Houston Rockets
What happens when you pair together two ball-dominant MVPs who used to be teammates?
You get Daryl Morey’s biggest gamble yet — one that’s from a blockbuster deal with his old pal Sam Presti no less — and you get Mike D’Antoni’s latest and greatest challenge to date.
If the Warriors were light years ahead, it has always felt like the Rockets were at least in outer space. GM Daryl Morey and head coach Mike D’Antoni have long been ahead of the curve and trendsetters, bringing on an era of basketballin’ focused on high efficiency and a barrage of three-pointers. The Rockets were without a doubt the Warriors most difficult obstacle to overcome when Golden State was at full strength.
Morey and D’Antoni changed the game while turning James Harden into the most powerful offensive weapon in the NBA. Now their innovative minds must figure out how to incorporate Russ in a way that worked (for a while) with Chris Paul. And shit, never forget that Houston was a Chris Paul hamstring injury away from dethroning the Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference Finals. (Also, shoutout to Houston’s 0-27 stretch from three in Game 7.) But as the The Harden Step-Back grew in legend and volume, the Harden-Paul relationship seemed to break beyond the point of repair.
The Harden Step-Back, one move to rule them all. Destructive on so many levels.
Per ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry, “Here's a stat: At 29 years old, Harden is the NBA's all-time leader in unassisted 3s. Harden's step-back 3 generates 1.20 points per shot on average -- better than the Warriors' league-leading 1.15 points per shot. A hypothetical offense consisting solely of Harden step-back 3s would yield points faster than the best offense on the planet. Yeesh.”
The Beard is unfuckinguardable. Harden’s jab step is a nightmare for defenders. If you stay way up on him, he’ll zip by you for an easy lay in. If you send help, he’ll find the open man in the corner for three or lob to Capela for the oop. If you take the bait and decide to dance, he’ll fake you out silly, creating all the separation needed to lunge back and launch another three from space.
Space City. Lee Jenkins, former Sports Illustrated writer and now front office executive for the Clippers, wrote in May of 2018: “Houston won 65 games this season, most in the NBA, on the strength of an offense that confounds with its simplicity. The Rockets pass and move less than any team in the league, according to tracking data. About 90% of the time, they run some variation of the same play (a pick-and-roll on one side of the court, two shooters perched behind the three-point line on the other) with the same people (Harden or Chris Paul handling the ball, Clint Capela setting the screen, everybody else spacing the floor). “I like when there’s no thinking,” says D’Antoni, still playing the bumpkin, unconvincingly as ever. “So we just do the same thing every frigging time.”
We can hear D’Antoni’s West Virginia drawl clear as day. “Every frigging time.”
The Harden isos that D’Antoni has unlocked and constantly let loose have been pure gold. The only way you can stop it is by fouling, something defenses do at an alarming rate. Harden has averaged over 10 free throws per game for five straight seasons and six out of the last seven (only nine free throws a game back in 2013-2014). That’s just more butter for The Beard who has a career average of 85.7 percent from the line.
So you have a well proven one-man wrecking crew in Harden and now another bulldozer in Russell Westbrook. Brodie’s style of play raises some big questions that Morey and D’Antoni have no doubt spent all summer mulling over and trying to solve. Harden is the NBA’s most efficient player in isolation while Westbrook is dead last. Russ has been a below average 3-pointer shooter his entire career and is the worst 3-point shooter in NBA history with at least 2,500 attempts. Last season, Westbrook averaged only 6.2 free throws per game and made just 65.6 percent, compared to 10.4 attempts and 84.6 percent in his MVP season.
With high usage comes great responsibility. And a lot of turnovers. Harden and Westbrook ranked #1 and #2 in the NBA in turnovers last season.
But for all of his faults, we are still talking about a guy in Russ who has averaged a frigging triple double for three consecutive seasons. Even better than his stats, Westbrook brings an unmatched level of tenacity to the court every single night. You know Russ will give it his all and leave it all on the court. D’Antoni needs him to harness his game in the efficient Moreyball way that the Rockets do. If not, Westbrook’s cotton shot will cause Morey’s efficiency machine to break. But Russ instantly improves Houston’s rebounding and transition offense. Russ will also have great shooters and spacing at his disposal, areas that were lacking his last few years in OKC.
To always have one of James Harden or Russell Westbrook on the court at any given moment of the game is a damn good problem to have. We don’t care who you are. Russ will slay any and all bench units in the league. BEASTbrook Mode: ON.
The Rockets will spend the regular season tinkering with ways to get Harden and Russ to play off the ball when they’re both on the court and one is sans rock.
Eric Gordon will be around for this experiment, recently inked to a three-year, $54.5 million contract extension with a possible non-guaranteed fourth year. A vital component to Houston’s floor spacing, Gordon needs to remain a potent 3-and-D guy to help make this work.
In addition to Gordon, a decent amount of infrastructure remains in:
Clint Capela -- An integral part of Harden’s lobs to Capela.
P.J. Tucker -- An integral part of the Tuck Wagon lineup, providing very important defensive versatility.
Gerald Green and Austin Rivers -- A fighter and pesky spark plug off the bench.
Danuel House Jr. -- 41.6 percent from three on 4.6 attempts per game.
Ryan Anderson -- He’s back and on a cheap contract this time!
The Rockets also signed Tyson Chandler, Ben McLemore and *checks notes* … *checks notes again* Anthony Bennett. Chandler can still offer some size at the rim in limited minutes, McLemore is still athletic as hell, and Bennett can still offer Anthony Bennett jokes.
We are keeping a keen eye on 5-9 Chris Clemons, an undrafted rookie from Campbell and the 3rd-highest scorer in men's NCAA Division I college basketball history.
League Pass Notes
Russ power dunks have lost some steam, but you can still count on them.
Harden fake nose bleed dunks are a treat.
We are going to have a season-long blog just for The Beard and Russ pre-game outfits. And P.J. Tucker with the shoes!
Most are not into the Rockets announcers, known to be some of the biggest homers, but we actually enjoy them anyway.
The Final Questions / The Final Take
How exactly do you allow for the two players with the highest usage rates in the history of the league to coexist in a groundbreaking way?
Will Houston’s continuity and Westbrook injection enable the Rockets to really take off?
Can Morey, Harden, D’Antoni and Westbrook finally get the playoff monkey off their backs?
The only thing that ultimately matters to us here is how polarizing this Rockets season promises to be.
We can’t friggin’ wait. OVER 52.5 wins.