Quote (Madmartigan @ Sep 19 2020 05:20pm)
You're right but how were the Lakers able to do it so easily? They got very lucky with the Anthony Davis trade. He quit on New Orleans and forced his way out a year sooner than his contract was set to expire. Just having LeBron wasn't a slam dunk guarantee. They missed the playoffs his first year there. They definitely needed a second superstar and AD just so happened to be the perfect fit with LeBron James.
Also the James Harden tenure since his acquisition from the Thunder hasn't been 100% terrible for the Rockets. Sure, the Harden and Howard and Harden and Westbrook tandem greatly backfired. But the Harden and Paul tandem worked very well together. We had a 65-17 team a couple years ago that took a Dream Team caliber Warriors team to a Game 7 (in our arena) in the Western Conference Finals. It just sucks Chris Paul's hamstring blew up in Game 5 of that series. Not to say we'd have won Game 6 or Game 7 with CP3 but obviously our odds would've been better.
But for sure James Harden, Chris Paul, Ariza, Tucker. Gordon and Capela had size with length. They could shoot and defend!
People will hardly remember that 65-win Rockets team many years from now. But they were so good! Damn CP3's hamstring...
I think above all else you need some luck staying healthy. Not to make excuses but Russ wasn't Russ in these playoffs.
He was dealing with a strained right quad after coming back from COVID-19. Russell Westbrook may be good next year.
But personally, I hear rumors the New York Knicks may take his contract off our hands. Hey, let's make a deal if you want.
I would say the Lakers got lucky that Lebron chose LA considering how ridiculous of an idea that sounded just a few years prior, it was a clean signing too, they didn't have to give up anything. They gave up a LOT to get AD as they should for a player of his caliber, his chemistry alongside Lebron is fantastic and I would argue AD is a perfect fit on almost every team. The issue with Harden is that he keeps getting paired with players like CP3 and Westbrook who are also ball dominant, I have a hard time picking players who would be a better compliment to Harden but at what point do the Rockets give up trying to pair him with another ball dominant guard? They backed themselves into a corner with this bad duo and are gonna have a hard time getting out of it given the contract. Honestly, just send Westbrook to Detroit for Griffin, pray he stays healthy and use the extra $$$ on some help, the Harden/Westbrook duo isn't going to improve and Detroit doesn't give a fuck lmao. It's not like the Rockets with Westbrook are that much better than they are without Westbrook,