For basketball analyst Stephen A. Smith, Jimmy Butler donning the Houston Rockets jersey would be an ‘absolute disaster.'
Smith recently chimed in on the rumors that the Rockets will be gunning for Butler once free agency officially starts. For Smith, it's definitely a good idea. After all, Butler will not only bring his elite offensive arsenal, but he's a very capable defender as well — having been selected into the NBA-All Defensive Teams multiple times.
Jimmy Butler to the Rockets would be an ABSOLUTE DISASTER. pic.twitter.com/fdAG5OS7Qq
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 28, 2019
Since Mike D'Antoni-coached teams have always been lackluster on the defensive end of the floor, bringing in an elite defender in Butler would definitely add more dynamic to the Rockets.
However, though Smith believes that the trio of Butler, Jimmy Harden, and Chris Paul would be formidable, he doesn't believe that D'Antoni is capable of coaching all three stars. For Smith, there are too many egos involved. D'Antoni can coach two, but not three.
Perhaps this has been the difficulty among super teams who have more than two stars. Apart from running the plays and making adjustments throughout the game, part of the head coach's job is to manage egos.
After all, a super team requires one or two of the superstars to take a step backward — a position that they're not used to. And when placed in an unfamiliar situation, it might trickle down and affect the team's chemistry negatively.
Given the rumored Paul-Harden tension, as well as Butler's past with the Minnesota Timberwolves, then Smith's hypothesis just might turn out to be true.
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