The Rockets offseason began after the first round of the playoffs when Golden State sent them packing. They were lucky to win one game in that series because unlike last year Houston basically backed into the playoffs with a sub par team. James Hardin took a huge step backward after his MVP-like season in 2014-15. Dwight Howard can't stay healthy and the rest of the team just ain't that great. I believe Hardin's regression this past year is a testament to his lack of dedication as a player. He totally forgot to play defense and he came into the season unprepared and out of shape. His play had a lot to do with Kevin McHale being fired. Hardin's play was also a reason McHale's replacement, JD Bickerstaff, isn't the head coach now. I was hoping the Rockets would hire former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel because Vogel is a defensive minded coach who may have gotten Hardin in line. Probably not but there was some hope.
When it was announced that Mike D'Antoni was hired I sort of confused him with Stan Van Gundy who I don't like as a coach. During the search Stan's brother Jeff, who had coached the Rockets a few years ago was being mentioned as a candidate for the job. I didn't like him either. I never thought much of Jeff all the back to his days with the NY Knicks. I was right about D'Antoni having run ins with Dwight Howard though from their days together in LA with the Lakers. Howard even said he would not play in Houston if D'Antoni were to become coach.
Howard is still a decent player but at 30 years old he is not the dominant player he was. Is this a function of age, because 30 isn't all that old, or is it a function of the cumulative effect of injuries? Or both? So, Howard's days may be numbered in Houston so the Rockets will need to inject some talent via free agency.
If the Rockets had hired Vogel it probably would have been a nice fit for a guy like Howard who has been defensive player of the year during his time in the NBA but it probably would have been a huge pissing contest between him and James Hardin. I figure he could get Hardin to buy in for a season or two but after that Hardin's selfish nature would have won out. Under D'Antoni the fit with Howard isn't great because of the pace of play in D'Antoni's offense but it's a great fit for a guy like Hardin.
The talk is now about won to put at point guard for D'Antoni's offense and a name that keeps popping up is former Rocket Jeremy Lin. I can see a lot of eyes rolling now but Lin did have a nice year in Charlotte last season and he's suited to run a fast paced up tempo offense. The catch phrase the D'Antoni offense is 'seven seconds or less' referring to how fast a shot should be taken. We'll see how it goes but the free agent signings have not yet begun and it remains to be seen if Houston can the players needed to run D'Antoni's up tempo offense.