NBA Offseason Wrap Up: Out West, the Warriors reign supreme

2.  Houston Rockets

Key additions: Carmelo Anthony (FA), James Ennis (FA), Michael Carter-Williams (FA)

Key losses: Trevor Ariza (FA), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (FA)

HOUSTON’S MOREYBALL STRATEGY of 3’s, layups, and free throws mathematically gives them a chance to win on any given night. They even had the Warriors on the ropes last year, looking like the better team for the majority of the seven game series.

The Houston Rockets could very well be defending champions right now if not for Chris Paul’s injury in Game 5 and a Marvin-Lewis-still-having-a-job defiance of odds. And although they lost two key pieces in Mbah a Moute and Ariza, their overall contributions were drastically overstated. The former absolutely flamed out in the playoffs and the latter showed serious signs of age down the stretch, culminating in a pathetic 0-12 performance in game 7 of the West Finals.

Not to mention Phoenix just drastically overpaid for a 33-year-old Ariza, who will make $15 million next year. I love James Ennis as a replacement at a fraction of the price; he’s 6-foot-7, athletic, and hungry to play competitive basketball. 

Now a Rocket, Carmelo Anthony has his time to shine in ultra-competitive playoff basketball. That being said, he must leave his ego at the door. Melo insists on starting, but at age 34 with 15 seasons on his balky knees, all sides would benefit from him coming off the bench. As a sixth man (perhaps seventh with Eric Gordon still playing at a high level), he would have the opportunity to play more minutes against weaker bench lineups, likely sparking an uptick in efficiency while keeping him fresh for the playoffs.

Plus, Mike D’Antoni will have the ability to have two of Harden, Paul, and Melo on the court at any given time, essentially unlocking Houston’s offense (if it wasn’t unlocked already). It’s a no brainer. If Anthony is willing to commit to a slightly limited role as a scoring-machine off the bench (possibly a floor spacer most of the time), Houston should greatly benefit. He’s immobile defensively but gives the Rockets another guy who can create his own shot and is a good spot-up shooter (shot 37.3 percent on catch and shoot last year per NBA.com/stats; he will now be playing with two of the best passers of their generation), a few necessities for taking down the Warriors.

A crunch-time lineup of CP3-Harden-Melo-Tucker-Capela would be an offensive juggernaut (even by D’Antoni standards) and give Golden State serious matchup problems. Harden alone guarantees you 45 wins, Paul is still phenomenal, Clint Capela is back, they have shooters everywhere, and run a great system. Houston is just fine. They might drop off a bit in the wins department but should maintain a historic offense and have an outside shot at winning it all.

Rockets projected record: 59-23

Rockets chances of beating the Warriors in a series: 15-20 percent