The New Look Rockets Could Be GAME BREAKING

The New Look Rockets Could Be GAME BREAKING

Y know what’s going on y’all? It’s Con and today I want to talk about the new look Houston Rockets who are coming into the season as one of the top three teams in the Western Conference. They have very quickly gone from hey they’re bottom of the barrel every season to last year being like, okay, the Rockets are on the come up, maybe they make the playoffs next year to being a top two seed in the Western Conference to now a team that a lot of people will tell you is a legitimate championship threat. They have turned the culture around very, very fast and it’s been super impressive. Taking a look at this roster, it’s good reason for why people think this is a legitimate championship contender. Going back to last season, the Rockets were really good, but extremely flawed. They were this unbelievable defensive team led by Almond Thompson who in his second year was already in deep talks and finished on all defensive first team. Uh Fred Van Vleet who really competes on that end, Jabari Smith Jr. and the size of like a Steven Adams as well. And Atari East and joining Ammon as the Terror Twins. It was a really really imposing physical basketball team that beat you up on the boards that gave you a lot of buckets on the inside from an outbron or a Jaylen Green getting downhill and would not win games in the prettiest way, but would get the job done regardless to the tune of over 50 wins, 52 and 30. But then once they got to the playoffs, things were a lot more difficult because scoring in the half court is much more important and the Rockets weren’t really able to do that. Their strategy was kind of, hey, let’s throw the ball at the rim and try and get the offensive rebound and see what happens. and it worked sometimes, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Golden State Warriors in that seven game series. So, coming into this season, the number one thing they needed to address was getting a real number one scoring option. What did they do? They added one of the greatest scorers of all time in Kevin Durant, who sure is getting up there in age, but is still one of the best scorers on the planet. Last year with the Suns at the age of 36, he was dropping 26 and a half on 52% shooting from the field and 43% from three while dishing out 4.2 two dimes a night and grabbing six boards and being one of the better defenders on that Sun’s roster. That’s crazy. Like a 36-year-old shouldn’t be capable of doing that. But Kevin Durant just feels like he’s immortal at this point. And like he’s going to be 37 going into next year. He’s had some injury concerns in the back half of his career. But as of late, like last year, he only missed 20 games due to injury. The year prior only missed seven. So only missing 27 over two seasons is pretty good. I think Kevin Durant has actually been somewhat reliable over the last couple of years. And having him out there as that number one, that consistent score is not only going to make life a lot easier for the Rockets in the half court just by him putting the ball in the basket, but having him as a threat that everybody else can play off of is going to do wonders for them. Jaylen Green was their leading scoreer last year. He had some really high highs, some really low lows, but he was just way too inconsistent. And I’m excited to see what he can do over there in Phoenix. But I think giving him and the 10th pickup to grab Kevin Durant as well as Dylan Brooks is more than worth that trade. I think it was a home run decision by the Houston Rockets. They needed somebody. They got somebody and it’s going to make them way better. In addition to all the young talent, they still kept in that deal. Like Alin Shengood, who at 22 years old was the best player on a 52- win team that almost won a playoff series. That’s crazy. He made his first All-Star game. He got a lot better on the defensive end. was actually somewhat serviceable after the first few years where it’s like, hey, he’s this big liability. He held up. He’s got great footwork down low. He’s growing as a kind of mid-range player. The three ball is still definitely a work in progress, but he’s also a good offensive hub big. Like, I think him and Kevin Durant playing off of each other is going to do wonders for both of their games. It’s the same thing for Amond Thompson, who’s already one of the best defenders in the league, but offensively, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Now he’s shown great strides and just by the fact that he’s one of the best athletes that’s ever existed, he’s able to get downhill, finish at the rim, dunk on players, get these crazy offensive putbacks, like he is already an effective enough offensive player. But if you continue to see some growth with the jumper with his ability in that mid-range area, then I think you unlock one of the best players in the world. And again, having a scorer like Kevin Durant, who can help ShenGun, which will then help Almond Thompson, and the way it’ll just make everything more synergistic is going to open up the game for Almond to explore that aspect of his scoring and allow him to become a more effective player, give him more space to be that just absolutely destructive downhill force that he’s capable of being. I mean, imagine Kevin Durant getting double teamed and kicking to Almond Thompson who’s got a wideopen runway to the rim. like you you can’t leave him open in the corner when he’s that level of athlete and he’s able to play off of talents like those other two guys. Uh you still keep Fred Van Vleet who is pretty inconsistent. They’re massive ups and downs, but he is a good player and having his playmaking, having his ability to pop off scoring wise is valuable to this team. You add Doran Finny Smith who gives you another defender on this team of already really good defenders as well as a guy who last year was a 40% three-point shooter giving them some muchneeded spacing to open the game up even more for again Almond Thompson, Albert Shenoon, guys like that. Even Steven Adams as well as Clunk Capella who they also brought in. So now they’ve got three big bruising bigs with Adams Capella and Shenon. It seems like they really want to lean into some more of that double big lineup, which was by far the most effective thing for them against the Warriors last year in the playoffs. I’d be stunned if this isn’t the best rebounding team in basketball. I think that’s going to be pretty clearly the case. And obviously, that’s super valuable, but even more so that you have Kevin Durant to now give extra possessions to. Like last year, you were getting offensive rebounds, and if it wasn’t a put back up and in, it’s like, okay, can Jaylen Green create something or Fred Van Vleet? Now it’s Kevin Durant that you’re going to be getting like 14 extra possessions a game. It feels like four at times. You got Tari E who’s another great defender, another monster on the glass, someone who can knock down outside shots. Jabari Smith Jr. who continues to show a good bit of growth and I think this year has the chance to really pop off and be this integral highle role player for the Rockets whether it’s in the regular season or deep into the playoffs. There is just so much to like about this team’s rotation. They are deep. They are incredible defensively. They