. I just think that D’Antoni’s system is far too simple for the Rockets to be successful.
And the Rockets can’t make any other moves, realistically. They don’t have cap or draft capital, so the only way is to trade people. But this draft class doesn’t have many guys who fit what they want to do. So this offseason will be interesting for Houston. They could call it quits on the whole small ball experiment, which I don’t recommend they do. They need more shooting and defenders on this team, and they need to somehow reprogram Russell Westbrook to be smart and a better shooter. Mike D’Antoni might have to do.
So while the Rockets are at a crossroads, they don’t have assets to go too far in any one direction. No cap, no draft capitol, a bad system, a bad 2nd option. The Rockets have dug themselves into an interesting hole. It’ll be interesting to see what they do.
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