[HobbyOGParticipant]

 They lost Trevor Ariza and now Luc Mbah  Moute to the Clippers. Haven’t reached a deal with Clint Capela yet, which seems wierd to me. Now they’re trying to get ball stopping no defense playing Carmelo Anthony. Should the rockets still be favored to be the number #2 in the West? 

[llperez]

Salary cap and luxury tax is a mofo. Not everyone is willing to break the bank. I guess they figured Chris Paul was more valuable than the role players.

As for team outlook, I think lots of it had to do with Pauls health. If he can go 70+ games, and they do in fact keep Capela, I would still have them at #2 but West is gonna be a dog fight. I think lakers will be right on their heels and I love what they have going on in New Orleans adding Randle to that mix.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 As long as they resign Capela and Paul and harden stay healthy they should comfortably be second in the West, but I don’t see them being nearly as good defensively as last season. The losses of Ariza and Mbah a Moute will hurt and I don’t really see them being able to replace them.

The owner said that the luxury tax has nothing to do with the decision making process, but that clearly appears to be the case. With 2 players commanding so much of their cap space, and Ryan Anderson’s bad deal still on the books, they are attempting to cut costs with the rest of the roster, starting with playing hardball with Capela to try to get him to sign for less.

 

[sweaterflexParticipant]

 Tilman Fertitta was estimated to be worth $2.3B in 2013 and spent $2.2B on the Rockets in 2017. Almost all of his money is in the Rockets, and if they are not at least breakeven he would have to turn around and sell them unless he wants to explore debt markets, which other owners would not like the optics of. Owning a team is profitable in the long run, but the operating margins are not good if you have to pay ~$75M in luxury taxes. It was borderline irresponsible of him to buy the team at that price.

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 His net worth this year is 4.4 Billion per Forbes..He’s invested and own LOTS of companies meaning money will continue to come in from those avenues, where you think the 2.2 billion came from??..He’s good on money….Good investment for him. 

[sweaterflexParticipant]

Looks like questionable accounting considering how he financed the purchase. 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 I just read that Houston offered Clint 4-60 mill, he wants 4-100 mill…this will get interesting…I see a one year deal in his future and UFA next year..

http://www.espn.com.au/nba/story/_/id/24053150/houston-rockets-owner-tilman-fertitta-says-luxury-tax-not-influencing-offseason-moves

 

 

 

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

I don’t think the two are really connected. Losing Mbah a Moute and Ariza is a biproduct of the contract they gave Paul. The simple reality is that when Paul and Harden are making $66 million, don’t want to lose Capela, and are locked into big money with Anderson, Tucker, and Gordon, they couldn’t keep those two. If Melo gets bought out and lands in Houston, he would probably make less than what Mbah a Moute is getting from the Clippers. He wouldn’t really be replacing either guy. He would probably be more of a Ryan Anderson replacement. In reality, they will be asking more of PJ Tucker, and might need Vince Edwards to be a contributor. It isn’t really a popular theory, but they are going to need young legs on the wings to help, at least in the regular season. I don’t think it is outside the realm of possibilities that Edwards ends up being a 15-20 minute guy this year.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Native Houstonian here. The Rockets have without question gotten worse. They overpaid for Paul, let their best 3&D guy walk, still have a ball dominant, over dribbling chucker as their 1st option, a gimmicky system and a GM who’s more concerned with goofball math than actual basketball. 

A lot of favorable things happened for them last year, including Iguodala getting hurt in game 3. They won’t make the WCF this year. They’ll be top 5, but will crash in the 2nd round. They’ll also never sign a big name FA with Harden there. NO ONE wants to watch some dude dribble the air outta the ball, take contested step back 3’s, or barrel his way to the rack hoping for ref bailouts.

 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Also, Tillman Fertitta is a cousin of the Fertitta brothers who sold the UFC a couple of years ago. That’s old mob money. He’s just fine.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 The Warriors are in a tier by themselves.

Not even sure there is a team in the tier below them.  

The Rockets are closer to the Lakers Tier than the Warriors tier.

The REAL race will be in the BEASTERN (that’s a WORD now) Conference with the Celts/Sixers at the top with the Bucks, Raps, Pacers, Wizzes, and the New Look Freak Knicks all looking to play spoiler.  Not to mention World B. Sexton of the Sex/Love LeaveLand Cavs…

The Rockets may even be closer to the Jazz depending on if Utah takes the next step. 

If the Rockets struggle early then it could be a LONG season in Houston.

Don’t wanna count out any team with LeBron.  Especially one like LaCircus that is already being heavily discounted.

The Rockets might be watching next year’s WCF from home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Can we all calm down on the Lakers? It’s basically the exact same team plus LBJ. NO ONE knows how he’s going to adjust to the West, and last year’s team was pretty bad. Automatically putting them in the top 5 is insane.

