The Houston Rockets tried hard to land Carmelo Anthony this summer. And when they failed to do so, they turned their interest towards Chris Bosh. They didn’t manage to land Miami’s superstar either and on top of that, they saw the Dallas Mavericks “stealing” Chandler Parsons from them. Houston acted quickly and brought in Trevor Ariza to replace Parsons and now, the Rockets are looking to re-enter a championship contending course. But will Houston be stronger or weaker in comparison to the 2013 – 2014 season?
Apart from the loss of Chandler Parsons, the Rockets also shipped away Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, for almost nothing in exchange. The truth is that Houston had been trying to find a trade for both of Parsons and Lin since the beginning of the last season but no deal went through. Now, however, with the team actively pursuing Bosh and Melo, drastic moves had to be done. So, yes the Rockets did free up much of their cap space but they also lost two very capable players. On top of that, the Rockets still haven’t found an upgrade at the power forward position and the market is drying out.
Houston didn’t want to overpay Parsons this summer and they allowed Dallas to take the 25 – year old emerging star away. The Mavs offered him a star-level contract with a $46 million worth for the next three seasons. The Rockets, on the other hand, just didn’t count in Parsons in their list of star players.
Houston will try to fill the void Parsons left behind with Trevor Ariza, but if Parsons is not a star, then Ariza is not even close to that characterization. As a matter of fact, it will be very difficult for Ariza to provide what Parsons did last season. Parsons recorded a breakaway season in 2013 – 2014, finishing with 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assist per game. On the other hand, Ariza was productive, too, but this past season was the first one he actually recorded star numbers.
There was much anticipation for a superstar acquisition this summer in H-Town. But now, the Rockets will have to continue their search for upgrades. Of course, the presence of Dwight Howard and James Harden will still be enough to place the Rockets into a deep playoff run. In fact, now that the team will have an even better chemistry, it may be capable of recording an even better course. Nonetheless, due to the extremely high competition in the Western Conference, it will be very hard if not impossible for the Rockets to seriously contend for the title. In fact, Houston may even record a worse season than last year with Parsons, Lin and Asik gone.
The Houston Rockets could have seen major upgrades this summer but unfortunately, they didn’t manage to find the superstar they were looking for. So, they will definitely not enter the 2014 – 2015 campaign with better chances for a successful run than last season.
Ron Leyba is the content manager of Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues – premier source of fantasy basketball updates, rankings and rumors. For more of his fantasy basketball updates, follow Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues Google+ account.