Houston Rockets 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

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San Antonio Spurs defeated the

Houston Rockets 4-2 to advance to the 2017 Western Conference Finals.

Houston Rockets 2017 Season Preview

James Harden is the Rockets best player. Harden showed he could lead this team to the second round without Dwight Howard.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 3/6/2016.

Houston has a ton of depth. The Rockets have a starter and backup at each of the 5 positions that can average 10 points per game.

Having that much balance makes the Rockets a threat to win the Western Conference. There's no certainty whether Patrick Beverly or Ty Lawson gets the nod as the starting point guard. That uncertainty is one huge question mark at this point.

James Harden averaged 27.4 points per game. Corey Brewer was a solid starting small forward in Minnesota. He did even better as a backup in Houston. Now Brewer is going to make the transition from small forward to shooting guard.

Trevor Ariza averaged 12.8 points per game. Houston drafted Wisconsin small forward Sam Dekker in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft. Dekker was a huge part of Wisconsin's run in the 2015 NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament. Adding him as a backup to Ariza is a perfect role for him to start out in.

Terrence Jones got double digit points for the second year in a row. Houston drafted Montrezl Harrell a power forward out of Louisville in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft.

Dwight Howard is a top 5 center in the NBA. Big man Donatas Motiejunas is a 7-0 255-lb big that can play the 4 or the 5 at power forward or center. Motiejunas should be Howard's backup in Houston.

It is extremely difficult to assess the Rockets right now. This team has starters and backups that could get you 10 points per game and that makes them a candidate to make the NBA Finals. At the same time Houston has to deal with San Antonio, Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and Golden State. The Rockets defeated the Clippers last year, but I am not sure they would defeat the Clippers again.