Twice More Into The Breach – Just when you thought every major NBA season preview was done and written, the internet dropped a double-decker on Thursday.
If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably the kind of person who already watched Bill and Jalen’s Grantland preview on the Rockets. At over 20 minutes long, it’s their longest team preview to date, and it reflects the extent to which the Rockets are–to even objective observers–one of the most intriguing teams in sports this year. In case you missed it (or if you want to watch it again because it’s that fun), here you go:
But Grantland doesn’t have a monopoly on rambling and provocative previews. Ball Don’t Lie can party too.
Kelly Dwyer hits on the biggest reason why Dwight Howard could do things in Houston that he could never achieve in Orlando:
Luckily for Dwight, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey isn’t the sort of GM that hands out a six-year, $118 million contract to Rashard Lewis.
Dwight’s divorce from Magic was ugly. He didn’t handle it well. But if Howard was willing to put up with Orlando’s incompetence for as long as he did, it’s hard to envision him bailing on the Rockets without much provocation.
Dan Devine asks a great statistical question about what Howard could do for Houston’s offense:
The Rockets finished No. 1 in the NBA in points per play finished by pick-and-roll ball-handlers, and No. 10 on those finished by roll men, according to Synergy Sports Technology’s game-charting data. You’d have to imagine that Howard, who was one of the league’s two most effective roll men in each of his last three seasons in Orlando and who finished ninth last year, even in an injury-and-chaos-riddled season, could nudge that No. 10 north … if he’s down for it, of course.
GM Survey – NBA.com released the results of the annual GM Survey this week. A few results of note:
- Zero GM’s picked Houston to win the Finals
- Only 30 percent even picked Houston to win the Southwest division. The Spurs are like the Queen Elizabeth of the Southwest; you’d think they would be gone by now, but they aren’t giving up the throne that easily.
- James Harden was voted the best shooting guard in the NBA, easily beating Kobe Bryant. 56 percent of GM’s said Harden. Kobe came in second at 20 percent. It’s a new day.
- Dwight Howard was voted the best center by a wide margin, 65 percent, although that vote was down from last year when he earned 93 percent of the vote.
- Houston won the voting for best overall offseason moves. They need to just give Morey the GM of the Year Award now before everyone overthinks everything.
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