NBA Power Rankings Week 15: The Denver Nuggets excel in March

Last Week: Lost to Memphis Grizzlies 120-110, Lost to Brooklyn Nets 120-108, Lost to Boston Celtics 118-102

This Week: 4/4 vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 4/5 vs. Phoenix Suns, 4/7 vs. Dallas Mavericks, 4/9 at LA Clippers, 4/10 at Golden State Warriors

It is hard to be positive about the Houston Rockets. This is not just because of their atrocious record in March (2-13). The issues go beyond the 26th ranked offense and 27th ranked defense. There is flawed logic at the top of the organization that threatens to cause issues for the Rockets for the rest of the season and beyond.

Earlier this week general manager Rafael Stone reiterated his commitment to the James Harden trade and that the trade should not be judged until 2030. This is a convenient way of looking at choosing not to bring in young guys like Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, instead choosing to save money and focus on the use of the future first-round picks the team obtained from the Brooklyn Nets.

The issue with this logic is it essentially tries to remove any evaluation of the moves made now until 10 years down the line. There is no other way to look at picking Victor Oladipo over the young guys as a loss. Furthermore, flipping Oladipo for essentially nothing compounds the same mistake. If this is the type of decision-making that is going to follow the Rockets over the next decade, waiting for all of the draft picks to turn into actual players, then Houston fans should get used to plenty of 20 game losing streaks.