[llperez]

 they won 35 games and were competitive against lots of the best teams. Beat boston, cleavland, houston twice. Swept the spurs. Took golden state to overtime twice and were competive in all 4 games. For a young team they were defenitely not that bad. And all their best players are young guys who should each improve. Add in lebron james and i defenitely think they get a top 5 seed in west.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 Those teams completely overlooked the Lakers. Good teams often don’t get up for bad teams. Hell, the ’96 Bulls lost to expansion Toronto. LA was bad, and just LBJ isn’t gonna make ’em better than GS, HOU, OKC, NO, POR, etc….

[celtics1982Participant]

 While I agree good teams easily overlook bad teams. LeBron is still the best player in the league. He alone with that talent makes them better than any team in the West that isn’t the warriors or rockets. Nevermind if that young talent takes a step forward watch out.

[whiteflashParticipant]

 I agree that he’s a monster, but I’m not willing to concede that the Lakers are the 3rd best team in the West. I’m honestly curious as to how he’ll do against better teams on a nightly basis. Not that I think he’s gonna struggle or anything, but I do expect a dip in production, both individually and collectively. 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Its the other way around. The West is gonna have to gameplan for Lebron. He’s the dominant force that sets the tempo. Lakers are the 3rd best team in the West but I’d even bet they beat the Rockets come playoff time.

[Kwame33Participant]

 If LA’s younger players take a step forward the addition of LeBron could surely put them ahead of the teams you just mentioned minus GS and HOU. Not saying it’s certain but definitely not as ridiculous as you make it sound.

[HitsterParticipant]

The Rockets might have done better stretching Anderson to get the luxury tax down and CP3 could have shaved a bit off his deal even if he’d taken what LBJ got then it would have all helped with Luxury Tax. But I guess CP3’s concession was only taking a 4 year deal and not a 5 year one.

If CP3 can stay sound then he is worth that deal, he hasn’t got a no trade clause so if he did slow by his last year, he’d be a great expiring deal.

The Rockets probably hope they can attract good veterans on min or exceptions to full out bench as they are a legit contender.

Plus Mike D’Antoni always runs a tight roster so depth at the end of the bench isn’t such an issue.

[celtics1982Participant]

 You don’t go all out to get an older Paul, then maybe be an injury away from a title to just let a bunch of players walk when you can’t replace them. Not like they found replacements and just changed it up. This is a weaker team now, not good for a team with a short window.

[RUDEBOY-Participant]

 CP3 talked about wanting to win a ring. This was his best chance. He could’ve taken less money and made it easier to resign those guys. But he’s in a tough spot being a player and player president. As player president he has to set an example and get as much as u can. 

[2quick4uParticipant]

I agree Houston should have never paid that kind of money to Paul as no one would have paid him more than 30mill. for 4 years.

that selfishness from Paul has resulted in the lost of Ariza, and now they can’t give Capela the money he deserves, as i believe this Houston experiment could not work without a player like him and in my opinion, he is more indispensable than Paul.

that being said and even with the lost of Ariza, I think Houston has the chance to not only finish 2nd but actually 1st in the west.

as i’ve mentioned in another post, I think the Warriors this year will be a worse team than last year, which is a lot to say, because last year the Warriors were only the 11th best defense in the league, and without a good defense they are very beatable.

I also think that Houston has an ace up their sleeve, something that people is not talking about and i think could be the difference for them this year, that is, the relevance of Zhou Qi in the roster this season.

I think he will start slow, but after the all-star he could contribute with 20min and could become that difference the Rockets need to assault the league.

 

 

 

 

 

[cohenbc1Participant]

Don’t forget that the Rockets won th West by 7 games last year — and finished 16 games above everyone besides the Warriors.

I’d like to see Gerald Green get a shot at the Ariza role, with Melo, if they sign him, coming off the bench. 

At any rate, I don’t expect GS to try *harder* this coming regular season, after winning three out of the last four titles — teams in that position usually coast a bit. So I think barring major injuries Houston will have enough to finish first again.

But there’s no denying they lost two elite defenders and two guys who do lots of little things to help teams win without caring about their stats at all. And it’s starting to look conclusive that Melo makes basketball teams worse. So I think beating the Dubs in a series may be even harder for the Rockets this time, and they could even be vulnerable to an upset in the 2nd round. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

Its so easy to do Trevor Ariza’s job that is becomes hard. You literally just stand around and watch Harden, Paul and Gordon go one on one or get pick and rolls with Capela and wait to see if you get a chance to shoot the ball, run the floor, play hard D. How can you stay engaged.

Same reason Demarre Carroll and even Serge Ibaka struggle playing with Derozan and Lowry. Just standing around watching.

  You gotta be able to train up a guy like Troy Williams or Devin Robinson to fill that role right? Half the time I watched a Houston game they were up by 30 anyways.

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

"It’s so easy to do___ (player’s) job it becomes hard". Perfect description for those people who don’t understand how hard it is to play with Lebron. The guy literally runs out the whole shot clock just to either pass it to you at the end or take it to the basket. He’s the best player in the world so he gets away with it, but playing with Lebron definitely needs an adjustment.

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