Western Conference early free agency moves put OKC Thunder on high alert
By Rylan Stiles
The Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets are two teams set to just run it back next season, would that be so bad?
For the Denver Nuggets, they spent day one dishing out a max contract extension but the second best Western Conference regular season team did not make any further additions in the opening day. The Nuggets 2018 rookie Michael Porter Jr. is set to make his debut after redshirting last season.
The Nuggets have a young nucleus set to compete again this season, and they might just have the second best roster in the West again this upcoming season even without any flashy additions.
Rockets run back constancy:
For the Houston Rockets, their offseason started with reports circulating that star guards James Harden and Chris Paul were allegedly headed for a messy breakup. Those reports were quickly debunked and followed with the Rockets looking to add Jimmy Butler via a sign-and-trade.
That did not happen either, so instead the Rockets decided to fully commit to running it back as they re-signed Gerald Green, Austin Rivers, and Danuel House.
Both the Nuggets and Rockets are hoping to capitalize on the fact that the Warriors are in line to take a huge step back. Obviously, those plans have a wrench thrown in them if the Lakers land Kawhi.