Houston Rockets
The Rockets have been put together to take down the Golden State Warriors, they almost did just that in the conference finals and may have been a hamstring injury away from a championship last season.
They have been linked to LeBron James since he suffered a sweep in the finals at the hands of the Warriors, but could they make it work? Not likely if LeBron wants a max contract, but he has taken pay cuts in the past for the sake of winning, would he do it again? Maybe a better question would be, if he did would it put the Rockets over the top? Lebron James has arguably had only one weakness throughout his career. Shooting. Would bringing in yet another ball handler at the expense of some of the floor spacing they value so much really make them better?
Consider Paul George, there is a chance he doesn’t return to the Thunder after suffering a first-round loss to the Utah Jazz. Houston would be wise to focus their efforts on signing PG13 before re-signing Chris Paul and Clint Capela. He is five years younger and wouldn’t command as much money as Lebron($30.3 million to $35.6 million in the first year of new deal) while his defense and 3-point accuracy would make him the most dangerous 3-and-D threat on possibly the deadliest 3-and-D team ever assembled.
The front office has a serious choice to make, is it worth losing some of the role players that make them such a deadly threat from beyond the arc while bolstering the defense to bring in a player of George’s caliber? They had the Warriors on the ropes before Paul went down again. Rewinding it with the same team could see a different result this time around, especially if Golden State is unable to resign or replace the many big men up for free agency. George could disrupt what Houston built last year, but it’s a risk worth taking if there is any possibility.
Verdict: Retool