Houston Rockets: 2017-18 NBA season preview

Best-case scenario

For the Rockets, the best-case scenario would involve Harden and Paul meshing extremely well, the team staying healthy, and the defense making a big leap towards the top 10 in the league. The combination of all of those factors would lead to a 60-win season and the second seed in the Western Conference.

In this scenario, the new additions fit in seamlessly on both ends of the floor, Paul and Harden combine to form the best backcourt in league history, and Houston has a top-three offense and top-10 defense.

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The chemistry of the team is strong, their play on both ends of the floor is consistent and the key rotational players stay healthy for the majority of the season (like last year). The additional playmaking Paul brings allows the Rockets to have an elite offense for 48 minutes, as one of Paul or Harden are always on the floor.

In the playoffs the Rockets get past the first round relatively easily before encountering a tough Oklahoma City Thunder team in the second round. By this time both teams’ new acquisitions are comfortable in their new settings, setting up an epic seven-game series in which Houston wins on its home floor. And in the best-case scenario, the Rockets put a scare into the Warriors by winning two games through lights-out shooting and a much-improved defense.

Worst-case scenario

The chemistry between Paul and Harden gets off to a rocky start and never properly builds up, leading to a tenuous relationship between the two, a la the Dwight Howard-Harden pairing. This friction in the locker room bleeds onto the court and the Rockets struggle to communicate effectively, leading to a below-average defense and disappointing offense.

The team doesn’t stay as healthy as last season, and key players such as Gordon, Paul or Anderson miss significant time. The Rockets’ thin backcourt can’t make up for the loss of Gordon or Paul, while Anderson’s sweet-shooting is sorely missed in the frontcourt.

The team plays like the 2015-16 Rockets, a team that looked like it didn’t want to be on the floor most nights. In the end, through sheer talent the Rockets still land a top six or seven seed, but are eliminated in the first round as the playoff perceptions of Harden, Paul and Mike D’Antoni continue to worsen.