He’s as respected in NBA executive circles as they come. Morey is the Billy Beane of the NBA, a proponent of advanced metrics and co-chairperson for the Sloan Conference, where he helps disseminate the growing role of said metrics in sports. How about Harden for a 2017 first-round pick and Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell, now persona non grata in Los Angeles after surreptitiously recording teammate Nick Young as he casually bragged about cheating on Iggy Azalea? What do the Rockets have to lose, other than another forty or so more games next season? Fire Daryl Morey. If Harden can be flipped for a young player and/or a high draft pick, the Rockets have to do it. Unfortunately, Harden is being wasted on a team that will never compete with the Warriors and Spurs for a title. He’s really fun to watch, and when Harden gets hot, he’s as good as anyone not named Curry or Durant. Last Sunday night, Harden put the Rockets on his back, slicing through the Thunder defense for 41 points as Houston rallied to beat a much superior team. Now, put aside for a moment that Harden is deathly allergic to playing anything resembling defense, except for this surprisingly adept sequence against the Mavericks last Wednesday. Remember, grabbing the five-seed and losing in the second round every season isn’t fun for anyone. As in, not next year, or even the year after. That means selling every asset at an inflated rate to get younger (and hopefully better later) talent. I realize it’s pretty inflammatory to suggest trading a top-five offensive player, but to truly rebuild, you have to #TrustTheProcess. Second-year center Clint Capela is averaging twelve rebounds and two blocks per 36 minutes in his young career, plus he has a personality that is, uh, not Dwight Howard’s. Centers Hassan Whiteside and Andre Drummond are both free agents this summer, and worth a good look from the Rockets. He needs to be allowed to do that, because there’s no reason for the Rockets to re-sign the often unhappy big man and destroy their salary cap in the process. He will certainly opt out and test free agency as he looks for one more big contract that will hang like an albatross on the neck of a team like the Nets or the Knicks well into the 2020s. Howard is owed more than $23 million in 2016-17, a year in which he has a player option. In the words of the great Scot Edwyn Collins, singing on the title track to Orange Juice’s 1982 album Rip It Up: “Rip it up and start again/And I hope to God you’re not as dumb as you make out.” Without sounding morose-what’s the point of it all? Why try to be the eighth- or fourth-best team in the conference? What the Rockets need is a complete rebuild, and the only way to effectively do that is to start from scratch. If Houston can overtake Utah this last week of the season-hooray!-they’ll win the opportunity to get swept by Golden State in the first round. This brings me to the Rockets, who, at 39-41 are on the outside looking in on the Western Conference Finals. That’s great for fans in the Bay Area, San Antonio, and Cleveland, but for NBA fans everywhere else, it’s been a slow slog to the middle since Christmas. With apologies to the Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers, we are going to see an NBA Finals series this year featuring either the Warriors or the Spurs against, likely, the Cavaliers. The NBA playoff, set to begin on April 16, isn’t like the NFL or NHL: a wild card team can’t sneak in, get hot out of nowhere, and win it all. Estimated start time will be 5:15 PM.As far as the four major American professional sports go, the NBA is parity averse. The finals will take place on Friday, April 29 immediately after the first round. Leading up to the finals, the Tournament will host local qualifiers at private and public venues where the winner of each will get the chance to take down Long John. The trip includes airfare, lodging, and golf and dinner with Fuzzy. Whoever out drives John Daly and beats their fellow competitors will win a trip for two (2) to play golf at Fuzzy Zoeller’s home course in Southern Indiana and have dinner with Fuzzy. The event, emceed by Fuzzy Zoeller, is a fan favorite and gives fans the chance to bear witness to some of the longest hitters in the Houston, TX area. For the fifth time, the Insperity Invitational will qualify up to twelve (12) competitors do their best to out drive John Daly after the first round on Friday, April 29.
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