Although the Rockets could wind up climbing this ladder by season's end, they've turned over too much of last year's model to be the presumptive No. 2 right now—especially when their path to the NBA Finals runs through the reigning champs.
http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...rades-best-draft-free-agency-trade-moves-west Grading every West team's trades, picks and free-agency moves By Kevin Pelton Which NBA front offices won the summer? With the start of training camp just four weeks away for most teams, the most important part of the NBA offseason has concluded. Let's take this opportunity to review and evaluate how well teams added -- and subtracted -- from their rosters, given where they started in terms of draft picks, cap room and maneuverability. We'll start with the Western Conference before evaluating the East later this week. A quick note on my grading scale: To avoid grade inflation, a "C" grade means a team did as well as we would reasonably expect, given its options. Any grade better than that means the team improved its outlook for this season or the long term, while a weaker grade means the team hurt its chances in my view. ------- Houston Rockets: D+ The Rockets can feel good about getting restricted free agent Clint Capela back on a five-year deal worth a maximum of $90 million, which helped ease their luxury-tax burden. They also nabbed quality talent at the veterans minimum in James Ennis and a re-signed Gerald Green. If he buys into a smaller role, there's reason to believe Carmelo Anthony could be a strong value at the minimum too. Still, the core of the improved defense that got Houston within a game of the NBA Finals took a heavy hit with the departures of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute in free agency. While the downgrade from Ariza to Anthony and Ennis might not make a huge difference in the regular season, it figures to cost the Rockets when they match up against elite opposition in the playoffs.
Rockets keep their big 3 in tact signing Clint and CP3 and they still give them a D+? sheesh.. Everyone thinks Melo is washed; media thinks he's stone washed with bleach.
This thread is going to be a treasure trove for @Clutch later in the year when he puts together a video with the receipts on all of these clowns.
Before last season Melo to OKC was "OK3", a big 3. OKC ready to ball. Then after ONE season Melo is completely "washed" aka Joe Johnson. Amazing.
That was before last season. During last season he had some good stretches here and there but after the Roberson injury, he was not necessarily needed that much as Defense was more key than his contributions. Last season was not necessarily as bad as his stat drop suggested. Westbrook was never going to give him those touches. While he is a Star version of 36 yr old ISO Joe, that is not saying much without seeing him in action.
i posted this in the sas crackfiend thread, but do these imbeciles (and jason mcintrye is possibly an even greater one than sas) even check the rosters for 20sec before compiling their hot takes? the fakers' big man rotation consists of mcgee, zubac, and literally no one else. and they're gettin the 2nd seed?? b**** pleeeese
Only on the Rockets is Carmelo Anthony a downgrade from Trevor Ariza. Had we gotten Lebron they’d say he’s a downgrade from Luc.
How in the world did the Pelicans get a B? They signed Elfrid Peyton, Julius Randle, and Jahill Okafor no one with playoff experience. In the process they lost Playoff Rondo. What is wrong with the media?
Lol he’s definitely a downgrade.. now are the lakers going to be better than us no. Media thinks we’re winning 50 games and clutchfans thinks we won’t lose.. as usual it’s somewhere in the middle
its crazy to live in a world where people can be easily convinced that trevor Ariza is a better basketball player than Carmelo anthony...... you can say better fit for the need but never downgrade wtf....