FIRST TAKE | Rockets are legit title contenders! – Stephen A. on Houston land Dorian & Clint Capela

FIRST TAKE | Rockets are legit title contenders! – Stephen A. on Houston land Dorian & Clint Capela

a huge show on the way today You know it appears Houston does not have a problem after their moves yesterday How much did the Rockets close the gap on OKC in the West meanwhile the Lakers quiet as can be as free agency got underway What impact will this have on LeBron Luca and the rest of the purple and gold speaking of gold ah the Steelers have been very active this off season Are we ready to start putting them among the top Super Bowl contenders though first take starts right now Yo yo yo Welcome to First Take Hornet filling in for Molly Kum this morning from the new digs which I love here in New York City Let’s say good morning to David Dennis Jr Tim Bontmps in the flesh which I love And then Wendy’s waking up early with us there in LA after a very busy day in free agency yesterday in the association The West already loaded as we know But the Rockets they are not playing around as they snatched Dorian Finny Smith from the Lakers yesterday They signed him to a four-year deal They also added in Clint Capella And of course we can’t forget their biggest move in trading for Kevin Durant who comes over from the Suns as we remember But let’s take a look at Houston’s starting five here and what we’ve got when we look at the way this is all going to kind of shape out as of now Fred Blanle there at guard Amen Thompson Jabari Smith Jr Kevin Durant then Alprren Shangon there kind of rounds us out And so the Rockets were bounced by the Warriors in seven games in the first round of the playoffs They were young They were already good right but now with these moves what message could we say that the rackets are sending to the rest of the West wendy I’ll start with you
That they’re on a rebuild pathway similar to the Oklahoma City Thunder If you look at the Thunder they started their rebuild when they traded Paul George and Russell Westbrook and they said “We’re going to go build through the draft and later on we’ll try to add through trade uh like they did with Alex Caruso and then free agency like they did with Isaiah Hartinstein.” The Rockets basically made the same decision about two years later They traded James Harden and Russell Westbrook and they began building through the draft and now they have gone on to free agency like they did with Fred Van Vleet and now through trade with Kevin Durant and just like the Thunder have built a team that is based in in youth and sustainable going forward That’s what the Rockets have done They have built in youth and is sustainable going forward Now Durant he’s a different little different case that doesn’t equal exactly what the Thunder have exactly Durant is a superstar in the later stages of his career but this was a team that was already built around youth and defense and has loaded with future draft assets with excellent coaching and ex an excellent team dynamic and excellent team ethos and the way they operate every single day And they’ve gone and added pieces But the most important thing about the Thunder you know about the Rockets with you compare them to the Thunder and their teams in today’s NBA you have to have depth If you look at all of the teams that had success this past season whether it was the champion Thunder whether it was the team that they beat in the finals with the Pacers they had eight different guys averaging double figures Well you look at the Cavs who won 60 games You look at the Celtics who won the championship in 60 games Depth Look what the Rockets are doing They’re building depth And the biggest thing about the Rockets that you have to look at as you evaluate them is that this might not be their final team Yes if this is the team that they bring to the beginning of the season in October they’re going to be a contender to Oklahoma City but because they have all these draft assets and all these young players they could still go out shopping for a major transformational player if one becomes available
Yeah that was going to be my next question Do we think that the Rockets are done which clearly the answer is maybe not just yet Okay so Tim I’m go to you now in terms of what you think the Rockets have done here We could also add in the fact that Eime Udoka is now heading into year three there in Houston He has such familiarity with Kevin Durant So there won’t be you would assume much of a transition there What do you think they’ve done and what they’ve said here in free agency
i think what they’ve done and said Shay is that they are a team that is ready to contend right now They have waited to make a move like this getting Kevin Durant Last year as Brian said you know our our buddy Tim McMahon has talked about the phases of the development of the Rockets They were in phase two last year where they had this young core including Jaylen Green the former number two overall pick in the draft and they wanted to see what that team could do Now they were a surprise second seed in the Western Conference last year But then when they got into the playoffs they played the Golden State Warriors in the first round and they lose in large part because their offense wasn’t good enough Their offense wasn’t good enough because Jaylen Green wasn’t good enough He had a terrible series in the first round Shot under 40% from the field Shot under 30% from three What do they do they replace him essentially one for one with Kevin Durant who yes he’s 37 years old but is a guy who shot over 50% from the field over 40% from three is the greatest scorer in the history of the NBA and his ability to score at every level in a way no one else has ever been able to and now walks into into this Rockets team where all he needs to do is go out there and get buckets and have this group of long athletic players around him make up for his defensive limitations at this point in his career To Brian’s point about depth and how important depth is right now in the NBA the other thing that’s vitally important is positional size If you look back at the last several title teams Boston Denver even Golden State going back to even when the Toronto Raptors won even you need to have positional size across the board This Rockets team is huge across the board They are physical They are athletic They’re tenacious defensively And right now when you look at the way the Oklahoma City Thunder are set up the the Houston Rockets are the clear team that can go up against them in the West and give them trouble I would love to see a Western Conference Finals We’re in game one We have Kevin Durant back in Oklahoma City going against the Thunder How incredible would that be next season and as Brian said the Rockets still have all these assets to go make another move for a big start down the road So this team is incredibly well set up and we are looking at the two dominant forces in the West for a long time to come I I love how you’re already jumping to the NBA finals I’m here for all of that I mean look at the Rockets You talk about positional size They essentially have three big men already right and we don’t know how it’s all going to form together or what the moves are they’re going to finish with here but that’s pretty impressive in itself D what do you think
the Rocket Let’s face The Rockets right now are pitching a perfect offseason which is something that seemingly was pretty much impossible in the league with the second apron The way that we’re talking about building teams every team generally goes into a new season with some sort of massive flaw The Rockets right now are pushing uh patching up every single hole that they seem to have The Dorian Finny Smith move was an absolute heist to make up for Dylan Brooks The depth that they have the coaching that they have They have all the things that a lot of these teams seem to be lacking when they’re going into a season The depth the size the defense the dynamic score in Kevin Durant who’s a 50 40 90 guy And they have maybe one of the well not maybe definitely one of the best coaches in the league and they have versatility in the way that they can move forward Things you know get off a little rocky there’s an injury in October November they can make some moves And I’m with Tim here This team when they got Kevin Durant I thought their ceiling was a competitive fun series against OKC in the conference finals They are now real actual competitors with OKC They have a shot here against this team in a conference finals especially as the season goes on if people get nicked up OKC is not 100% if things fall Houston’s way in some sort of way Kevin Durant can go out there and be the most dynamic scorer in a series against this squad They can bully some of those bigs with the guys that they have down low Their depth is right there with them I I think that this has been an absolute just master class in how to work an off season and get ready to be prepared to be a champion Get out of here Come on man Nowhere Good job

FIRST TAKE | Rockets are legit title contenders! – Stephen A. Smith on Houston Rockets land Dorian Finney-Smith & Clint Capela