The Houston Rockets’ aggressiveness has paid off over the past two offseasons, when the team landed All Star forward James Harden in 2012 and center Dwight Howard in 2013.
Expect more of the same this summer.
In an interview with Fox 26 in Houston, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander made it clear his team will be aggressive this offseason as it attempts to find the third leg of its own big three.
“We’re going to have cap room to bring in a terrific free agent and I think next year we’ll be a lot better than we were this year. I think the nucleus is great. I think we have two of the brightest stars in the league. We have players who are going to be much better next year, young guys. We have a very good nucleus….
“We won 54 games,” Alexander said. “It’s tough to win 54 games in the NBA and the West is so stacked, it’s hard. We were the youngest team in the league in the playoffs. Just that alone will get us much better. I thought the team played hard. They did what they could and when you lose the other team was better.”
The Rockets have already been connected to impending free agent Carmelo Anthony, which they could acquire in a sign-and-trade, especially with the projected rise in salary cap space for next season. All along, Houston has expressed quiet confidence in its ability to land Anthony away from the New York Knicks.
Maybe a more fitting piece to the puzzle would be finding an upgrade at the point guard position over Jeremy Lin. Perhaps Rajon Rondo is a fit.
The Rockets are expected to spend part of their summer trying to lure Rondo away from the Boston Celtics. Houston can dangle center Omer Asik and/or forward Chandler Parsons, both of whom would generate a lot of interest on the open market.
A third name floated around is already a member of a big three. Like teammates Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Chris Bosh is a free agent this summer.
While Miami Heat ownership expects the big three to remain in tact, Bosh and LeBron could both feasibly test the market.
Prior to joining the Heat in 2010, Bosh was a trade target of the Rockets. It doesn’t hurt that Bosh hails from nearby Dallas, so joining the Rockets would be somewhat of a homecoming.
