Houston has Dwight Howard and James Harden, but they want their own “big three.”
In their first year together Howard and Harden led a Rockets team with an explosive offense to 54 wins, but in the playoffs Damian Lillard was knocking down shots and leading Portland to knock off the Rockets 4-2 in the first round. It was a sign of how far the Rockets still have to go
Now the Rockets want to add one more big name — Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James or Chris Bosh if they opt out, or whoever else may be available.
Howard is “on the same page” with that and he just wants to win, he wants to get another star in Houston, he told Sam Amick of the USA Today.“Looking at this organization, where we’re trying to go, I think all of us are pretty much on the same page. Each day I’m talking to the people up top, trying to figure out ways to try and get better. The coaching staff, from our trainer, in the weight room the guys are working on our bodies every day just trying to figure out how to get better. That’s been our focus….
“I haven’t spoken with Melo personally. I know this is a time for him when he has to really just focus on what’s going to be best for him. And I really believe that in this point in Melo’s career, he just wants to win. He’s done everything – we both have that kind of same mentality to where all the individual accolades, we’ve got them. We’ve got a gold medal, he has been in tops in scoring for a while, but those are all individual things. I think at this point he just wants to win, so it would be great to have him here because I know what his focus would be. It’s up to him, where he’s at in his career. But I want people on my team who are all about winning. That’s my focus.”
Howard spent the entire Q&A talking about winning, about pushing himself and his teammates to get to the next level. He said everything a Rockets fan could want to hear.
That off-season improvement likely is not enough in the West, hence the drive for a third star.
Getting Anthony or any star will require some financial gymnastics — trading Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin without taking any salary back, plus possibly letting Chandler Parsons walk (he’s a restricted free agent so the Rockets can match and offer, and they have his bird rights so they can go over the cap to re-sign him, but that has to be after the star signs for there to be room to add a player like that).
Last season was a bit of a learning curve year for the Rockets, one where Howard and Harden tried to adjust to one another. The Rockets should be better next season no matter what moves GM Daryl Morey makes, the problem is they are in the West and better may not be good enough against the Spurs, Thunder or Clippers.
So the Rockets want another star. Howard wants that, too. He’s not going to recruit guys, but he’s on “the same page” with the front office.