The window of opportunity the Houston Rockets have long waited for is finally bound to open up during this 2019-20 NBA season, as the era of dynamic duos has officially replaced the superteam craze of the past three seasons. The perennial playoff staple will have to manage a wave of storylines that will determine its fate in the upcoming campaign, three of which have the potential to make or break the dream of a ticket to the NBA Finals.
The Russell Westbrook-James Harden duo
This is the single most talked about predicament for the Rockets, as the two former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates are joining forces after many years as rivals in the Western Conference. The issue isn't whether the two ball-dominant players can coexist, but rather whether they can thrive together. The concern is that neither Westbrook nor Harden have proven apt at playing off the ball, mostly excelling with the ball in their hands with high usage numbers.
Westbrook already tried to become a more efficient spot-up shooter for the past three seasons. The results were a meager 34.3% in 2016-17 (career high), 29.8% in 2017-18, and 29% in 2018-19. While Harden's percentages are considerably better than Westbrook, he has proven to need a volume of attempts to be truly a factor. Harden may not come close to the 9.3 long-range attempts he shot in 2016-17, the even 10 in 2017-18, or the mind-blowing 13.2 he chucked up in this past season now that he's forced to share the bulk of his shots with Westbrook.
How well these two move off the ball and how much they threaten to punish teams in this regard will make all the difference in the verdict that will determine whether their partnership is a rousing success or yet another failure by general manager Daryl Morey.
Mike D'Antoni's future
Coach D'Antoni seemed destined for a swift extension of his contract, but negotiations went awry when the front office offered him a ghastly figure full of performance stipends. This “prove it” type of extension structure was worthy of a coach that had yet to prove his full potential, not of a veteran like D'Antoni who has consistently put the Rockets in a position to win.
D'Antoni and his agent turned down the extension, choosing to instead play out the last season of his contract.
The 68-year-old coach could find himself playing for his coaching life, able to net a more reasonable extension at season's end, or perhaps even replaced if Houston struggles out of the gate as it did last season when it got off to an 11-14 start through the first 15 games of the campaign.
The future is somewhat murky for D'Antoni and largely dependent on results with a Rockets owner who seems more determined to save dollars than retaining the structure of a team on the brink of success.
Top in the West?
Out of all the teams threatening to make a push in the loaded Western Conference, the Houston Rockets are the only ones still maintaining their core players, making no major moves besides the re-signing of a few cogs and the trade of Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook. Unlike newly bolstered teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, the LA Clippers and the retooled Utah Jazz, the Rockets have their key players and a system that has proven to work well for them the past few years, along with a coach who has made the right adjustments to make them thrive through adversity.
A strong partnership between Westbrook and Harden will not only lift the Rockets' chances to win at a high rate, but could also propel them to the top of the standings, giving them that home-court advantage that plays such a big factor in the postseason.
It will likely be a tight race for the No. 1 spot in the West, but if the Rockets can get there, it will give them a stark advantage over their newly assembled counterparts in hopes of reaching the NBA Finals.
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