are better offensively. They’ve got a great coach in Eme Udoka who knows how to utilize these guys. This is a juggernaut of a team. Really, the only place I’m like kind of concerned is backup guard because right now it’s like Reed Shepard who was just a top five pick last year and I liked him a lot coming out of the draft. I felt like he could be a contributor from day one and just ultimately wasn’t ready for the Rockets last year. I’m hopeful he can be ready this year. they’re going to need him to cuz the backup point guard right now it’s either Reed Shepard or Aaron Holiday and obviously Almond Thompson will get a lot of those reps too as that backup ball handler but he’s also still growing as someone especially when it comes to the handle and I think as that improves he’s going to be better in the point guard spot but for the moment like they could use traditional guards more so and if Reed Shepard isn’t ready then things become a little bit scarier in that regard like Aaron Holidayiday is fine but he’s probably not the ideal backup guard so they might have to add somebody at the deadline line if Reed Shepard’s not working out. But I mean, in an ideal world for them, they’ll just get decent production from their third overall pick from a year ago, which I don’t think is too crazy to expect at all. They added Josh Aogi, who I actually think is an interesting piece as well at the wing spot. He’s not going to do anything crazy, but he’s been a pretty good role player for a few years now. It’s just a really good team. It’s just a really, really good team. Like Jan Tate, I don’t think he’s going to play that much, but he’s still there. I mean, you talk about like their top eight, top nine, not many teams in the league that comes super close to what they’re able to do. Now, again, they are still really young. So, maybe some inexperience could lead to them flaming out in the playoffs this year. They did get again experience last year, but they haven’t been on like any type of deep sustained run quite yet. But, we did just see the Thunder win a championship as the second youngest team to ever do it. So, anything’s possible because KD’s been here and has been to an NBA finals. Like, they have guys that have been there and done that. Maybe another question to ask is, is Kevin Durant capable of being the one option on a championship team this late into his career? I think that is a very viable question to ask. I I think that’s fair. I think he is. When you give him a roster that is this talented, that is this good defensively. I think for sure I I do still think there could be some growing pains for this team in the half court offensively like KD, Doran Finny Smith. the growth from young guys is going to make it easier, but talent-wise, they still don’t match up with like Oklahoma City when it comes to scoring in the half court or definitely not Denver with what Nicole Joic and Jamal Murray and all those guys were able to do. Like that’s probably their big weakness still behind those top two teams. But when you can just also bludgeon teams on the boards and be so good defensively, I mean, last year Oklahoma City wasn’t even that good offensively at times, like especially when it comes to three-point shot. The Thunder were one of the worst three-point shooting champions in a little bit. like you can still win in this league even if you’re not perfect on offense if you were just this ridiculous defense. Now the Thunder was all time. I don’t know if the Rockets are going to be all time the way the Thunder was, but it’s going to be really, really good. So, we’ll see where they can go. If I had to rank them, I’d have them third in the Western Conference right now. But the fact that they’re at this point after where they were a few years ago, y’all remember when it was like Steven Silus was their head coach and they’re going on these crazy losing streaks and they’re bottom of the conference again and again and again and it feels like they’re never going to break out. Then they bring in you DOA and suddenly a few years later they’ve gone from bottom of the barrel in the West to a legitimate championship contender if you ask me. That is such crazy progression in such a little amount of time. And they don’t have to get it done this year. Like sure Kevin Durant is going to be 37 next year. It’s ideal to get it done as soon as possible, but I really don’t think Kevin Durant is going to have major regression for at least a couple more seasons. He’s not going to always continue to be like the most efficient scoreer in the sport, but he’s going to be in that conversation. I don’t think he’s going really anywhere anytime soon as long as he stays healthy, which, you know, fingers crossed, knock on wood, that he does. Um, but yeah, this is just a really, really good basketball team. I wouldn’t mind them at some point upgrading from Fred Vanley to find someone a little bit more consistent, but like they’re so capable of doing that. They still have so many assets to make this team better, too. They only gave up one Suns pick out of the three that they had control of in the Kevin Durant trade. They’ve got so many assets. Such good young talent. They’ve put themselves in easily one of the best positions in the league. I think the Kevin Durant trade was a stroke of genius. I love them bringing Doran Finny Smith. Clink Bell a little bit more confusing, but again, I guess they really want to lean into that double big thing and Steven Adams does have injury concerns. I think they’ve had a great summer. I think they’ve had a great few years and I think they’re going to be one of the best teams in the NBA next season. So, those are my thoughts on the Houston Rockets going into next year. Let me know down below in the comments. Where do you rank them in the West? Do you have them number three like I do? Do you have them two? Do you have them one even? Do you think they’re below top three? Do you think the Kevin Durant trade is being a little bit overblown? Could you see them taking some regression from where they were last year as a defense? Just any of your thoughts on the Houston Rockets? I’m super intrigued to know. Uh, leave like and subscribe if you enjoyed the video. Hit the notification bell so you don’t miss out on future uploads. I appreciate y’all. I’ll see y’all later. Real one. Say it back.

The Houston Rockets had one of the best offseasons out of any NBA team by adding Kevin Durant, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Clint Capela to an already loaded roster with Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr, Fred VanVleet, and others. They’ve set themselves up as real championship contenders along the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference and have a real chance to advance much further than they did in this year’s NBA Playoffs where they lost to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in round one. Let’s talk about it.

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0:00 – Intro
0:38 – Last year they were really good
1:35 – But Kevin Durant is gonna change everything
3:03 – Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson could take leaps
4:32 – And they have a great supporting cast
6:14 – Backup guard is a little weak
7:51 – Is the offense good enough now?
8:54 – The rise to contenders has been impressive
10:29 – Outro