Houston Rockets
The Rockets did not fire Mike D’Antoni. He quit. The Rockets also did not fire Daryl Morey, who is still very much employed. The notion that Houston will suddenly slam the brakes, come to a screeching halt, and change gears entirely — after a fairly successful run of small-ball — is a bit odd.
Houston didn’t lose to LA because of small ball. P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington is a perfectly apt frontcourt, and the Rockets’ five-out build around James Harden and Russell Westbrook still has merit — especially with Westbrook’s jumper becoming more of a gimmick than a weapon.
Whoever the next Rockets coach is, he will get hired by Morey, who built Houston’s roster to his specific taste. Sure, D’Antoni played a significant role in Morey’s decision-making, but the goal was to build around Harden and Westbrook. When push comes to shove, why should Houston make a knee-jerk move for an overpaid center who doesn’t entirely fit?
The Rockets are constructed to maximize Harden and Westbrook, two guards who like to isolate and attack. Horford doesn’t really fit the puzzle. He can space the floor, sure, but he does his best work in the post and from the elbows. Does sticking Horford on the elbow as a glue piece really make sense when Harden and Westbrook are controlling touches.
At this point, when you factor contract into the picture, Tucker is a more desirable starting five than Horford. Not to mention Covington, who is an outright better player by every conceivable metric. The Rockets will not trade RoCo and Eric Gordon, a perfectly solid role player, to absorb Horford’s megadeal because all of a sudden, with D’Antoni gone, there’s a dyer need for a “true center.”
There are more affordable, and maybe even more productive centers in free agency or elsewhere on the trade market. The Rockets will not trade for Al Horford.
UPDATE: Daryl Morey has stepped down as Rockets GM. Even so, a number of his staff members — who played a significant role in building the current team — are getting promoted in his absence.