'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAb/2gAIAQEAAAAAlS//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAF/9oACAECEAAAADP/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAF/9oACAEDEAAAAFP/xAAdEAABBAMBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwQREgABB3KC/9oACAEBAAE/AB5kSrUwXcNTBIKgVCuP1M7wuQoW3V4Mec//xAAYEQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQMEMf/aAAgBAgEBPwB2JE9P/8QAGBEBAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACAyH/2gAIAQMBAT8AcaIcn//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 2019-20 NBA season will be interesting to watch in the case of the Houston Rockets. After tinkering around the edges of their roster last summer having come up one win short of the 2018 NBA Finals, the Houston Rockets flattered to deceive in the 2019 NBA Playoffs.
This summer, the Rockets front office, specifically Daryl Morey, has made a major splash in the trade front acquiring Russell Westbrook in exchange for Chris Paul, two draft picks and two pick swaps. It could be the change that puts the Rockets in championship picture or it could cause them to implode and force wholesale changes to their roster.
In any event, here’s a look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the Rockets face for the upcoming season.
Strengths
In trading for the talents of one Russell Westbrook, general manager Daryl Morey added an All-Star point guard to his roster. At 30 years of age and coming fresh off a third triple-double season, Westbrook offers Houston a second guard besides Harden himself, who can handle the ball, get to the basket, and distribute assists. It's an acquisition that could take the distribution responsibilities off Harden and would allow him to catch and shoot possibly coming off screens. Harden alone averaged 5 turnovers per game in 2019 and Westbrook averaged 10.7 apg.
The Rockets now also have better scoring with Westbrook as compared to Chris Paul at the point guard spot. In 2019, the Rockets were 11th in the NBA in scoring at 113 ppg. Not only does Westbrook score more than Chris Paul, but his knack for getting to the basket could also help Clint Capela - who already shot 64% from the field in 2019 - in getting easy buckets around the rim with lob passes and back door cuts.
What Daryl Morey did with the Westbrook for Chris Paul trade was smart as he got conditions placed on the 2024 and 2026 first-round picks given away to OKC so that they are top 4 protected. Should the deal fail miserably for the Rockets, Morey has not given away their future completely. However, they quite possibly have ensured they will contend for the NBA title for a few more years.
Weaknesses
The Westbrook deal brings a few concerns that could easily hurt the Rockets. For instance, they just traded one ball-dominant guard for another in Chris Paul for Westbrook. The reason Paul was on the trade market is due to rumors and rumblings that he and Harden had a fall out during their second-round series loss to the Warriors in the 2019 NBA Playoffs. Some of that disagreement had to do with who had the ball. Westbrook could help or hurt the team but a lot depends on Harden’s willingness to share the basketball.
Another element not being discussed enough is that in the summer of 2012, after making it to the NBA Finals as a member of the OKC Thunder, Harden wanted more money than OKC was willing to offer on a rookie contract extension. It was decided in October of 2012 to trade Harden to the Rockets.
Since Harden wanted more money from the Thunder back then, and the OKC talent pecking order was KD, Westbrook and then Harden, it can be inferred that Harden felt he was at least the 2nd best player if not the best player on the Thunder team. The Rockets’ general manager, Daryl Morey may have to massage some egos to get this combination of talent to share the basketball and win games.
In terms of health, the Rockets are not necessarily on steady ground. Eric Gordon has only had two seasons in his 11-year career where he has played 75 or more regular season games. Westbrook, who hasn’t had knee surgery after three in nine months since the 2013 playoffs, had arthroscopic surgery in September 2018 just for a clean up of the joint.
In 2018-19 Harden needed a historic stretch of 32 games scoring 30 or more points to get Houston into the top 4 seeds in the West due to multiple player injuries to Paul, Capela, and Gordon. The Rockets need to stay healthy in 2019-20.
Finally, with the addition of Tyson Chandler as a free agent at age 36, and the core of the Rockets' best players being 30 years or older (only Capela is 25 years old among Houston’s potential starters), their window of opportunity to challenge for an NBA title is small.
Opportunities
The Houston Rockets who play out of the Southwest Division in the NBA’s Western Conference have an opportunity to dominate that division again this year as they have in recent years. Considering they and the San Antonio Spurs were the only two members of the division to make the 2019 NBA Playoffs, there is no reason they cannot do it again in the spring of 2020.
In fact, in 2019 the Spurs were the 7th seeding in the West while the Rockets were 4th. In the meantime, division rivals, such as the Pelicans, traded away Anthony Davis and added Zion Williamson through the draft while players such as Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and Brandon Ingram were added through the AD trade.
The Mavericks have gone through significant roster changes as well. They traded for Kristaps Porzingis in February 2019, then added free agents Seth Curry and Boban Marjanovic as well as RFA Delon Wright in a sign and trade. Even with all these moves, it still appears that the Southwest Division is the Houston Rockets to lose.
Threats
There will be a few threats in 2019-20 to the championship aspirations of the Houston Rockets. First of all, most of those teams are in the Western Conference such as the LA Clippers. When former Raptor Kawhi Leonard signed with the Clippers on July 5th, 2019, he was followed by Paul George joining the Clippers via a trade. The Clippers maintain a strong core of players that saw them win the 8th seed in the West in 2019 and have now added two major superstars (Leonard just won Finals MVP in 2019) to that roster that also boasts the 6th Man of the Year in Lou Williams.
The LA Lakers also had championship dreams in mind when they traded for Anthony Davis this summer to pair with LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma. No one can forget about the West’s dynasty, the Golden State Warriors, moving into a new arena across the Bay Area from Oakland to San Francisco.
While the Warriors are without Iguodala and KD whereas Klay Thompson is likely to miss the first half of the season, the Warriors have appeared in 5 consecutive NBA Finals and have eliminated the Rockets in each of the past two seasons. Further, the Warriors did add D'Angelo Russell to their depleted roster on a 4-year $117 million deal.
Two other teams stand in Houston’s way in chasing the Larry O’Brien Trophy and they are the Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz.
Moreover, it's not just external threats that haunt them. Head coach Mike D'Antoni, now without most of his support staff, is an offensive genius but has failed to lead any of Houston, New York or Phoenix past a Western or Eastern Conference Final. D'Antoni who has canceled contract extension negotiations with the Rockets is in the final year of his deal and the management wanted to tie parts of his contract extension earnings to rounds of playoffs won in the future. The question now is will the former two-time NBA Coach of the Year be motivated in 2019/20 to maximize the club's talents?
The Western Conference will be fun to watch in the 2019-20 season with so many teams ready to compete. The Houston Rockets will be challenged by several very good teams in the coming season. For the moment, the plans of any NBA franchise are on paper only and many teams look great. Those plans only become a reality once the games start for real in October of 2019 and the win/loss record of the Houston Rockets will tell the tale of where they belong in the championship race.
