With James Harden and Russell Westbrook on the Roster

SI's Rohan Nadkarni has one big question for the Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets have a lot of their cap space currently tied up in James Harden and Russell Westbrook. The team had been successful before the NBA's season suspension, with a record of 40-24, they were looking at playoff contention in the west. But going forward, SI's Rohan Nadkarni poses the question: Where Will the Rockets Flexibility Come From?

Video Transcript: 

Madelyn Burke: Daryl Morey is always looking to make moves to improve the Houston Rockets, but what will be his next move and what will it look like as he tries to bolster his squad? Joining me now is SI NBA writer Rohan Nadkarni. And Rohan, we consider potential trades or free agent signings. Where will the rockets flexibility come from?

Rohan Nadkarni: That's really unclear, Maddy. You know, Daryl Morey for the last few years integrating this roster, first trading for Chris Paul and then trading away Chris Paul. Now, we saw him go super small this year. The problem is James Harden and Russell Westbrook are making so much money between just the two of them that the Rockets are quickly staring into a future of no flexibility. Next year, they have six guys under contract and they're already over the salary cap. And that doesn't even take into account how much the salary cap might drop because of all the revenue lost to the pandemic. So the Rockets are in kind of a weird situation where they obviously believe they're contenders and they have a very good team. 

I don't know if I'd put them in the same category as the Lakers and the Clippers. And if that's the case, they're going to want to get better. It's just unclear how they do that. Maybe they're going to rely on a new CBA change or something because I don't see how they add pieces to this team.