Houston Rockets: Expect Even Better Shooting This Season

With the additions made in the offseason, the Rockets should be a better shooting team next season.

It is no secret that the Houston Rockets like shooting the 3-point shot. It’s an even less kept secret that they are good at it, too. However, with a team full of streaky shooters and a game plan revolving around the 3-ball, bad games happen. After a great offseason that is not even done yet, the Rockets are poised to be an even better shooting team next year.

The Rockets already had weapons from deep, of course. Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson were new additions last season and shot lights out (most of the time). Trevor Ariza had a down year shooting but should be able to bounce back. Even the Beard is a pretty decent shooter from outside as well.

New Players

Newly acquired Luc Mbah a Moute is coming off a career year from downtown. He shot 39% from 3 and seemed to figure something out playing with Chris Paul. While he is mainly known for lockdown defense, his offense is slowly improving as he ages. On the Rockets, he will get the opportunity to play with Chris Paul again along with James Harden. There is no reason why the majority of his shots will not be wide open 3s.

Another signing, P.J. Tucker, is a veteran 3-and-D player. He is always an average to above average shooter from deep and should continue that trend this season. Unlike Mbah a Moute, Tucker has never had the opportunity to share the court with an elite playmaker like Harden or Paul. The closest he has come was probably Kyle Lowry last season or Goran Dragic a few years ago. Now that he will be getting more open shots than ever, who knows how good his 3-point percentage will be?

According to Hardwood Paroxysm, Mike D’Antoni expects career years out of those two players:

D’Antoni says he expects career shooting seasons for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and P.J. Tucker.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) August 22, 2017

This goal is entirely possible and will make the Rockets even more dangerous. Chris Paul himself is a fantastic 3-point shooter over his career, so his presence will be pretty great on that part of the offense. The majority of the losses for the Rockets last season came when nobody was on their game from deep. Now with more options to stick out there who can shoot, the sky is the limit for the already-potent offense of Houston.

CP3 shot 44% on transition 3’s last season. That seems like it bodes well in Houston.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) August 22, 2017

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