HOUSTON ROCKET (2-4)
Somehow, I totally forgot to write about the Rockets when they got eliminated a week ago. So I'm sitting here watching Thunder vs. Lakers and wondering how a team as mediocre as LAL made it all the way to the Second Round, how they're absolutely no match for their opponent. And that's when I remembered the Rockets.
The Lakers, as far as I know, are the luckiest team in NBA history. They exceeded most peoples' expectations this past season, but once Luka went down, I think everyone knew that was pretty much it.
But let's say, if I were writing like a movie script for the 2026 NBA Playoffs that I wanted to make money yet also be believable, even if I knew LAL wouldn't make it to the end, I wouldn't want them getting eliminated in the First Round. In other words, they really got lucky with that Durant injury, that seemingly popped out of nowhere and kept him out the entire round.
I won't go as far as saying that adding Durant but losing Fred "Care Bear" VanVleet (to injury) is one step forward, two steps backward. But it doesn't make much difference anyway when both of them can't play. So it's like this postseason's iteration of the Rockets was actually worst than the team they fielded last year with no Kevin, but at least then they had Fred.
Without doing any actual research, I think it's safe to presume that Durant and VanVleet are the oldest players on the roster. Dudes like Sengun, Thompson and even Smith Jr. are like from whole 'nother generation as far as the NBA is concerned. That's something to consider, going into next year, that both of the scorers this team depends on were injured or and unable to help the team this postseason, and generally speaking, age doesn't go in reverse.
So yes, I do advocate Houston going out and looking for younger scorers rather than continuing to depend on the elders. You know, do the age appropriate thing. No one wants to see yet another First Round exit. But since they're already contracted, I doubt if Kevin or Fred are going anywhere. When making such gambles, putting your championship hopes on an aged Durant for instance, you have to have that dogged, Sixers' mentality of 'if only they're all healthy, then we'll win'. Oh well.
By the time all is said and done, the Rockets' insistence on fielding these old dudes may result in the younger ones, who actually want to win or when they start demanding more money, bouncing. I've been advocating for years that a superstar vet like KD needs to go to a young, up-and-coming team instead of always chasing instant championship, but it wasn't supposed to look like this. If you look back, I'm sure I even said he should go to the Pistons. But this is what happens when there's too much reliance on a superstar which these days, even with younger ones is not ideal.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (4-7)
The good news is that the Sixers' big 3 was actually healthy for the majority of the postseason. The bad news is it not really mattering, arguably being a detriment even, when 'healthy', in this context, is a slow Joel Embiid whose defensive presence is, I would argue, even more of a nonfactor than Lebron has become.
Lebron's defensive decline is attributable to mileage + age. The cause of Joel's is mileage + injuries. Age, I would argue, can be counteracted more consistently than injury.
So the first question is, why do the Sixers insist on starting and giving major minutes to a hobbled C? Part of it, as with James, lies in the fact that Embiid is still one of the best players on the team.
But that said, these failures have been going on for years already. Dig through the blog if you want. The signs that Philly needs to move on from Joel have been there for a minute. It's not like a revelation and shit. Dude didn't start playing basketball 'til he was 16 yet has made more money, in like just a decade, than most people with jobs they hate make in their entire lives. Dude got a (questionable) MVP Award and an Olympic gold medal, you know, when he played for a stacked Team USA instead of a disadvantaged African squad. So what else does he want?
If the answer is a championship, then the Sixers' braintrust, as outstanding as they are at times, need to do better. For instance, even though he has his moments, it's still not abundantly clear why they signed Paul George for $50+mil/year(!). PG13 is an exceptional scorer, but he's no spring chicken either, and there's a lot of younger guys who can more or less score just as well (even if not as entertaining in doing so) and are less expensive. One name that comes to mind off the top of my head is his former teammate, Normal Powell.
So what I foresee with Philly is sorta the same as Houston, though the latter is in a better position, as the former needs to embark on a mini rebuild. The Rockets have a core of young players, so all they need to do is make a couple of adjustments. The Sixers meanwhile, their core for the most part, looking to the future, only inarguably consists of Maxey and Edgecombe, which is a helluva combination. But now, they need to put the types of players around that can complement such an undersized backcourt. They need some of those strong, versatile, Knicks-like wings - I'm thinking someone like Scottie Barnes, but I know he isn't available. And if Draymond is forced to move or whatever, he can probably help them a bit also.
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