How The Rockets Stack Up In The Western Conference With NBA Free Agency

How The Rockets Stack Up In The Western Conference With NBA Free Agency

George leaving the Clippers to go to the Sixers so Paul George is out of the Western Conference now the Clippers resigned James Harden to a two-year deal 70 million bucks Russell Westbrook will be back with the Clippers as well kawh Leonard back you know kawh Leonard is still a Clipper um they signed Kevin Porter Jr I don’t know if that matters to people and it definitely doesn’t matter probably for the standings but Seth if you look at the Western Conference the the Rockets are 11th and the rockets in my opinion are not going backwards you know the young core is going to be a year older um they added Reed Shepard um another year with Fred Van v and Dylan Brooks is kind of the veteran guys stepen Adams is going to be part of this team now which I think is kind of underrated you know a big like that who you know they had issues with size last year if Steven Adams is healthy that’s I think kind of an underrated addition here they picked him up last year while he was injured so I don’t think they’re going backwards they were 11th they were 41 and 41 and then there was a big gap between them and the teams behind them they the you know the next closest was the Jazz with 31 wins I suppose Memphis 27 wins but they get John Morant back presumably all year and then Victor W bayama probably takes a step forward but the Spurs won 22 games last year as far as stuff going on in front of the Rockets man like right now life is pretty good I think the Golden State Warriors are viewed as you know the Dynasty is over Klay Thompson is leaving Sacramento hasn’t really done anything in in the off season that would indicate that they’re taking a big lead leap to stay ahead of the Rockets I’m just counting up from 10 is the Warriors nine is the Kings Pelicans just pick up dejonte Murray as the eight seed that’s definitely an improvement for them the Lakers are kind of the Lakers they’re the same team but now with JJ reck as coach a new coach yeah new coach that nobody knows a damn thing how he’ll do uh good bad indifferent but he’ll also be managing uh his podcast Buddy’s son bronnie too so the uh the which which I I believe is the biggest thing that might blow up the Lakers if somehow reic is uh like if if reic who doesn’t hold his tongue I don’t think um is somehow a little too mean to Young bronie somehow that maybe there’s like a i it’s almost like a little league Dynamic played out now where LeBron LeBron’s treatment LeBron and how he wants bronny treated might be the first Big Challenge reic faces in trying to actually own the the locker room there can you imagine being a coach of a little league team and the helicopter dad is actually a member of the team like that’s yeah yeah the helicopter guys you’re also air quotes coaching right right um so I the Lakers don’t scare me Phoenix is the six seed they got swept out of the first round of the playoffs and that’s I don’t that mix is not good there I you know Durant and Devin Booker and I think Bradley Beal was that’s a disaster the Mavericks made the NBA finals and I like that’s okay I’m I’m you know that that that they’re a 50- win team and I think there’s a chance they’re better than that the Clippers though man you lose Paul George um you know and that’s we know James Harden is a little suspect they picked up Kevin Porter Jr though yeah they did I think the top three teams are legitimately really good basketball teams the Thunder the nuggets and the Timberwolves after that and I think the Mavericks 2 the five seed I you know I I think for sure like my expectations for the Rockets Now set is that if they get into the playin that seven through 10 if they’re not hosting a game I’ll be a little disappointed the seven or eight team in the play in and I think the ceiling for them I think the ceiling for them is they can flirt with they can flirt with maybe getting homec court advantage in the first round of the playoffs like a four seed or something like I’ll say the one thing the way I like that Ruel Stone has set up their future drafts is that uh it it puts you out of the mode of where being a Fringe playoff team is a bad thing you know where where you know it used to be the the worst thing you can be in the NBA is right in the middle because then you’re not tanking enough to get Future Stars they have their potential future stars already on the roster and they’ve got draft picks that aren’t tied uh as much to their individual success so you can actually like you can actually get excited about being a uh at the back end of the playoffs and you know and obviously these days in the NBA your seating doesn’t matter nearly as much as it used to but I’m uh I yeah I think that’s where you should you should feel right now the the huge the huge xfactor in all of that is okay let’s say theoretically they did trade for Kevin Durant like does that like what does how much does that elevate just plopping Kevin Durant onto this roster yeah how much does that elevate them up into the conversation of those those top three teams then I think you go into the if you get Kevin Durant then I think you’ve got to be talking where’s I’m talking about getting homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs as like not a pipe dream but boy that’s like a really really lofty ceiling it has a very small chance of happening but I could see it if things fell the right way now that all of a sudden becomes what this phase of Rockets basketball is about like okay if we’re not if we’re not I I I don’t think there’d be a one seed or anything like that but I’m I think you’re targeting like three the three or four seed if you got Kevin Durant I’ll tell you right now that’s what Kevin Durant’s targeting Kevin Durant ain’t coming to a team to be the seven SE or anything right exactly yeah that’s where and I guess that’s the conversation that you have to have uh you know that Kevin Durant would have is even though Kevin Durant once claimed that they never talked about championships when they met in the Hamptons with the with the Warriors that that uh so long ago like I guess yeah maybe you didn’t talk about it because obviously that’s uh you’re you’re going on team there that’s very capable of winning a championship right right um is this demise of the Warriors Dynasty as much fun as you envisioned it being when when uh back when we were all praying happen no cuz it didn’t happen as fast as I wanted it too it’s kind of like the Spurs the demise of the Spurs it was after it was after five or six straight years of me saying