The 2014-15 Houston Rockets were a feel-good story, shaking off major injuries and muted preseason forecasts to become the Western Conference’s second-best team. The 2015-16 Rockets, on the other hand, shouldn’t come as such a surprise. Following the bold offseason trade for former Denver point guard Ty Lawson, the story in Houston is back to being about what is, rather than what might be. In other words, GM Daryl Morey is finally “all-in” on his roster. While Lawson fills the obvious need of
Will Kevin Durant be the next superstar to opt for a change of scenery in the summer of 2016? If not, could it be Dwight Howard instead? (Yes, again) Will someone change teams and then change his mind during the moratorium period again like DeAndre Jordan did? One thing is for sure, the salary cap is going up dramatically next summer – projected to be in the $90 million range – and roughly 20 teams will have room for at least one maximum salary contract. In
Tristan Thompson remains the biggest fish in this summer’s free agent sea, as noted in our updated rankings. In fact, LeBron James has called Thompson a “key piece” to Cleveland’s hopes of winning a title this season. So why the elongated stalemate between the two sides? It comes down to leverage. Cleveland has it for the upcoming season, but Thompson has it afterward. Confused? Let me explain. [Read more…]
It’s no surprise if you follow Dwight Howard, but the Houston Rockets’ veteran center very much enjoys having fun in his spare offseason time. While his younger teammates were in Las Vegas this weekend to take in Summer League action, the 29-year-old Howard instead traveled to San Diego to check out Comic-Con in full costume, along with the likes of Mike Tyson and a celebrity dog. [Read more…]
So this is how it ends for Kobe Bryant, huh? A top-10 all-time player, Bryant will spend his last four years as the face of arguably the most storied franchise in NBA history, watching it plunge into unprecedented irrelevance. What has happened to the Lakers happens to a lot of successful family-owned businesses. It was handed from the patriarch to the next generation, which was in over its head. It took its brand for granted and treated the competition with disdain rather
Four games of the Western Conference Finals are in the books, and the Warriors lead the Rockets by a 3-1 margin. That overall mark may not feel surprising, but the route the series has taken to get there has been a bit bizarre. [Read more…]
The Houston Rockets probably don’t have the depth of physical talent to win an NBA title just yet. But mentally, James Harden’s team could already be there. They made that statement quite clear in Monday’s Game 4, a game most expected to be Golden State’s title coronation after grabbing a 3-0 series lead. Instead, led by 45 points from the MVP-runner-up, the Rockets improved to 4-0 this postseason in elimination games — and 7-2 in the Harden era. These Rockets are now just the
Turns out we hadn’t seen everything yet. The Rockets played nearly perfect basketball in a record 45-point first quarter and held on to stay alive in the West. In a postseason memorable mostly for injuries, it sure looked as if Stephen Curry $10400 was the latest victim after a terrifying fall. [Read more…]