Player Overview

I’m reminded of the movie Hoosiers when coach Norman Dale tells his team before the semifinals, “I’m sure going to the state finals is beyond your wildest dreams, so let’s just keep it right there.”

The Houston Rockets landing LeBron James seems just that — beyond our wildest dreams. It would be a daunting, near-impossible task to land the best player in the league in his prime, so it could be better off left unsaid.

However, the current scenario demands that the subject has to at least be broached.

James can opt out of his contract by the end of the month to become a free agent. Miami was soundly thrashed in the NBA Finals. Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski says, “One more team to watch in this with Lebron is Houston because … they can create the salary cap space. Would it appeal to LeBron to go play with James Harden, Dwight Howard? I don’t know that it would, but I think Houston will certainly try to get in that mix.”

So here we go.

Rocket Perspective

LeBron James is a two-time champion, four-time MVP and five-time member of the NBA All-Defensive First Team. This is the one player that doesn’t just provide answers for Houston but actually changes the questions: “Does Player X fit with Harden and Howard?” becomes “Do Harden and Howard fit with LeBron James?”

The Rockets can offer LeBron a roster with two superstars – one inside, one out – in the prime of their careers and several role players (Patrick Beverley, Chandler Parsons, Terrence Jones) who appear to be substantial upgrades on their counterparts in Miami. A starting lineup of LeBron-Harden-Howard-Beverley-Jones would be ridiculous, one that would be a giant leap forward on both ends of the ball for the Rockets. Houston would instantly become the favorites to win not just the West but the 2014-15 NBA crown.

While it’s unclear if James would have interest in combining forces with Howard and Harden specifically, he is not a stranger to being a teammate to either player. LeBron played with Howard on the 2008 Olympic squad and with Harden on the 2012 team. He has spoken highly of Harden before, calling him his “little bro” after the trade that sent him to the Rockets and noting that Harden had “made superstar status” after a Rockets-Heat game in February 2013.

No matter how crazy, the Rockets would do whatever they could if it meant reeling in James. Need every penny to sign him? Scrap the Chandler Parsons-restricted free agency plan and contracts they’d like to keep become cut bait. LeBron would come if he could play here with Carmelo Anthony? Suddenly you consider putting Harden on the trading block.

That’s how absurd you would get to land the world’s top player.

Conclusion

LeBron currently has just about everything he could want: A glamour location, top dollar on his contract, an easy path to the Finals in a creampuff conference, a coach he’s comfortable with, star friends by his side and multiple championships. It’s hard to see him leaving all that, especially with the possibility of simply “opting in” for one more year in Miami and giving Pat Riley 12 more months to retool.

But LeBron has made a controversial decision for the purpose of immediately winning titles before. If he senses the future isn’t as bright in Miami (a big “if”), Houston would have to be high on that list of ready-made situations where he could continue to win and compete at a high level. The Rockets also could make an interesting pitch in that with one stroke of the pen, LeBron could turn the San Antonio Spurs from NBA champions to second-best team in their own state, relegating the Dallas Mavericks, another team LeBron lost to in the Finals, to a distant third.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey will definitely do his due diligence on this possibility, but in the event the Rockets do make some ground with LeBron, it seems unlikely that Miami would play ball on a sign-and-trade. The Rockets would have to go the cap room route and unload Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik.

But while the Rockets do offer a great situation for LeBron, all of us are in the dark about his plans. Until he decides to actually opt out and there is any evidence of interest in Houston from him, this is just a guessing game.

 Ben DuBose also contributed to this profile.

The Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls have emerged as the “clear frontrunners” to acquire Carmelo Anthony, according to a story published on Saturday by Yahoo! Sports insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

“Anthony, 30, has been intrigued with [joining] the Bulls for several months, but Houston has gathered significant momentum as a preferred destination for him,” Wojnarowski wrote, citing league sources.

“Houston has Dwight Howard and James Harden prepared to recruit Anthony as the third star in a championship chase,” he added.

Both Houston and Chicago front-office executives are said to be “working diligently” on scenarios to clear the cap space to sign Anthony outright, or engage New York on sign-and-trade scenarios, according to the report. In Houston’s case, that would mean shedding the contracts of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, at a minimum. But with both of those players entering the final year of their contracts, Wojnarowski writes that a sign-and-trade with the Knicks for Anthony is indeed possible.

“Because those players are moving into the expiring year of their contracts, they could potentially appeal to New York in sign-and-trade scenarios that would deliver Anthony his full max contract of four years, $90 million-plus,” Wojnarowski wrote.

“In trade talks, New York has told teams it doesn’t want to take on contracts beyond the summer of 2015 although Asik, a center, could ultimately be a player the Knicks would want to sign long-term,” he added. “There’s a market for Asik to be traded into salary-cap space elsewhere for draft considerations, but Houston may have to package a draft pick to move Lin.”

The full max for Anthony would involve a contract starting at over $22 million per year, but citing league sources, Wojnarowski writes that Anthony would take less than that if “he can be shown how his financial concessions can result in the immediate acquisition or retention of talent”.

