It’s been a very busy off-season for the Houston Rockets. The team surprised many NBA fans last year by adapting perfectly to coach Mike D’Antoni’s system, even drawing awe as James Harden did his best Magic Johnson imitation and became a distributing point guard. (He scored too, of course, but those assists…) Yet the Rockets did something else D’Antoni is perhaps unfairly known for — they exited the NBA playoffs early, albeit against the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. Going down in Round 1, even if it is to Durant and Curry, is translated “make some moves” — and the Rockets have.
Letting go of fan favorite Sam Dekker, defensive stalwart Patrick Beverly and scorer Lou Williams is only part of the Rockets reorganization for D’Antoni 2.0. Harden heads back to scoring first and passing later with the major addition of ex-Clippers floor general Chris Paul. But the Paul deal is only the most attention-grabbing of the Rockets moves. In all they’ve acquired eight new players, with ten already under contract. It’s gonna be a competitive training camp for the Rockets. Goal is a deep playoff run, which means they can’t finish in the 8th spot and face the #1 seed. Eight new Rockets below, as NBA.com lists them:
– Chris Paul (trade with Clippers)
– Luc Mbah a Moute (free agency)
– Tarick Black (free agent)
– Shawn Long (trade with 76ers)
– Ryan Kelly (trade with Hawks)
– Tim Quarterman (trade with Blazers)
– Zhou Qi (2016 Draft pick)
– P.J. Tucker (free agent)
