Houston Rockets 2007-08 Team Preview

The Best in the West!?

Is this FINALLY the year for Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets? A lot of it will depend on the two superstars staying healthy, but the Rockets made some key acquisitions this off-season that should make them one of the elite teams in the NBA this year alongside fellow Texas powerhouses, the Spurs and Mavericks.
With quite possibly the most explosive off-season of any team, the Rockets now have the role players necessary to aid McGrady and Ming in a deep playoff run. Not only did the Rockets get some new players, but they also landed a new coach in the form of Rick Adelman.

Other key off-season moves include trading Juwon Howard to Minnesota for Mike James. The Rockets really needed a 3-point threat and they get it with the return of James. They also signed their former "Franchise" Steve Francis, who will have to learn to become a roll player in a place where he's clearly not the superstar. He had trouble with that role in both Orlando and New York so it will be interesting to see if he can embrace it in Houston, and how it will affect team chemistry if he can't.

Perhaps their best move was to acquire Luis Scola from division rival, the Spurs. Inept at power forward last year, the Rockets now have a player capable of helping Ming in the low post. Scola has been on of Europe's premiere players for quite some time now.

Despite all this help, and tremendous depth in the back court the Rockets will need Scola to come in and be a threat right away. Shane Battier was fairly lethargic most of the season on offense last year, and while Chuck Hayes is a solid defender, he is relatively incapable of being a scoring threat in the NBA.

The Rockets did win 52 games last year, and that was during a season when both Ming and McGrady missed significant time due to injuries. Ming has been progressively getting better year after year and it is a feasible prediction to say that he might be the best player in the Western Conference this year.