Rockets' Mike D'Antoni Plans to Use 9-Man Rotation in NBA Restart

When the NBA season resumes on July 31, Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni has a plan in place for how he is going to use his rotation.

Speaking to The Athletic's Kelly Iko, D'Antoni explained that his conversations with general manager Daryl Morey and the analytics department show their "best chance to win, it probably comes down to nine guys."

D'Antoni did note that which nine players he uses could change on a game-to-game basis, but the top five will likely be their main contributors:

"So I go in with the notion of how I think it's going to be. I can change my mind. I don't want to watch practice or games and think 'Wait a minute, this guy's better than this other guy.' But realistically when you start playing James (Harden) and Russell (Westbrook), P.J. (Tucker), Robert (Covington), and Eric (Gordon), those five you're going to give a bunch of minutes to. You don't want to wear them out, but at the same time, you don't want to be fresh for October. They're going to be tired and it's going to be a grind."

There's an argument that the Rockets will benefit more from the NBA's seeding games⁠—the eight regular season matchups leading into the postseason—than any other team that will be in Orlando. 

Houston revamped its roster at the trade deadline by acquiring Robert Covington and Jordan Bell in a four-team trade on Feb. 6. 

D'Antoni went to a small lineup with Covington, who is listed at 6'7", as his primary center. The Rockets have gone 8-6 in 14 games since changing their style of play. 

Houston is currently the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference with a 40-24 record. The teams seeded three through seven in the West are separated by a total of four games heading into the season restart next month.