The free market is extremely active! In the new season, are the Rockets preparing to take off?

For Rockets general manager Stone, this is undoubtedly a busy summer, and of course, it is also a summer full of harvest. Let's now count his overall operations:

renewal of the team boss Uduka;

traded with Jaylen Green + Dillon Brooks as the main body to get Durant;

renewed VanVleet's team option of 44.89 million next season to 50 million for 2 years;

renewed Jabary Smith Jr. for 122 million for 5 years;

renewed Adams for 39 million for 3 years;

signed free agent Finney Smith for 53 million for 53 million for 3 years;

signed free agent Capela for 21.5 million for 3 years;

renewed Jeff Green, Tate, and Holiday for basic salary.

In short: it is to quickly make up for the Rockets' lack of the playoffs last season, and at the same time retain the team of last season at a lower price.

From the perspective of lineup composition, the Rockets' starting lineup is expected to be: Van Vleet + Amen Thompson + Durant + Xiao Jia + Shin Kyung. I expect Xiao Jia to start before the start of the season, but it also depends on his condition. Finney Smith and Ethan still have the probability of replacing them, but their overall role is basically the same.

From the current stage, the Rockets' biggest improvement point is undoubtedly the upgrade from Jaylen Green to Durant. There are now two stable offensive starting points in the Rockets, Van Vleet and Shin Kyung, and an underdeveloped Amen.

As the best player without the ball among the league's top stars, Durant's addition can undoubtedly become a Rockets' variation. It can be foreseen that for most of the time, Durant will not launch an attack as the first starting point. What he needs to do is to continue to complete cross-runs with Xiao Jia without the ball and end the attack. In the 24-25 season, Durant's 55.6% of his offense was completed after receiving assists from his teammates, of which Jones + Booker's assists accounted for as much as 53.5%. When we came to the Rockets, the passer upgraded from Jones + Booker to VanVleet + Shinkyung, which corresponds to Durant will have more opportunities to take offensively.

And last season, the Rockets also appeared many times when the 15th pick-and-roll power was cut off, and the team would quickly fall into a scoring drought of more than five minutes. The task that Jaylen Green failed to complete is now handed over to Durant.

Let’s talk about two more contracts that I prefer.

The first is to sign back to Capela. After five years of going around, the Kahuang returned to Xiucheng. Although things have changed, you can still hear the legend about him.

The reason why I have reserved enough for the Rockets forward team to sign the center is because Uduka is the favorite of the league today and one of the head coaches who can understand the Twin Towers the most. Although Adams is very good, as he gets injured and older, if he wants to continue to contribute in the playoffs, his playing time in the regular season will inevitably be limited.

Capela has all the qualities that are essential for defensive inside players in these double tower lineups, including excellent franchise protection skills, basket movement, rebound control ability, and cake eating ability. Even for this year's championship Thunder, this is a very targeted reinforcement.

The second is to renew Aaron Holiday with a basic salary. In the corner where no one cares, Holiday is about to spend his third season with the Rockets. The reason why I think this contract is good is of course because of the ultimate cost-effectiveness.

From the perspective of paper strength, the Rockets' configuration of having an old and a new one in position seems very reasonable. But combined with VanVleet's attendance rate of about 60 games last season, Shepard has not yet shown enough strength to realize his talent and the trade to play No. 1 Green.

Signing Holiday with a basic salary can almost eliminate the concerns about the team's No. 1 position, and the role he needs to take on next season is also quite simple, just two points: take the ball firmly over the half and hand it over to Shin Kyung or Durant, and shoot an open shot.

Let me talk about some of the little concerns I think.

Dillon scored a career-high 39.7% three-point shooting percentage last season, and his 75-game attendance rate is also a new high since the rookie season. Even if the newly signed Finney Smith can replace his role in both offense and defense, his temperament of being generous is still irreplaceable.

Of course, I also saw the toughness of Amen, Xiao Jia and Ethan. However, compared with Dillon's old cannon experience, these people's abilities outside the court obviously need to be practiced. It has to be admitted that the "bad guy" recognized by everyone on the court is indeed becoming more and more powerful as he grows older.

There is another saying that goes: Growth is sometimes just a moment. I look forward to the Rockets' huge forward reserve group, and a new Dillon stands out.

The Rockets' team media have set the Rockets' goal for next season to 60 wins. Considering the cruel competition in the West, it is a success to be able to stabilize in the first half of the regular season. As for the critical moment, I believe Durant.