The Houston Rockets bounced back from a disappointing 2015-16 campaign with a brilliant 2016-17 season, winning 55 games behind MVP finalist James Harden's mastery of Mike D'Antoni's go-go offense. It came to a crashing halt in the second round of the playoffs, though, as Harden sputtered in the season's most critical moments and the Rockets fell to the San Antonio Spurs in six games. After watching his team get eliminated before the conference finals for the ninth time in his 10 season as Houston's general manager, and watching the Golden State Warriors hoist the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy for the second time in three years, Rockets GM Daryl Morey told ESPN's Zach Lowe that he planned to "keep improving our roster" in pursuit of the right cocktail to knock off the West's top team.