The NBA Has A Houston Rockets Problem

The NBA Has A Houston Rockets Problem

52 wins the 12th ranked offense the fifth ranked defense the seventh best net rating and a sevengame series with the golden state warriors that is what the houston rockets just did last season since then they have traded for kevin durant signed dorian finny smith and clint capella and oh amen thompson reed shepard jabari smith jr alprin shenangut and taran are only going to get better next year in the least corny way possible i think it’s fair to say houston we have a problem okay that was the most disgusting thing i’ve ever said almost as disgusting as the rockets depth for next season because just take a look at this team i told you they had the second best record in the nba last year right did i tell you they traded their worst starter for a top 10 player in the nba i think we should talk about that because whilst dorian finny smith is an incredible role player to sign and capella adds some really nice depth kevin durant you know who he is if anything i think at this stage in his career kevin durant is underrated over his last two seasons playing for an incredibly dysfunctional suns team he’s averaged 27 points per game over six boards and nearly five assists on 52 42 85 shooting splits while averaging over a block a game and nearly a steal a game as well and when you compare that to the player they traded in jaylen green um less points less rebounds less assists worse field goal percentage worse three-point percentage and let me check much much worse defense and that’s actually where i want to start the defense i think every single person knows kevin durant is a pretty good offensive player i mean he sleepwalks his way into 25 points a game on nearly 50 40 90 every single season the pull-up jumper of dreams the best mid-range shooter ever that guy is an absolute monster offensively there are no questions about that there never will be he could play another 10 years giving you 20 points a game but the rockets built this team on defense the reason they were so successful last year was because of the grittiness the intensity the energy they played with on defense and at 37 years old some people might question if kevin durant can match those physical demands if he can still bring that same energy and effort on defense i’m here to tell you this is the most underrated part of his game he will absolutely bring defensive help just look at him here against kevin porter jr who tries to get deep in his bag crossing one way back the other way into the step back jumper and look at the ground kd covers to block the step back or if that’s not impressive enough how about against donovan mitchell just look at him stick with him the entire way and even when mitchell creates that little bit of separation it’s the length from kd to block mitchell on the floater or this time against anthony edwards on an island with ant sizing him up look at kd get into a stance as ant goes past him and swipe it from him to force the miss you just saw him go up against three incredibly shifty guards and get a stop on every single one of those possessions and that isn’t even his best attribute as a defensive player he is 7 foot we all know that well he tries to tell us he’s not but we all know he is and the reason i mention that is because of his rim protection his ability to help over as the low man and block shots just look here where the screen gets set and as shruder finds him underneath the hoop look at the health defense from kd using that length to meet him at the rim he is going to be perfect defensively next to alpie the improvements alpie made last year defensively are only going to be magnified playing alongside someone that can block shots can move his feet on the perimeter and defend at such a high level and this is why kd is such an incredible signing everything he does is additive without mentioning the fact houston are losing their worst defender from last year in jaylen green remember when okc traded josh giddy and everyone talked about it being addition by subtraction well jaylen green had that kind of season for the rockets i know people love him so they might be offended by that but every single metric suggests this team was significantly better without green on the floor and you were effectively straight up replacing all of his touches and shots with one of the most efficient scorers ever and i guess we should briefly touch on kevin durant’s scoring i think almost the perfect encapsulation of the difference is this graphic by nba university look at kevin durant’s mid-range percentage and then look at jaylen greens that is a near 20% increase he is a better three-point shooter he is a better mid-range shooter he is better at getting to the rim he is a better passer he is better off the ball he is better on the ball um this is not me trying to slander jaylen green i mean it’s kevin durant kevin durant is better at all of those things than pretty much everyone in nba history and when you add him to your team without giving up any of your best players well you turn into a championship contender and the only part of this deal that looked slightly detrimental to houston was losing some of the physicality and defensive toughness from dylan brooks now this is where raphael stone and the rockets cooked when i talk to people around the league they say the hawks and the rockets are cooking they cooked indeed dorian finny smith is just an even better version of dylan brooks he might not get in as many fights as dylan brooks but don’t let that deceive you he is a better defender he is a better shooter he doesn’t need the ball as much he’s actually a very solid playmaker because he has had to play in those four and three situations a lot of his years with luca donuch this is a guy that is perfect for winning and i know onoff numbers aren’t everything but last year the nets were plus 12 points better with him on the floor the lakers were plus 13 and plus 9 in the playoffs and this has been a consistent theme throughout his career he is one of the most underrated role players of this decade and the rockets got him for nothing and you could argue there is a bit of an overlap with his skill set for a team that already has kd jabari smith jr and tari e but like i just mentioned worst case you could trade him and get another asset in return he is a positive asset that teams will always be looking to take a chance on because of his skill set but dorian finny smith contributes to winning no matter where he goes he is that good and in addition to all of this they signed clint capella as well who isn’t the player he used to be and hawks fans will tell you he’s absolutely washed but i think that’s a bit unfair because atlanta were asking him to do more than he should be doing starting most of the games last year someone who had injuries last year but as a second sometimes even a third backup center alongside shangon and adams and we’ve seen shangon be able to play with another big if he’s only asked to play 15 to 20 minutes a night catch lobs protect the rim be an absolute monster on the glass he’s going to be a fantastic signing this is someone who’s just going to add more depth and make this team even more physically dominant if you had any questions over what the houston rockets were trying to do they are trying to bully you they want to beat you up they want to physically impose their will on you clint capella steven adams kevin durant tari e jabari smith jr alperin shenun amen thompson this is a team that is going to be physically intimidating and clint capella just adds to that physical element of this team and i haven’t even mentioned the internal development aside from kevin durant this could be the biggest factor for the rockets if the rockets were to change nothing this off season they should have won more games just based off the fact amen thompson is going to get better jabari smith jr alberin shingu tara yan and the wild card reed shepard the third overall pick in last year’s draft the best shooter from that draft someone who averaged 20 points a game in the three games he started for houston last year this is someone who will need opportunities but if he gets the right opportunities he could be an absolute spark plug off the bench to add on top of everything they already have the houston rockets are absolutely stacked and the western conference you know what

They’re cooking…
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