I agree, it is going on two years. However they will keep trying and eventually they will get a player like that....... hopefully it is before Harden is old and frail.
I know bro and I really hope I'm wrong. But I can't shake this feeling. I'm probably wrong, the year we got Artest I believed in my heart we were going to win the championship. I believed it until we lost to the lakers in the playoffs, so I think this year I'll have this feeling until they prove otherwise.
This really hurt and could have altered things quite a bit... If they just won against OKC, oh well, new season!
For me, this has been the big problem all along. We don't have length and versatility to defend 3's and 4's. The only person on the roster who has the ability to do that is Tucker and even he is undersized. As one takes a good look at the West, i really do fear matching up with teams that have dominant players at the 3&4 positions. It's a huge flaw in our roster. I think we are a contender, but i don't see us winning it unless we add some defensive length and versatility. So many of us have been saying this since we lost Ariza and Luc, but Morey just hasn't done it. I think the biggest missed opportunity of the Westbrook trade was that we didn't figure out a way to address this glaring need, despite giving up most all of our tradeable futures assets; while other teams like Denver were able to get Jermi Grant for very little.
FYI, Gordon can't be traded this season. He signed the extension and the 6/mo pushes past the trade deadline. The earliest he can be traded is in the Summer.
Well there goes that. I don't even know who we would move hypothetically. Possibly Capela. We are going to come up short again if we don't get length that can play. I know this off season they targeted it and still are looking to make a deal. It just feels like it isn't going to happen.
They control Nene's contract in terms of how it jumps in value. I guess they could push him past the 9 games to add salary to his deal for salary matching. But I don't know any other way to get something done. Of course everyone will look at Capela as well. But if you move him, his position needs to be credibly replaced.
This is just my opinion but I somewhat think we could see a situation where the Rockets deal Capela for assets to get a well above average wing or directly for such a wing and get a player than serves a similar purpose (although not as well). Someone like a Nerlens Noel or an Alex Len or sign someone like Udoh or Amir Johnson....... they obviously are not as good as Clint Capela but they (other than Johnson) are good defensively in the post and can rebound. MDA likes going small anyway. I don't know, nothing I have heard just my thoughts.
Richaun Holmes signed with the Kings at 2yr 10M over the summer. Dedmon is their C. Bagley is best at C. Holmes could easily be moved. He would fit the Rockets system. This is the guy I would watch for. You could do Nene+pick for Holmes on Dec 15th.
After pre-season, my seeding shifts for them a little. I had them at 2/3, now I have them at 4/5. That defense is porous. It concerns me so.
ESPN's NBA predictions. Rockets related. -WCF- Israel Gutierrez: Clippers over Rockets Andrew Lopez: Clippers over Rockets Tim MacMahon: Clippers over Rockets André Snellings: Rockets over Lakers -NBA Finals- André Snellings: Bucks over Rockets https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...tern-conference-eastern-conference-nba-champs
As much as I hate to agree with Cowherd but he is somewhat right. Kawhi will teach PG to care less about the RS and turn it on in the Postseason. PG is more adept at long range shooting IMHO, Leonard should keep shooting his midrange. 3rd to 4th seed even fully healthy.
I'd still make projection at 3rd but with that said... My God the East is AWFUL. They realllllllly need to just do a 1-16 format or something, those east teams are straight trash outside of 2-3 teams each year. They should just redo the whole season thing too, I mean the west teams beat each other up, while the top 1-3 teams in the east don't even need to actually play until May. The disparity is a straight joke. Put some of those east teams in the west or a Combined field and you'd see how bad it really is... I mean only 2 teams this year in the east can even be on the radar to win it. For the most part the western conference has basically been the finals (outside of some strange years/injuries etc etc), the East just doesn't compete. Thats why I'll be interested to see how well lebron and the Lakers are for the playoffs. Like... In the east it's a cake walk, but in the west it's different. Definitely a lot more physical, as you actually have to play ball to even make the 8th seed.
Rockets 57-25 ..........(2nd Seed in the Western Conference) 1) Clippers (58-24)....#1 seed decided in final week of the season 2) Rockets 3) Lakers 4) Nuggets 5) Blazers 6) Utah 7) Kings... ** 8) Spurs **Ariza/Bagley/Harrison Barnes/Bjelica/Bogdanovic/Dedmon/DeAaron Fox/Hield/Cory Joseph are good enough here Bubble Teams Warriors: word is Klay may not play this year. Curry will get tired of carrying team without Durant/Iggy/Livingston/Klay Dallas: Doncic/Porzingis Thunder: CP3 too old to carry team to playoffs
