The Houston Rockets were clear winners of the 2013 offseason when they acquired superstar Dwight Howard. Now that the team has a dominant big man to go along with James Harden and Jeremy Lin, Houston fans are hoping their Rockets can win the West.

2012-13 RECAP

• 45 wins and 37 losses; finished third in the Southwest Division.

Playoffs:

• Lost a six game series to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite Thunder star Russell Westbrook suffering a torn meniscus in game two of their playoff series, Houston still struggled to find any success against Oklahoma City.

Nobody – not even their die-hard fans – expected the Rockets to compete for the championship in 2013, but many believed they could at least force a game seven against a team trying to deal with the loss of one of the NBA’s top players.

The Rockets would win games four and five, but lose game six in Houston.

2013-14 OUTLOOK:

Key Additions: Forward Ronnie Brewer, center Marcus Camby, guard Isaiah Canaan, forward Omri Casspi, forward Robert Covington, center Jordan Henriquez, center Dwight Howard, guard Reggie Williams and guard BJ Young.

Key Subtractions: Guard/forward James Anderson, guard/forward Carlos Delfino, forward Thomas Robinson and forward Royce White.

Projected Depth Chart and Rotation:

PG: Jeremy Lin

SG: James Harden

SF: Chandler Parsons

PF: Omer Asik

C: Dwight Howard

Key Reserves: Patrick Beverley, Ronnie Brewer, Omri Casspi, Donatas Motiejunas, Marcus Camby, Aaron Brooks, Francisco Garcia, Robert Covington, Terrence Jones, Greg Smith, Isaiah Canaan, Reggie Williams, BJ Young.

What the Houston Rockets lack in depth, they certainly make up for in superstar commodities. The trio of Dwight Howard, James Harden and Jeremy Lin should translate to a ton of excitement on the basketball court, as well as lot of national publicity and plenty of merchandise sales.

Since it has been so long since Dwight Howard has been 100 percent healthy, many people are taking a “see first” approach to predicting the Rockets’ upcoming season. Assuming he returns to dominance, Houston could make a run toward the NBA Finals this upcoming season.

James Harden is just beginning to realize his potential as an NBA star, and even though Jeremy Lin has limitations, he has a lot of ability if inserted into the right situations.

If Harden, Howard and Lin learn how to play together, they will be a team nobody will want to face come playoff time.

FANTASY NOTES:

When it comes to fantasy basketball, James Harden is amongst the best players you could own. Although he’s not worthy of being selected before LeBron James or Kevin Durant, Harden should be the No. 3 overall player on all draft boards.

As great as Harden was last season for fantasy owners, he has the potential to be even better this season thanks to the offseason addition of Dwight Howard. Opposing teams can no longer get away with double-teaming him.

Speaking of Howard, he’d be a great addition to any fantasy team as well. Expect to see him come off most draft boards between rounds three and five. While he has first-round potential, he’s too risky to use a first, or even second, round draft pick on due to his recent injury history. The oft-injured Howard could put up phenomenal number this season, but he could also end up missing a ton of games.

Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons are all highly capable fantasy reserves. However, it would be best if you didn’t have to rely on them as every-week starters.

BOTTOM LINE:

Without Dwight Howard, the Rockets are good enough to reach the playoffs and possibly even win their first series. But nobody considered them a threat to win the NBA Championship with just James Harden and Jeremy Lin.

The acquisition of Howard was much-needed and instantly makes them a team that could legitimately contend for a championship. Then again, it could be much ado about nothing if the big man is unable to stay healthy. He’ll also need to learn how to play with Harden.

If everything comes together like the Rockets plan, Houston could end up being a huge problem for the rest of the NBA to deal with.