In Houston’s case, Wojnarowski writes that most scenarios that would hold the Rockets’ nucleus together — including Chandler Parsons, Patrick Beverley and Terrence Jones – would involve Anthony getting a starting salary near $19 million.

Meanwhile, should Chicago amnesty the contract of Carlos Boozer and trade the contract of Taj Gibson and at least one other player, the Bulls as an Eastern Conference team could offer Anthony a theoretically easier route to the NBA Finals than the Rockets. Additionally, Anthony is said to “have an affinity” for Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, Wojnarowski writes, before cautioning that Anthony must also weigh the future health of Derrick Rose in his decision.

The Knicks, of course, can still offer the most money to Anthony and have still expressed interest in retaining him. To that end, a delegation consisting of Phil Jackson and new Knicks coach Derek Fisher met Anthony on Friday night in Los Angeles. However, the option of re-signing with the Knicks appears to be becoming less likely.

“Anthony’s meeting with Knicks officials on Friday night had little impact on his state of mind, league sources said, because there remain too many uncertainties about how quickly president Phil Jackson can reshape the team into a championship contender,” Wojnarowski wrote.

Wojnarowski also noted that Jackson has “turned off” Anthony with public proclamations of wanting Anthony to take less money to stay with the Knicks.

“Jackson has been somewhat cavalier in his public declarations of wanting Anthony to stay, and it’s been noticed,” the report says.

The next significant development in the Anthony sweepstakes should come within the next 10 days. The New York forward, who averaged 27.4 points per game on 45% shooting last season, has until June 23 to notify the Knicks if he plans to opt in or out of the final year of his current contract.

If Anthony opts out and becomes a free agent, as several reports indicate he is likely to do, outside teams such as Houston and Chicago could begin courting him on July 1.

I needed to take the weekend off before writing anything, but I think Rockets broadcaster Bill Worrell summed up this series best.

“My heart is down on the floor right next to you. Please pick it up and massage it,” said Worrell to Clyde Drexler.

And that was 30 seconds before Damian Lillard hit that shot.

The final play of Game 6 was devastating, but it was a collective failure. While many have chosen to blame Chandler Parsons for not sticking with Lillard, that was only part of the problem. Initially, Kevin McHale rolled out Dwight Howard on the inbounder, placing James Harden on LaMarcus Aldridge and playing Jeremy Lin. When he realized the issues, he called a 20-second timeout to take out Lin, get Terrence Jones on the inbounder and put Dwight on Aldridge.

Howard said that all the team talked about was stopping the three, but not only did the Rockets lose Portland’s best shooter, but take a look at Jones’ defense on the inbounder. He’s doing nothing but covering the pass down low to Aldridge, where Houston’s best defensive player is locked in. The Rockets left a Grand Canyon-sized hole at the top of the key with no resistance on the pass or the shooter.

Did that look at all like a team trying to stop a three-pointer?

But while the Rockets’ inability to stay with Lillard for less than a full second will haunt them this offseason, it’s only part of the nightmare.

The fourth quarter collapse in Game 1. The absurd call against Dwight Howard in overtime of Game 1. The brain lapse in not calling timeout and then turning it over in Game 4. And now the infamous Game 6.

The Rockets honestly blew three games in this series because of the little things. Correcting any one of these simple mistakes likely puts them in the second round of the playoffs against a team (San Antonio) that they swept in the regular season, and that’s what really should stick with them.

The Rockets are top-heavy in talent, but it should be sobering to all of us that not only did the Rockets lose with home court advantage in this series, but Portland was likely the very best possible matchup out there. There are no easy outs in the West and the Rockets have not yet separated themselves, so this will be a very important offseason for this team. They can’t afford to just stay pat.

Here’s what I think you can expect.

Rockets Need Coaching Help

Kevin McHale was a big draw for Dwight Howard to sign with the Rockets

There’s no doubt about it, Kevin McHale looked lost at times in this series. He didn’t make series-altering adjustments until Game 3. His team seemed unprepared in big moments. Ultimately, the Rockets underachieved and fell short of expectations.

But while I thought it was premature to come out so early with a vote of confidence for McHale, there may be a method to the madness in keeping him for the final season (team option) of his contract.

Remember, Dwight Howard was specific in saying that McHale was a big draw for him to sign with Houston. He is well-liked by his players and respected by many around the league. For example, he both drafted and coached Kevin Love, someone who could be traded between now and the summer of 2015, when he’s a free agent. This next year gives McHale one more season to both lure talent and prove he is the right man for the job long-term.

But the Rockets absolutely must hire an experienced, savvy, defensive-minded assistant, preferably one with head coaching experience. McHale can still serve as figurehead and team leader, but they could use X’s and O’s help on the defensive side after losing Kelvin Sampson. This is a must this offseason.

Big Game Hunting

The Rockets will not have near-max cap room until 2015, but I can promise you that they will operate this offseason as if they have it now.

