Guitarsoup said:
Hickory High said:
M.C. Swag said:
This feels like a panic-y move.
Something has to change pretty dramatically with this team before next season starts if we want to win a title. There are a limited number of players that we can actually get AND will put us in title contention. Morey believes Butler is one of them.
Does something need to drastically change?
The best team in the West lost two of their three best players. The Rockets were 4 games out of 1st place in the West and 1 game out of 2nd place.
Like I posted a couple weeks ago, when I talked to PJ Tucker, he said they wanted to run it back last year and couldn't. Maybe some consistency from season to season would help, especially in a radically changed west.
The Rockets wanted to run it back in 2019 and they ended up losing to the same team... one round sooner... in 6 games instead of 7... with Kevin Durant missing 2 games... and the two wins both coming down to one possession in the last 15 seconds of regulation.
And the team they lost to went on to lose in the Finals -- so a case could certainly be made that even had they taken down the Warriors they still might not have won it all.
The "run it back" team took a pretty big step back from the 2018-2019 team that was probably a good quarter away from going to (and winning) the NBA Finals.
Sure, Golden State is now fragmented -- but Paul is going to be a year older and Harden is going to have even more mileage on him.
The Rockets window certainly isn't closed, but is barely open with the current roster. Maybe adding Butler isn't what busts through, but at this point it's probably the best shot at winning before Harden's legs fall off.