2015 Houston Rockets

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, David Kay and Peter Christian of the The Sports Bank. Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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Houston Rockets (Last Year: 56-26)

2015-16 Projected Depth Chart:

SF-Corey Brewer (UFA)

PF-Josh Smith (UFA)

SG-Jason Terry (UFA)

*PG-Patrick Beverly (RFA)

*SF-K.J. McDaniels (RFA)

NBA Free Agents:

^SG-Monta Ellis (PO)

^PG-Raymond Felton (PO)

^SF-Al-Farouq Aminu (PO)

C-Tyson Chandler (UFA)

PG-Rajon Rondo (UFA)

PF-Amar’e Stoudemire (UFA)

SF-Richard Jefferson (UFA)

PG-J.J. Barea (UFA)

*C-Bernard James (RFA)

2015-16 Team Salary: Approximately $60.8 million

NBA Offseason Team Needs:

1. Point Guard: With Patrick Beverly a restricted free agent, and in all honesty, he’s one of the worst starting point guards in the NBA, the Rockets need to find an upgrade. Since James Harden has the ball in his hands the majority of the time and is a solid distributor, Houston doesn’t have to bring in a true distributor. The Rockets must land a more talented player than Beverly or Jason Terry or Pablo Prigioni though, if the Rockets have any hopes of getting over the hump in the Western Conference.

2. Power Forward: Josh Smith actually played his role well in Houston when coming over early in the season. The organization may wind up re-signing him if the price is right. If the Rockets choose to move in a different direction, I’m not sure they are ready to anoint Donatas Motiejunas or Terrence Jones the starting power forward, so exploring other options would be wise.

3. Depth on the Wing. Corey Brewer is a free agent, so the Rockets will be in the market for a scoring wing to bring off the bench in case Brewer signs elsewhere. With limited cap space, there isn’t a whole lot of flexibility for Houston to address all its needs in free agency, so look for Daryl Morey to once again get creative with trades.