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James Harden and the Houston Rockets are in good shape. After engineering a deal for Russell Westbrook in July that had an “all in” feeling, the Rockets look the part as a legitimate title contender. It is probably fair to say that Houston is a step behind the Lakers and Clippers in terms of Western Conference supremacy at the moment, even with Harden operating at an obscene level offensively. However, the Rockets have been there before and, with the notable exception of a few unkind moments against the Warriors in recent years, Houston has proven to be a title-caliber team.
As part of our Holiday Wishlist series, we’ll examine what the Rockets need to do in the coming days and weeks to set themselves up for another run, both when it comes to the talent already in place and the potential for additions.
#1: Eric Gordon Being Eric Gordon Again
A knee injury has kept Gordon sidelined since Nov. 11 and, before he exited the stage, the 30-year-old was struggling mightily. How mightily, you ask? Well, Gordon was shooting 30.9 percent from the floor and 28.4 percent from three. He was also near the bottom of the league in almost every advanced metric.
Granted, it was an exceptionally small sample size but Gordon didn’t look right, and that is a big problem for the Rockets. Houston has big-time firepower in Harden and Westbrook, but they need a third scorer and, perhaps more importantly, someone else that can scare defenses. Gordon has been a 38 percent three-point shooter over the last six seasons and, at the very least, he has to be guarded with vigor. It isn’t just a problem for this season, either, as Gordon is on Houston’s books for three more campaigns after 2019-20.
They really, really need Gordon to be available… and good.
#2: Russell Westbrook (Re)finding His Shooting Stroke
Westbrook has never been a great shooter. Even at the peak of his MVP powers, Westbrook was a low-30’s shooter from three-point range with a career-high of 34.3 percent. Recently, though, the numbers are appalling bad.
He failed to crack 30 percent from three-point in each of his last two seasons in Oklahoma City and, this year, another downturn occurred. Westbrook is shooting less than 24 (!) percent from three and, while the volume isn’t enormous at five per game, it is a big problem that he just isn’t a threat.
It is important to be realistic in saying that Westbrook isn’t just going to become a dynamic shooter at this stage. Still, it would be very helpful for all parties if he had to be respected a bit more and, even inside the three-point arc, Westbrook needs a functional pull-up jumper to maintain his offensive dynamism.
#3: A Third Team To Make A Trade Happen
If you get (very) creative, you can probably find a trade that makes some sense for the Rockets without a third team. However, Houston probably doesn’t want to trade Gordon and the only mid-tier contract on the books is $10 million of (very) dead salary for Nene — which was ruled early in the season to only carry $2.6 million in trade value. As such, the Rockets could really use some help, at least from a salary perspective, in setting them up to trade for a player like Andre Iguodala or even Marvin Williams. This is a team that is probably one body short in terms of having a two-way piece at the highest levels of the playoffs and, if nothing else, we know that Daryl Morey isn’t afraid to throw things at the wall.
Written by: Uproxx
