3 Things Troy Daniels could bring to the Houston Rockets

2. Yet Even More Spacing

Watching the Houston Rockets on the offensive end since the trade for Robert Covington has been quite a treat. Mike D’Antoni’s teams have often been predicated on getting easy transition buckets and scoring when defenses aren’t set.

At 14.9 fast break points per game, this season’s Rockets fall within what’s expected of MDA’s teams, but their spacing is even more important. With the amount of spacing Houston is creating by having five smaller shooters on the court at once, they’re creating wide-open looks that are essentially the same thing as getting easy looks in the open court.

During this late-game play against the Celtics, look at just how spread out the Rockets are forcing Boston to be on the court. James Harden is literally on the halfcourt logo as Russell Westbrook goes to work.

AND 1! pic.twitter.com/HSI8UOmHkn

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 1, 2020

We’ve already seen what the system has done for Ben McLemore this season. A career 36.3 percent 3-point shooter, he’s upped that to 39.5 percent this season thanks to wide-open looks. Troy Daniels could certainly benefit from the same thing.

One thing the Rockets certainly aren’t shy about is getting up trifectas, and an increase in attempts for a sniper like Daniels could make Houston’s offense even deadlier. The most attempts from 3-point range that Troy has averaged in a season is 5.8. Four Rockets currently average more attempts than that just this season.

Of course, Daniels would likely play limited minutes if he was acquired, but there’s no doubt that he would space the floor with his outside shooting threat, as well as benefit from the spacing the rest of the shooters on the team provides.

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