TBT: Houston Rockets

Any player: �I wish coach looked at me the way Vitticus looks at all of his players.�

No one loves their players like Vitticus loves his Rocket-men.

2021 Finish: 43 � 39 (first round playoffs exit)

Season Highlight: Making the playoffs

The Rockets easily managed the play-in tournament and their reward was to face the top-seeded juggernaut Trailblazers team. Whilst the series went simultaneously as expected/badly, with the Rockets failing to win a game, they pushed the Blazers stars in two of the games and showed a real propensity for great running of plays and offensive ability. Houston relies on effective teamwork, offensive versatility and quality depth � three pillars of quality teams. 

It was a successful season, no doubt. The cherry is the undeniable superstar ascendance of Nikola Jokic. Any doubts about his ability to impact the game have been quelled, buried and forgotten about. He is someone who can carry a franchise for ten years and help amplify his teammates games � the perfect player to build around.

Season Lowlight: Failure to find the �second guy� (yet)

I struggled to find a genuine lowlight, so I settled on this. Which player is going to step up and signal themselves as �ride or die� with the Houston superstar Jokic? Nikola is entering his prime winning years (although, his game will age remarkably well) and needs to find himself a peer amongst the team of current subordinates. I feel Vitticus thinks/hopes that Haliburton could be that guy, but he�s still green and the jury is out until he has been in the league 4-5 seasons. 

I think the Rockets traded well/efficiently, but are they asking the right questions? Time will tell. If they can�t find another legitimately great player to pair with Jokic, I think he is at risk of being an elite (stats) guy on an alright team.

Best Trade:

Trading Tomas Satoransky for Norman Powell

This trade aged well for the Rockets and their trade counterparts clearly gave up the better player and more valued asset. It wasn�t immediately visible, but as the season progressed, Powell displayed his chops as a great shooter and good scorer. He has earned himself a great role in the league and a big new contract. Satoransky remains a handy bench guard with size and a guy who works hard, but Tommy is but a fraction of the asset Powell is (currently) � and that�s a big win for the Rockets.

In the playoffs last season, Powell looked dangerous against the Trailblazers and was a clear no.2 option for the Rockets. His shooting is only going to become more useful as a commodity as the league turns even more to offense.

Worst Trade: 

Giving away Jerami Grant to the Celtics (for Isaiah Hartenstein)

I understand why Vitticus decided to do it (financial reasons, didn�t want to pay gm points for lux fines) and I have heard his explanation and justification, but in a game where value is so critical to team building, I just don�t get it. There has to have been a deal out there that netted them something of value in return. Maybe he looked at half the managers in the league and thought the better experience for himself, personally, was to just give him away as a tax write-off/charitable donation instead of haggle or be offended by the offers ;)

Other Notable Trades:

Trading Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleiber for Royce O�Neale and a �23 first rounder

Trading Talen Horton-Tucker, Jalen Brunson, �23 first rounder (and some young guys) for Tyrese Haliburton (and some young guys)

Trading Otto Porter, Kevon Looney, �21 first rounder (and some young guys) for Harrison Barnes, Goga Bidatze (and some veterans)

Free Agency:

Houston is set at each position, two-deep. They have younger players, veterans and of course, their superstar. This means that the Rockets can take the best player available/that they can sign, and just see what happens. I can�t see Vitt putting too much on the line to spin the wheel on a free agent in the new, more diabolical free agency parameters.

The Pillar: The Big Chungus himself, Nikola �The Joker� Jokic

He is a basketball phenom and arguably the most skilled big man we may have ever seen on a basketball court (hyperbolic, not hyperbolic, you decide � I don�t care). But he is that freakin� amazing. There�s never been a player like him and Vitticus and Houston are grateful every day that he is a Rocket (when they could have been stuck with Karl). The whole Houston team is built around Jokic, and luckily for them, Nikola loves making his teammates better. If he misses a game, the Rockets might struggle to beat any team. But with big beautiful Chungus, if they lean on him and look to maxmise his talents, they are likely a playoff team and he will be heavily in the MVP conversation.

Looking Ahead: 

I believe the Rockets are a team that could fall anywhere within the following range of �playoff team � developing roster�, depending on how Vitticus addresses the roster and/or how competitively he runs the 2k lab. I won�t assume to know Vitt�s true intentions in the slightest, other than to nurture, care for and respect his troops.

In a more literal sense, the team is in a quite a good spot. They have lots of their players under contract, they have plenty of varied contract sizes (for roster balance, trading), they have a clear hierarchy of star player > complementary players, the salary is in a reasonable spot and they have no urgency to build up or tear down. I wonder if the status quo will remain the same, or if Vitticus will decide to pull the lever to either a stronger committment to winning or adding more young talent and just having them develop around Jokic? I look forward to finding out.

Starters: Nikola Jokic, Josh Richardson, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, Norman Powell

Bench: Tyrese Maxey, Davis Bertans, Delon Wright, Royce O�Neale, Goga Bitadze