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NLL Insider - Team by Team: Houston Rockets

by Mavs4Life, updated on Wednesday, October 07 2015, 03:18 pm EST


2014-2015 Record: 19-63


Season Highlight

The season highlight for the Rockets is more of a silver lining. As a rough outing took place on the court, GM spudspace was making moves behind the scenes. With Kobe Bryant and his big contract already on the team, spudspace somehow found away to also fit Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings onto the roster via trade. These moves have the Rockets hopeful for the season ahead.

Season Lowlight

As said before, it was a rough year for the Rockets in terms of on-court action. With all three of their stars hurt at one time or another (Jennings never even got to suit up for the 2015 campaign), the Rockets were forced to put out less-than-perfect rotations against competition every week. The result was a gruesome 19-63 season, the worst record in the Western Conference and just one loss short of the worst record in the league.

Best Trade

The Dallas Mavericks send Carmelo Anthony, Donatas Motiejunas and Donald Sloan to the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets send Samuel Dalembert, Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Houston Rockets send a 1st-Rounder (Hou) and 2nd-Rounder (Bos) to the Dallas Mavericks.

With the season running away from them, spudspace swings a deal for the Rockets to pick up one of the best players in the whole league along with two younger players that have shown skill. Anthony’s health has definitely been questionable in the last couple of seasons, especially as he played just twenty-five games last year between his two teams, but there is no denying that the eleven-year veteran can still play with the best of them. The key now is to have him stay in the lineup along with Bryant and Jennings, who are also coming off major injuries. That along with the first round draft pick the team traded away (now point guard prospect Emmanuel Mudiay) will likely decide how good the deal was for Houston in retrospect.

Honorable Mention:


The Houston Rockets send Jeff Green, Donald Sloan and Chris Copeland to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Memphis Grizzlies send Tiago Splitter, Evan Fournier and Tony Snell to the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets send a 2nd-Rounder (Bos) to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Houston Rockets receive 10 GM points. The Memphis Grizzlies trade -10 GM points.


Worst Trade

It’s tough to call any move that spudspace made last year bad. He seemed to always take part in fair trades and make the right moves at the right time. Acquiring talented players like Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings could turn Houston into contenders. Out of all the deals Houston made, it may actually be the Anthony trade that ends up proving poisonous to the team’s future. If Melo finds himself out of the lineup again in 2016 and Mudiay shines, spudspace will be shaking his head until next season comes along.

Other Notable Trades


The Houston Rockets send Aaron Gordon to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Bucks send Jrue Holiday to the Houston Rockets.

 

In this deal, the Rockets acquired a known talent for a possible future star, but Gordon’s rookie year in Milwaukee wasn’t very spectacular. A great deal that would help to make the biggest trade of the season for Houston.

The Boston Celtics send Samuel Dalembert and Thaddeus Young to the Houston Rockets. The Boston Celtics send Ricky Rubio to the Orlando Magic. The Houston Rockets send Nikola Vucevic and Thomas Robinson to the Boston Celtics. The Orlando Magic send Jeff Green to the Houston Rockets.
The Boston Celtics send a 2nd-Rounder (Bos) to the Houston Rockets.

Every one of the players that Houston acquired would be traded again by the end of the year, but that doesn’t make this a bad deal. It gave the Rockets solid pieces on what was often a very slim roster and made it possible to acquire Carmelo Anthony and a package from the Memphis Grizzlies. Sometimes in the NLL, you have to make a trade just so you can make more trades.


The Houston Rockets send Randy Foye and Marcus Morris to the Washington Wizards. The Washington Wizards send Brandon Jennings to the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets send a 2nd-Rounder (Hou) to the Washington Wizards.

The Houston Rockets trade -10 GM points.The Washington Wizards receive 10 GM points.

The other big trade of 14-15 for Houston brought in young point guard Brandon Jennings from the Wizards. Jennings was in the midst of a career year before going down with a major Achilles injury. If he can bounce back, the Rockets may have a point guard of the future on their hands.

Best FA Signing

Jose Barea signs with the Houston Rockets for 1 year and the minimum salary of $ 1,310,286.

For just over a million dollars, the Rockets got a lot from little J.J. Barea last season. With injuries and trades constantly changing the team’s lineup, Barea was one of few constants, playing 78 of 82 games and starting 46. For the season, he averaged a career-high 16 points per game, along with another high in 4.9 assists. As a starter, Barea averaged TWENTY-TWO points per game, one of the best marks in the entire league as he finished the season on a scoring tear. Keeping the little guy should be a huge objective for the Rockets in this off-season.

Worst FA Signing

Kobe Bryant signs with the Houston Rockets for $ 23500000 and 2 years

Kobe Bryant is a legend of the league and will be a huge key to the Rockets having success this season, but last year, all he did was eat up the payroll while sitting on the bench injured. To put it plainly, Bryant was paid $23.5 million to play in twenty games. That just can not happen for a team to win so, for the second time, the man they call the Black Mamba must look to slither back into the lineup permanently before the Rockets are stuck back at square one without him.

Star

Carmelo, B-Jennings, and Kobe all barely played or didn’t play at all. The Rockets rarely had a star on the court, but this season they could have three at one time if things go the right way.

Surprise

J.J. Barea- As said before, Barea came out of nowhere to have the best season of his career when given opportunity. If he decides to not return to Houston, expect a giant amount of GM points to be thrown his way.

Goat

Still can’t shake the fact that the first three digits in Bryant’s contract are larger than the amount of games he played.

Draft Report Card

The Rockets traded away their top draft pick in the Carmelo Anthony trade. At the draft, the pick turned into stud point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who played professionally in China after he passed on the opportunity to play at SMU. Other than De’Angelo Russell, there was no guard better in the draft than Mudiay, so expect spudspace to keep a close eye on the rookie to see if he made the right move.

Looking To the Future

There’s no doubt that Houston has star power on their roster. Now, it’s time to find complementary pieces to truly make the team a contender. Forward Donatas Montejunas will likely have a career year this season, leaving the starting center spot as a huge question mark. Will Festus Ezeli be able to carry the load? Or will the Rockets the bit of cap space they have left to get a starting center? It will be those role players that turn the Rockets into a championship team.

Upcoming Free Agents

J.J. Barea- Barea has expressed interest in returning to Houston, and it would likely be a great move for him to make with the star power the team now has. At the same time, with Brandon Jennings getting healthy, Barea would likely move back to the bench in H-Town. If he wants to continue his scoring spree, he may need to look for greener pastures.

Matt Bonner- The Red Rocket loves those red jerseys in Houston. Look for him to return to the Rockets, this time in a role leaning more to the end of the bench.  

Xavier Henry- Henry never got to play last season due to injury, and if he can keep his career going, it will unlikely be in Houston.

Jerome Jordan- Jordan was a strong rebounder for the Rockets when injuries plagued the roster. At this time, it’s unknown if he’ll stay in the league or go overseas, but he likely played strongly enough to get a nice amount of money across the ocean.

Jeff Taylor and Jeff Withey- The Brothers Jeff are both restricted free agents this off-season. With that, expect both of their contracts to be matched by the Rockets as they continue to develop.

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