They will pursue Carmelo Anthony. They will watch to see if Chris Bosh opts out. Dirk Nowitzki will be a free agent, though it’s incredibly unlikely he would leave Dallas (much less for a rival city like Houston). They will pursue a trade for Kevin Love. Paul Millsap provides the best of both worlds — an upgrade at the power forward position and a player that expires in 2015.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is on record as saying the Rockets lack a third-best player on a championship team. Until he acquires that player, the Rockets can not sign any role players to long-term deals beyond the league minimum salary because it will hurt their flexibility to acquire that key piece by 2015.

With his hands tied under those restrictions, take a look at the team’s transactions this season: Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia, Ronnie Brewer and Jordan Hamilton were all out of the rotation by the end of the season. They weren’t able to move Greg Smith for anything. It wasn’t until very late in the year that they were able to find a rotation player with a league minimum deal (Troy Daniels).

They need to finalize their core so they can go over the cap and into luxury tax (if they so choose) to get the right pieces. Hands down, getting their third-best player is the top priority this offseason.

Trading Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik

Jeremy Lin’s contract makes it more likely that he gets traded this offseason

Omer Asik didn’t speak to the media on Monday (par for the course), though I did see him exit the building. Lin said it’s “part of the business.”

“I’m human. I definitely wonder about it,” said Lin of the thought that he will be traded this summer. “Next year will be my fifth season. My first year and a half, I dealt with my name being surrounded with getting cut. And from then on, my name being surrounded with trades. I’d rather take the second than the first.”

Here’s why I think we’ve seen Lin and Asik’s final games with the Rockets.

• The Rockets will be paying a hair under $30 million to a pair of backup players. I repeat — thirty mill. Backups. Even at a cap hit of $17 million, it’s a terrible allocation of cap space and funds.
  
• Asik is a luxury the Rockets can’t afford. Lin is a less-than-ideal fit on a team that would place more of a premium on sure-handedness, three-point shooting and defense at the position. He could do a lot more on a team with lower expectations that gave him carte blanche to operate and develop — much like the Rockets expected to be when they signed him.
  
• As mentioned before, Morey can’t sign anyone of significance until their foundation is set. Are they really going to use up another year of Dwight’s prime before making the move for the third guy? Getting a third guy means dealing Asik and/or Lin.
  
• It would have been irresponsible to trade Lin and Asik for nothing at this past February trade deadline given that they were in the middle of an important season. The Rockets were shopping those players looking for a big name star (unlikely) or for players that could help them this season without hurting their flexibility beyond 2015 (difficult). That concern does not exist this summer. They simply need to unload them off the books, knowing that the cap room itself is now a significant asset to work with.
  
• The Rockets will try to prepare several trade options they can turn to when the need for cap room arises. The Rockets can likely move Asik given that he is a rare commodity, but Lin for “nothing” (pure cap room) will cost the Rockets additional assets and will be harder to execute.

I would be shocked if either player is still with the team by training camp in September.

WANTED: Three-and-D

The three-point game is critical to the Rockets. They led the league in attempts per game (26.6), but were only mediocre in efficiency (35.8%, #16 in the league). In the playoffs, the Rockets shot 31.8% from three. Take out Troy Daniels? 29.5%.

That’s an absurdly low rate given how much they depend on the three. Players who stretch the floor and can knock down a three-pointer when defenses double Dwight or collapse on Harden drives are essential.

Defensive players, especially on the perimeter, are another must. The Rockets have one top defensive player (Patrick Beverley) that isn’t a center. Corey Brewer (COREY BREWER!) popped off for 51 on this team. They need a player or two with some length, athleticism and a defensive motor.

So when it comes to role players, three-point shooting and defensive specialists should be high priorities this offseason.

What we saw from James Harden

Last but not least, I want to talk about James Harden.

The Rockets’ star guard was brilliant in Game 6, but it was five games too late in this series. The defense played by Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum played a role in slowing Harden, but there are far better defenders in the West, and that wasn’t the whole story. There were times he looked completely out of it and was unable or unwilling to attack the basket. His inability to stay focused on the defensive end has been a major problem since he’s been here. The team needs to get him some help, yes, but as the best player on the team, the Rockets will only go as far as Harden will lead them.

It’s no secret that Harden is immature, as evidenced by his dustup with a reporter after Game 2. It’s a byproduct of being that young and that talented. If anything good comes from this series, let it be that James Harden learns and grows from it, that he takes it personally and becomes a better professional next season.

Les Alexander can’t buy this change. Daryl Morey can’t acquire it. Kevin McHale can’t coach it. It’s up to James.

The Rockets met the media on Monday after their final team meetings for the 2013-14 season, and the theme of the day seemed to be that everybody needs to get on the “same page.”

Dwight Howard said the team needs to have one goal and be “like a band of brothers.”

“If you’re not about winning the championship, then you shouldn’t be here,” said Howard. “My only goal is to win. If you’re not about winning, then we’re not on the same page.”

Dwight Howard

James Harden

Chandler Parsons

Patrick Beverley

Jeremy Lin

Donatas Motiejunas

Isaiah Canaan

Troy Daniels