A Shift of Power in the West?
For the past two seasons, regardless of what seeding may have falsely indicated, Golden State has been the best team in the Western Conference while the Houston Rockets have been the second best. Clearly, Daryl Morey and Co. are sick of playing second fiddle to arguably the best team ever assembled and thus are comfortable with getting aggressive this summer to attempt to change their fortune.
If they’re then able to make big moves and key adjustments, there’s a chance that we could see a shift in power in the Western Conference. I’m not sure what exactly that would entail, but let’s presume the Rockets get amazing packages for the likes of CP3 and Capela, making out like bandits and becoming a daunting squad. Couple that with a potential departure from Golden State by Kevin Durant and perhaps even Klay Thompson and Houston’s odds get even better.
I don’t think all or even any of that is all that probable to happen, but if it did, suddenly you can visualize a realistic path where the Rockets supersede the Warriors as the best team in the West. After all, they came as close as feasibly possible to beating them in 2018 and perhaps could have had Chris Paul not gotten hurt or if they hadn’t missed an atrocious 27 straight 3-pointers in Game 7.
Whether or not Houston hits the big time enough to get past Golden State, or if they simply make savvy moves that make them better, the Jazz will still have two teams clearly ahead of them as favorites in the Western Conference either way. That’s certainly a negative impact facing the Salt Lake City squad.
ESPN story on Rockets making entire roster and future picks available in trade talks. https://t.co/8eTaiD2FW4
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2019
However, let’s consider the flip side where Morey tries to hit it rich and the whole thing blows up in his face. Sure, the following is a minor example and it was quickly rectified, but the Carmelo Anthony signing was an example of a risk that far from worked out for Houston. Perhaps the Rockets will do too much and will ultimately shatter their chemistry, cohesion and/or overall talent.
If that were to be the case, this fire sale could be good news for the Jazz as perhaps they’d then slip past the Rockets in the Western Conference hierarchy. Although the Jazz were just fifth in the West this past season, they certainly have the potential to be the third best team currently behind Golden State and Houston, and many believe if they’d been on the same side of the bracket as Portland or Denver, they would have made it to the Western Conference Finals themselves.
If Houston gets overly aggressive and slides, suddenly the Jazz may very well find themselves moving up the ladder and in the number two spot in the West, especially if they can make significant improvements this summer. I have a hard time seeing Morey strike out that bad, and as long as Houston has Harden, it’s hard to see them taking too many steps backwards, but a failed experiment is still plausible and could very much benefit the Utah Jazz.