2017-18 Record: 65-17 (first in Western Conference)
Players Added: Carmelo Anthony (free agent), Michael Carter-Williams (free agent), Bruno Caboclo (free agent), Marquese Chriss (trade), Brandon Knight (trade), Vincent Edwards (trade)
Players Lost: Ryan Anderson (trade), Trevor Ariza (free agent), R.J. Hunter (free agent), De’Anthony Melton (trade), Luc Mbah a Moute (free agent), Chinanu Onuaku (trade), Tarik Black (free agent), Markel Brown (free agent), Joe Johnson (free agent)
Projected Team MVP: James Harden
This one is pretty easy: Harden is the reigning league MVP, so obviously, he’s going to be the team MVP for the Rockets. He is the engine in the machine that is the Houston offense, he’s the face of the franchise, and with the crazy numbers he’ll likely put up again, there’s a good chance he’s an MVP candidate once more.
X-Factor: Carmelo Anthony
To win in the NBA, you need stars. The Rockets have two stars in Harden and Chris Paul, while their main rivals, the Warriors, have, uh, five. This mean’s someone (or someones) on Houston’s roster is going to need to perform above expectations, and man, can the Rockets really use a bounce back season from Carmelo Anthony.
Let’s be 100 percent clear: The Carmelo Anthony that is one of the best scorers in NBA history, the guy who could drop 30 on an opponent’s head as effortlessly as anyone in this era, probably isn’t someone who exists anymore. Anthony is 34 and has a whole bunch of miles on his NBA odometer, so asking him to be a bonafide superstar is borderline insanity.
But if — and this is a big if — Anthony can be 75 or 80 percent of the player he was during his best years, he’ll fit perfectly in Houston’s offense, which has morphed into a iso-ball loving machine that perfectly fits Anthony’s mentality and skill set. His role (starter or bench player?) and ability to buy into the pecking order in Houston after a tumultuous year in Oklahoma City need to be figured out, but in the event everything works out, getting Anthony on a super cheap one-year deal will look like a steal for Daryl Morey, Mike D’Antoni, and co.
Best Case Scenario: The Rockets experiment in recent years has revolved around one thing: Toppling Golden State en route to winning a championship. That also make the team’s best case scenario as defined as any team’s in the league, because it requires a showdown with the Warriors in the postseason — likely in the conference finals — in which Houston comes out on top. Once that’s over, the Rockets play in the NBA Finals and lift their first championship since 1995.
Worst Case Scenario: A potential matchup with Golden State never happens, because a team like Utah or Oklahoma City takes Houston down before the conference finals. This leads to a number of questions about whether the Harden/Paul/D’Antoni group can ever get the job done, and while nothing happens to any members of that trio yet, they’re under an ultra-critical microscope heading into the 2019-20 season. This also leads to a completely revamped roster again, as Morey tries his hardest to figure out how to win a championship despite pressing the reset button.
