Daryl Morey thinks Rockets would have won title with Chris Bosh

With Morey saying Houston would have won the 2014-15 NBA title with Bosh, we examine how the signing might have changed future seasons.

Under GM Daryl Morey‘s watch, the Houston Rockets intensely pursued All-Star big man Chris Bosh twice in free agency. The first attempt came in July 2010, and the second in 2014.

Had the second pursuit worked out, Morey wonders to this day if James Harden‘s Rockets might have their elusive first NBA title.

In a GM simulation game featuring rosters from the 2010-11 NBA season, Morey fittingly traded for Bosh to bring him to the virtual Rockets. He then commented that had one of the real pursuits been successful, he believes his Rockets would have won a championship.

“He is the perfect modern NBA center,” Morey said of Bosh, who shot a career-high 37.5% on 3-pointers in the 2014-15 season. The 6-foot-11 big man was also agile enough to defend on the well perimeter.

“I think we win the title, if we get him in 2014,” Morey added.

In 2010, perhaps best known as Houston’s iPad pursuit, the Rockets never came especially close to landing him ⁠— with Bosh instead choosing to sign with a loaded Miami Heat squad alongside LeBron James.

The 2014 push, however, came very close to working out for Morey. Once James left Miami for Cleveland, the expectation was for Bosh to sign with the Rockets. However, because James turned the Heat down, that left Miami’s lone five-year contract proposal available to Bosh.

The Rockets could only offer four years, since they weren’t Bosh’s existing team. In the end, the 6-foot-11 big man opted for the financial security of the extra year and made a shocking late decision to stay in Miami.

Had Houston signed Bosh, they also intended to match an offer to retain restricted free agent forward Chandler Parsons. The Rockets effectively would have locked themselves in for years to come with a four-man core of Harden, Bosh, Dwight Howard, and Parsons.

But when Bosh didn’t join, the Rockets pivoted to a cheaper alternative in Trevor Ariza and retained some financial flexibility for future moves.

In the long run, it could be argued that Houston ended up better off without Bosh. Due to previously undiagnosed blood clots, Bosh never played in the NBA after February 2016, and Parsons’ production fell off dramatically after the 2015-16 season due to a series of knee injuries.

Nonetheless, both Bosh and Parsons were dynamic players in the 2014-15 season, and almost certainly would have boosted Houston’s championship odds. The Rockets finished 56-26 that year and as the No. 2 seed in the West, eventually falling 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

But even though it ended in five games, that was a closer series than it might appear. The Rockets lost Game 1 and Game 2 in Oakland by an average of 2.5 points, and both games were there for the taking in the final minute. Win one or both of them, and everything might change.

Houston’s present outlook is probably better having not landed Bosh. With the Bosh and Parsons contracts on the books, it would have been far more challenging to sign Eric Gordon in 2016, or to trade for Chris Paul in 2017 (which eventually set up the Russell Westbrook deal).

Then again, had Morey and Harden’s Rockets gotten to the finish line with Bosh in July 2014, perhaps each would already have an NBA title (from 2015) on their resume. If that’s the case, who knows how many other things would have changed over the ensuing five years.

Over his 13-year NBA career, Bosh averaged 19.2 points (49.4% FG, 33.5% on 3-pointers) and 8.5 rebounds in 35.8 minutes per game. He was an 11-time All-Star and a two-time champion with the Heat.

[lawrence-related id=13222,2895]