Houston Rockets Roster & Trade Rumors: HOU Worse this Season Says Experts

Despite the presence of Dwight Howard and James Harden, the Houston Rockets' performance may turn out to be worse in the 2014-2015 NBA season. 

In a report by HITC Sport, the Rockets recently failed to match an offer made by the Dallas Mavericks to Chandler Parsons, which spurred the latter to transfer for a deal worth $46 million for three years. The team also let go of point guard Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik and failed to acquire Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks.

So far, the Rockets managed to acquire Trevor Ariza from the Washington Wizards. Although Howard and Harden said that there is nothing for the team to worry about with Parson's trade, experts speculated that the team lacks leadership which can take a toll on their performance in the upcoming season.

Harden said, "Dwight and I are the cornerstones of the Rockets. The rest of the guys are role players or pieces that complete our team. We've lost some pieces and added some pieces. I think we'll be fine next season." Howard also previously stated, "We have myself and James. We have the best center and the best two guard in the game on the same team, it's on us."

According to Fansided, Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders thought otherwise. He said, "When you say you're excited about how the individual players will improve, I have a feeling you're going to be disappointed. Harden won't play defense until a head coach demands it of him, and McHale doesn't demand much that's outside his players' comfort zones. Howard can dominate, but at the same time, Robin Lopez looked great against Dwight, and that's inexcusable. Lopez is a second unit player, and should not even be on the court with Dwight. Ariza is only good in contract years, so talk to me in year two of his deal. Jones is the only one who I think about really have an unexpected impact... but can he get the ball enough? I think the Rockets are 5 games worse this season."

Howard and Harden are both talented players who can make an impact to successfully lead a team to the NBA Finals if they are surrounded with the right players. However, someone will have to step up to be the role model of the entire team. Parsons was the third best man in the Rockets before the transfer and experts expect that Ariza will not perform as well as Parsons in the coming season.