Houston GM Daryl Morey has yet to hit a home run in this summer’s free agency, with initial target LaMarcus Aldridge spurning the Rockets to sign with the rival San Antonio Spurs. But as Houston enters 2015-16 coming off its first conference finals appearance in 18 years, was a roster overhaul truly essential? [Read more…]
Is veteran coach George Karl secretly a snake in the grass? That’s what DeMarcus Cousins and a few other stars from Karl-led teams seem to believe. Via Basketball Forever, here’s the infamous tweet of emojis from Cousins last night mashed with several others in past years from previous Karl players such as Carmelo Anthony and Andre Igoudala. There seems to be a common theme. According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Karl has recently tried to convince Kings’ management to trade Cousins, an idea that owner Vivek Ranadivé
Was an unexpected comeback ever in the works for injured Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley in the Western Conference Finals? It depends who you believe. Rockets’ officials, including head coach Kevin McHale and general manager Daryl Morey, consistently stuck with the company line that he’s out for the entire playoffs, which the Rockets first said on March 30 after Beverley opted for surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left, non-shooting wrist. But Beverley himself has had other ideas. In April, he told Mark Berman
It’s time we start appreciating these Houston Rockets for what they are instead of wondering what could be down the road. For much of the 2014-15 season, the narrative about Houston for many around the NBA — myself included — has been more about the future than the present. Sure, today looked nice with James Harden and Dwight Howard, but general manager Daryl Morey seemed so close to forming a “Super Team” last summer with Chris Bosh and again at the trade deadline with Goran
Each time the Rockets play the Thunder, four names immediately come to mind: Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin, Steven Adams and Mitch McGary. With all draft picks now liquidated, those players make up the return Oklahoma City received for James Harden in October 2012. Martin left the Thunder in free agency after one season off the bench, and the others all score fewer than eight points per game. That’s it. Lamb, who was supposedly the trade’s crown jewel as the No. 12 pick in 2012, isn’t
Teams in the NBA playoff races aren’t the only ones watching scoreboards this time of year. Take the Philadelphia 76ers, for example. The Sixers lost their first 17 games, were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race nearly a month ago and almost certainly will lose 60-plus games for the second straight season. But GM Sam Hinkie and the rest of the Sixers’ front office are tracking the results of other games almost as closely as their own. That’s because Philadelphia could have
This season’s MVP race is shaping up to be the best one in quite some time. The perceived top five candidates this season – James Harden, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook – represent the top five in PER, three of the top five in win shares and lead the NBA in nearly two dozen major statistical categories. We’re pretty well covered with MVP rankings on this site with Sheridan’s regular updates, and other staffers have chimed in
During TNT’s first game between the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, Charles Barkley said something about both teams that had plenty of folks shaking their heads on twitter. “Two of the worst defenses in the league” were the words spoken by the long-time analyst, despite the fact that Houston is ranked seventh on defense, while Phoenix is a bit lower at 17th overall. To be fair to Barkley, who has a tendency to make comments as if he were