Houston Rockets: Big Changes Are Coming
By James D'Elia
Now back to the tentative depth chart…
That’s a good mix of players we have there. You have a bona-fide superstar in MVP runner-up James Harden surrounded by some good young players and experienced veterans. Capela has the potential to be the starting center next year in Howard’s absence and the other young guns such as McDaniels, Harrell and Dekker should have increased roles in their 2nd year in the NBA.
Live Feed
Space City Scoop
It won’t truly be the end of the “Dwight Howard Era” until this team has undergone a serious makeover as it was built around Howard’s strengths and that ultimately has been its failure.
Harden was the offensive punch and Howard the defensive wall. They were then surrounded by 3-and-D players (Read: Trevor Ariza, Patrick Beverley) and told to go play some Morey Ball.
Smith turned out to be the play maker they needed when Harden was taken out of the game but the team has fallen apart without someone else with that ability and it shows with their quite pedestrian 36-37 record. Harden has yet again been the star this season but his role players aren’t doing their jobs, bar none.
The issue comes down to a lack of creativity outside of Harden. He and now Beasley are the only two who can create their own shots and the rest of the lineup falls flat offensively when open looks aren’t spoon fed to them.
More from Houston Rockets
- Houston Rockets and Texans: Two different coaches with one glaring similarity
- Houston Rockets: Dig in, make threes, win series
- Houston Rockets: The time to make a statement is now
- Houston Rockets: Rest Russell Westbrook for remainder of the OKC series
- Houston Rockets: G2: What has put the team in driver’s seat against OKC
This has made it very easy for teams to lock down Harden and watch the Rockets flounder as their poor transition defense sees them getting caught out with the amount of live ball turnovers and missed shots that come from Harden being taken out of the game.
Look for the Rockets to go out after three things to rebuild this team around James:
- A point guard who can shoot threes and attack off the dribble but is not reliant on having the ball
- Defensive-Minded Center
- Another scorer (#KD2HOU2016)
The issue here is all of the players that are likely to be on the way out, bar Brewer, are free agents at the end of the season so unless there is a sign-and-trade there could only be one trade that the Rockets make. But in what Sir Alex Ferguson would call ‘squeaky bum time’ is where Morey does his best work.
Before we take a look at some potential free agents and trades let’s break down the Rockets salary cap situation.
Per RealGM, the cap is expected to spike to $89 million next season which creates a lot of free agent room.
The Rockets have $71,242,899 locked in for next season, (per Basketball-Reference) but this includes Howard’s player option, indicated in green. Dwight has maintained he will opt-out at the end of the season so let’s remove that from the equation along with Goudelock’s salary and that leaves just about $47 million in guaranteed money for next season, before resigning D-Mo.
Granted they may offer Capela an extension which raises this figure there is still over $40 million that is willing to be splashed around on free agents.
You think the first thing Morey would do would be to lock up Motiejunas, correct?
No, Houston owns Motiejunas’ full Bird Rights so the Rockets can go over the cap to re-sign him which leaves a lot of flexibility for the front office to work with.
Next: CLICK HERE: 2016 NBA Off Season: Top Targets