Coming off a Western Conference Finals appearance, the Houston Rockets were in an odd place. Despite locking up the second seed in the West and making it all the way to the conference finals, many people saw/still see their title contender status as a fluke.
Maybe it has to do with James Harden‘s playing style not rubbing everyone the right way. Maybe Dwight Howard is still off-putting to some. Maybe it has to do with the way this team was built on aging veterans and journeymen. Either way, Houston needed to find a way to upgrade from another great team in the West to a legitimate title contender this summer.
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To be clear, the Rockets were a title contender last year. Had they found a way to beat the historically great Golden State Warriors, I would’ve pegged them as favorites over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
But with the Dubs bringing everyone back, the San Antonio Spurs reloading and the Oklahoma City Thunder healthy again, the Rockets needed to add more firepower to stay in the conversation. Here’s a look at how they did this summer with complete offseason grades.
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