Limited Upside NBA preview: The Rockets really have Chris Paul and James Harden. Damn
We’re still not sure how this happened, but Rockets fans sure are excited to see it.
Last year’s Rockets were fun. Then, they got Chris Paul and demolished their supporting cast to build a new one around Paul and Harden. Never say Daryl Morey sits on his laurels.
We brought on Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener of SB Nation’s Rockets site, The Dream Shake, to discuss the following:
- How stunned were they when the Chris Paul trade happened? Why is this different than previous Rockets alpha dog experiments that didn’t go quite as well?
- Can they name every non-guaranteed player Morey acquired to facilitate the CP3 sign-and-trade? It’s hard!
- So how’s this CP3-Harden thing going to work anyway? Early returns are promising, and Rockets fans don’t seem too worried. Let them explain why Mike’s skepticism is unfounded.
- Why Clint Capela’s improvement is actually the key to the season.
- What’s the rest of the rotation going to look like? Who plays on the wing? Does that roster flexibility help the Rockets or hurt them in finding their five best players to end the game?
- Is there any concern that some of the older players fall off or regress to the mean?
- Which is more damaging if it happens: CP3 losing a step, Trevor Ariza and/or P.J. Tucker completely falling off the map, or Ryan Anderson/Eric Gordon not being as healthy?
- How does this team match up with the Warriors, anyway? Quite well, in fact!
- Some ... interesting answers to our traditional banana boat question.
- Predictions, including some fascinating super-specific ones.
(Apologies for the janky-ish audio on this one).
This podcast was part of the Limited Upside podcast’s 2017-18 offseason series previewing all 30 NBA teams with members of SB Nation’s team communities and other friends of the show. We’ve spent the last two-and-a-half months gauging the temperature of every fan base heading into what should be a terrific NBA season. There’s no better way to understand what makes NBA fans in each market tick.
We began these in August and counted down worst-to-first leading up to the season. Here’s how to listen to them all:
- Nets with Kristian Winfield and Nets Daily’s Anthony Puccio
- Lakers with Zito Madu and Silver Screen and Roll’s Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen
- Suns with Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King and Evan Sidery
- 76ers with Tyler Tynes and Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck
- Knicks with Kristian Winfield and Posting and Toasting’s Seth Rosenthal
- Magic with Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver and Cory Hutson
- Kings with Kenny Carraway and Sactown Royalty’s Tony Xypteras
- Mavs with Tim Cato and Mavs Moneyball’s Kirk Henderson
- Wolves with Canis Hooups’ Eric Goldman and John Meyer
- Pelicans with The Bird Writes’ Oleh Kosel and Travis Tate
- Hornets with James Dator and At the Hive’s Nicklaus Denning
- Pistons with John Ketchum, Kofie Yeboah and Detroit Bad Boys’ Lazarus Jackson
- Nuggets with Denver Stiffs’ Adam Mares
- Heat with Kelly Cohen and Hot Hot Hoops’ Surya Fernandez
- Bulls with Ricky O’Donnell and Blog a Bull’s Jason Patt
- Pacers with Whitney Medworth and Indy Cornrows’ Caitlin Cooper
- Blazers with Blazers Edge’s Brian Freeman and Peter Sampson
- Bucks with Kevin McCauley and Brew Hoop’s Mitchell Maurer
- Hawks with Harry Lyles Jr. and Peachtree Hoops’ Brad Rowland
- Grizzlies with Grizzly Bear Blues’ Joe Mullinax
- Thunder with Eddie Maisonet and Welcome to Loud City’s Joshua Broom
- Thunder addendum! Carmelo Anthony trade emergency pod with Eddie Maisonet
- Wizards with Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Sharp and Bullets Forever’s Michael Sykes
- Jazz with SLC Dunk’s Mychal Lowman and James Hansen.
- Raptors with Raptors HQ’s Daniel Reynolds and freelance writer Seerat Sohi
- Cavaliers with Fear the Sword’s Chris Manning and MMA Fighting’s Eric Jackman
- Clippers with Clips Nation’s Lucas Hann and former L.A. video coordinator Mo Dakhil
- Celtics with Paul Flannery and Celtics Blog’s Nick Gelso
- Rockets with The Dream Shake’s Ethan Rothstein and Jeremy Brener
- Spurs with Pounding the Rock’s J.R. Wilco and Bruno Passos
- Warriors with Golden State of Mind’s Bram Kincheloe
