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This is not all Carmelo Anthony.
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey pursued him for years. Many fans spent the past two offseasons campaigning and begging for him. A 65-win team exactly – and I mean exactly – Melo and his 16 seasons' worth of more impractical NBA baggage.
SMITH: Melo and Rockets? Be careful, part 2
I will also point out, though, that there was a behind-closed-doors understanding when the Rockets finally landed Anthony last summer. If the experiment was not working, the organization would move on as quickly as possible during the last few years of the game.
NBA Smart people break in seasons. Give it 20 games, evaluate. Play 20 more games and re-evaluate. Then the trade deadline and, maybe, the playoffs.
The Rockets are 4-7 after falling 96-89 at San Antonio on Saturday night, despite the Spurs playing without Rudy Gay.
Just 39 second-half points for a Mike D'Antoni team tells you, again, that these Rockets are a total mess, just like the 35 second-half points against Oklahoma City (which easily won without Russell Westbrook) did on Thursday.
But you want the transparent truth? The real reason Rockets can not wait until the season's initial quarter mark?
Jimmy Butler – The New York Times Rockets – instantly sped up Philadelphia's process oops) discussing whether the fading "star" would stay with the team the rest of the season. Asked about Anthony's future after the Rockets fell again, the 2016-17 NBA Coach of the Year – who did not exactly mesh with Melo inside Madison Square Garden – referred all questions to Morey.
Twenty games?
Yeah, right. Try 11.
NEW TAKE: Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni believes 'worst' new team will be 'great'
Funny, because that's the same amount that Kevin McHale got just three seasons ago. The Rockets were also coming off a Western Conference final defeat to the then Warriors. Internal and external expectations were rafters high. James Harden – then splitting with Dwight Howard – with Ty Lawson. That experiment badly failed. The Rockets became a 41-41 disaster, canning McHale and eventually placing the team in D'Antoni's offensive-minded hands.
This season's squad faced much higher expectations. Championship, championship, championship was all that Harden said as a new season awaited. Which means that this is more of a disappointment, which is why we're already a serious Anthony crossroads just 11 contests into an 82-game campaign.
"The worst we're going to be great," said D'Antoni proudly in July, before 4-7 and Melo drama.
Considering this: The Rockets suddenly lost defensive guru Jeff Bzdelik just before training camp, were then joined to endless Butler rumors just five games into the season, then lured Bzdelik out of retirement, despite the fact that he was unable to immediately rejoin the team.
SMITH: Carmelo Anthony must be willing to sacrifice for Rockets
Do not overreact? Give 'em time to figure it out?
My lord.
The Rockets are blatantly telling you exactly what they think about all this. And just like 2015, if anyone's panicking, it's Houston's NBA team.
I do not blame them this time. Anything less than the final conference is absolutely unacceptable. Morey has been chasing the ghost of Golden State since 2014. Tilman Fertitta is not going to settle for anything less than the best.
So, of course, they're trying to figure out how to get there.
But, again, let's dig a little deeper than just blaming Melo.
The Rockets badly wanted Kevin Durant before he one-upped LeBron James and became an NBA-altering Warrior. Remember who was at the top of Morey's last summer? That's right: The King.
The Rockets have not been right since.
While they're barely received by James during free agency – hello, The Land and the Magic Johnson Lakers – Golden State (currently 11-2, again leading the West) added DeMarcus Cousins on the cheap. The Rockets rightfully refused to overpay to declining Trevor Ariza. But they replaced his defensive intensity, nightly swagger and respected veteran presence with … what?
Melo, Michael Carter-Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein?
Brandon Knight (another experiment) has not played a game since February 2017. James Ennis has been disappointed thus far.
Let's also be real about the Rockets that really matter. Harden (7-of-27 from the floor, 1-of-13 on 3s against the Spurs) is not playing like the league's reigning MVP. Chris Paul is playing like he just realized he's 33 – the season after signing a four-year, $ 160 million extension. P.J. Tucker has lost his fire. Gerald Green is shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 25.9 percent on 3s, which means it should not be NBA rotation right now. Eric Gordon's hitting just 33.3 percent of his shots and has seemingly been frozen by trade rumors, despite the fact that he's been shadowed by them for almost a decade.
But what about Melo, you ask?
The numbers (13.4 average points, 5.4 rebounds, 40.5 percent shooting, 32.8 percent on 3s) are all right, sort of.
Full-court goal, four-quarter buy in? Defense creating and leading to offense? On-short chemistry and truly sacrificing the NBA's best on a nightly basis?
If you think it's just about numbers with Anthony, then you'll probably be told what's happened in the Oklahoma City and would like to see Rockets to the next level.
I figured, worst case, the Rockets would be forced to move on after 20 games. But eleven? That got McHale fired – and this one is not on D'Antoni.
Yes, the Rockets should be better than this. Their as-is roster is also currently a mess and this team has had a good time in the past.
This is not all Melo's fault. But the Rockets are playing like a team that bet on the 34-year-old Anthony the summer after they lost out on James.
No wonder they're 4-7 and they are trying to figure out if they want to give Melo's jersey to someone else.
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