like well they’ll get old well they no they’re not going to win oh they won a championship again yeah that extra one they won in 2022 was kind of a that was an underrated kick to the junk cuz you thought they were dead you know like you thought they maybe maybe not like dead like irrelevant but they they they lose Durant in 2019 and they go on to lose in the finals and then Durant leaves in free agency and guys all of a sudden are you know like Klay Thompson dealt with two really horrific injuries Steph started getting hurt and they were literally picking second in the draft one year because they stunk yeah and it’s I mean granted injuries but they they they were a bad team that year so you felt like okay well you know Steph and Clay will come back and draymond’s still there so they’ll still be kind of a pain but I didn’t think going to win another championship I like that um I do the one part I like about that though is that lob the owner would just like just talk for so long about how how light years ahead they were of everybody else when it came to uh operating in NBA franchise now at least he gets to see like oh okay well we yeah we struck gold with a few picks and uh we’ve got the right guys but it’s it’s you’re not as smart as you think you are no you know like it was uh like if you were truly light years ahead of everybody else you would still be very much a dominant team but like no it’s all about the players you have and how did you come by them yep uh someone says put the pipe down Sean what did I say that was pipe pipe put the pipe down word yeah you said they’re uh he either thinks that they are already Championship contenders or he thinks that being a fringe playoff team is too lofty I suppose I don’t know gu yeah I guess yeah one of the other I did I’m I’m or he actually knows your gen personal life and he knows you got I wish he wouldn’t just I wish he wouldn’t text cuz he knows cuz I haven’t been able to put the pipe down I’m going to read that on the air you know sound mind and whatnot um so yeah so if you missed it Paul George is a sixer they signed Tyrese Maxi to a max deal um boy the NBA’s got to be loving that that Philly is making big moves like this and you got a Philly Celtics Knicks thing going on at the top of the Eastern Conference the big uh the big I say blue blood names the Knicks haven’t done anything in De ades but they’re still it’s New York um so yeah I think Rockets to me over if I put over under 7 and a half seed do you think they get over the eight seed if you had to put over under like seven and a half seed like uh uh I would put over the well over in terms of higher and the order higher in the standings yeah yeah I would put I’d put them over that yeah they’ll be better than the seven and 1 half seat yeah um I was just got I got distracted by a picture of darl myy as un did you notice that the longer he spends in Philadelphia the more UNC unkempt he’s been looking he’s just kind of letting it all go his beard at any given time is like just to some various weird stage of between her he’s not recognizable at times I mean he’s recognizable but like once you look you’re like oh yeah that’s Daryl mury but no like he’s yeah do you think that’s just that that’s the way Daryl Mory was going to start to age or is it partly also that he’s in Philly where they will they will fight you on the streets if they don’t like the way you’re managing that yeah I think it’s the last part that is a way more stressful job than this one you know that than the one he had here I mean he was for a GM of a team that peaked out at Conference Finals he was treated by a lot of folks here like a GM demigod and I think he was a really good GM darl Moore I think he’s really smart you know and I think if Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady don’t get hurt or if Chris Paul doesn’t get hurt then maybe darl Mur is differently around the league as a GM maybe he does have a championship or two at that point yeah but uh no that’s a way more stressful someone says chances of clay coming here Klay Thompson very little I think Klay wants to go to a ready-made Championship Contender yeah I don’t think he’s coming it’s tough when you’ve been in that environment and that’s all you’ve known um you know it’s a it’s got to be kind of a scary thing to be going out into the Great untested Waters of who who knows what the hell kind of basketball team you’re going to be on you know for Mory I think I’m I’m kind of eagerly anticipating this Paul George era of the 76ers just because this has been they were loading up for this since James Harden left but this is this feels like the beginning of the first time we’re really going to see relevant Daryl Mory without James Harden and like okay because he they were just tied at and I know yes he had that time before Harden got there with the Sixers but it always seemed like he was angling for some way to have James Harden with him from the day he left Houston uh and this this feels like he’s out on his own for the first time he’s he’s home alone for the first time in his actual adult life yeah well and it shows too how much like how much Paul George respects James Harden’s opinion they were teammates in with the Clippers James Harden’s over in China talking about what a liar Daryl Mory is and Paul George is like Deuces going to play for Daryl Mory Nick nurse in Philly see you later I all George just realizes that James Harden’s more in love with getting bed with the Communists and he yep having a good basketball opinion about Daryl M I’m not a huge Paul George guy I think it’s a really good signing for the Sixers if I can just get past the fact that he’s making $50 million a year at like age 34 you know like the the money so crazy now man like it’s wild money in the NBA all right um pain and Pen are G

Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast look at some of the various offseason moves to assess where the Rockets stack up in the Western Conference.

Subscribe for the latest Houston sports news & videos!! Don’t forget to subscribe!
https://www.youtube.com/@SportsRadio610Houston

WEEKDAY SCHEDULE:
Payne and Pendergast | 7:00 am to 11:00 am EDT
In The Loop | 11:00 am to 3:00 pm EDT
The Drive with Stoerner and Hughley | 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm EDT

📡 LISTEN LIVE ➡️ https://www.audacy.com/stations/sportsradio610
📺WATCH LIVE ON TWITCH ➡️ https://www.twitch.tv/sr610houston

Follow SportsRadio 610 on social media:
Tweets by SportsRadio610
https://www.facebook.com/SportsRadio610/
https://www.instagram.com/sportsradio610/

Thumbnail images courtesy of Getty Images/USA Today Network