The Houston Rockets let one of the most productive Centers in the league, Dwight Howard walk out the door due to differences he had with James Harden. But the organization forgot the main detail, they needed Howard to win. I can understand the bad vibes they may have had in the locker room but these are professional athletes who make millions of dollars playing a game. Put those differences aside for the common goal.
Shaq and Kobe hated each other but in the middle of all that hate was four NBA Finals and three championships. Years later, each will tell you they made a huge mistake. If they only would have talked out their differences and focused more on the team concept they would have won more.
Now, with Howard gone, the Rockets are left to play Clint Capella in the post. There will be no titles won with him as the starter, Harden will learn just as Kobe did, he needs that dominate post player. What the Rockets must do is call the Brooklyn Nets and offer a package that will land them Brook Lopez.
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The Nets have tried to ship Lopez away for almost three years but no one was willing to bite due to his contract and his history of injuries. But Lopez has been mainly injury-free for the past two seasons and should draw plenty of interest. The Nets are in the middle of a massive rebuild that will take a few seasons to get out of. Their biggest signing of the offseason was Jeremy Lin. There’s no winning outlook for the team when Lin is your biggest catch. That’s no disrespect to Lin. I like his game, but there are Durants, Howards and other to look at first.
But for a former All-Star like Lopez to be forced to go thru this rebuild is a slap in the face. The Nets do not have another 15 points scorer on their roster at the moment. That means that entire load will fall on his shoulders while the Nets struggle to win 15 games for the 2016-17 season. The team needs to reward him for his work, like they did Garnett and Joe Johnson and let him play for a contender. Lopez still has years left on his legs as he’s only 27 years old. With his last season averages of 21 points, two blocks, and eight rebounds in 77 games played he should still be considered elite.
This is what the Rockets need to make it in a tough Western Conference.