D’Antoni’s master triumph
The Houston Rockets enter the 2018-19 season after winning a franchise record and league best 65 wins last year. Houston as the best team offense last season added arguably the best individual offensive player of the past decade-plus this off-season in Carmelo Anthony.
Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni is infamous for his offensive genius, is considered the best offensive basketball coach in basketball and his offensive system is virtually what the entire league has now adopted and all tries to emulate. Therefore, adding Carmelo to Chris Paul and James Harden in a D’Antoni offense, could make for a very special year.
Given D’Antoni’s impressive resume and the 2018-19 Rockets roster, we can predict there’s a high probability that Houston wins the most games in the NBA this year again. On paper, the Rockets improved their depth at every position from last season, adding a more dynamic and offensively complimentary forward in Carmelo Anthony while the addition of James Ennis places him as a young version of Trevor Ariza for the Rockets.
The 2018-19 Rockets might be the most talented team D’Antoni has ever had in his NBA tenure. The biggest factor for this team is staying healthy, then a head to head in the playoffs against the defending champion Golden State will be a toss up.