With the Rockets being eliminated from the Western Conference Finals, team owner Leslie Alexander said the team could add another star player to its roster provided the opportunity presented itself, Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston writes. When asked about making marquee roster additions, Alexander said, “Yes, but I don’t think the odds are as good as they were in the previous years. If you want to win big, you have to take big risks. I’ve always been willing to take the big risk to win big. I think most of the group will be intact. There’s always going to be change, obviously, but most of the group will be intact.” Alexander also believes his team would have advanced to the NBA Finals if not for injuries to Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas, Berman notes.
Here’s more from the NBA’s Southwest Division:
- Duke point guard Tyus Jones has workouts scheduled for next week with both the Mavericks and the Rockets, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets. You can view our full prospect profile for Jones here.
- The Mavs held workouts on Friday for Brandon Ashley (Arizona), Rakeem Christmas (Syracuse), and D.J. Newbill (Penn State) Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (Twitter link).
- Rockets guard James Harden wants the team to add another playmaker to its roster so he won’t need to facilitate the offense as often as he did this season, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. “That’s one of the conversations me and [GM] Daryl [Morey] are going to have [and] the coaches,” Harden said. “That’s one of the pieces to add, but that’s later conversations. We’ll be all right. We’re very confident in the group we have. This summer we have to work hard and be ready for next year.”
Houston needs to play through Dwight at least a little bit more. There is no reason for him to get so few touches, especially when he is actually playing well. There is no reason for him to have turned into a glorified DeAndre Jordan. In the playoffs, you need to be able to score in the half court, and Houston always asks James Harden to make everything happen on the perimeter. I’m not saying they shouldnt continue to shoot a lot of 3s; obviously they should. I’m just saying that maybe get the ball down low to create some easier opportunities for everyone, including James Harden. Thats another thing. Harden needs to learn how to post up a little bit. He needs to catch the ball closer to the basket in the half court at times. Having him dribble for most of their possession isnt very efficient offense.