#3 Houston Rockets
Chris Paul, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, PJ Tucker, and Clint Capela.
The loss of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute will definitely be felt this season. Defense definitely wins championships, but if somebody can make switching gears work, it would be head coach Mike D’Antoni.
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If Carmelo Anthony embraces the inner defender in him, this wouldn’t be a problem at all. Considering the strengths of three out of the five players on the lineup, putting your foot on the gas when it comes to the offense sounds like a better idea than trying to develop something that is not innate in someone, which is defending.
The good thing is, Basketball is a team sport and this Rockets unit may lack the brilliant single defensive coverage it once had, defending as a team will now be its defensive mantra.
On the offensive end, the reigning MVP, the 'Point God', and Melo can easily put up buckets. Tucker’s physical three-and-D acumen paired with Capela’s athletic rim running will always be valued in cases of defenses collapsing on the three scorers.
If Melo accepts third-fiddle duties and develops a consistent catch-and-shoot stroke, I cannot see how this lineup can’t work out against the best in the business.
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