I do not believe just because they lost Trevor Ariza they have lost all their power and suddenly a bad team. I think there must be something more to the story than just losing Ariza. They still have Chris Paul and James Harden which was the big cannons last year too and they managed to make it to western conference finals against Warriors and almost won.
Ariza wasn't the best player on that team, he probably wasn't in the top 3 in that team. He only had a defensive help which is always loved but that can't be it. Even Eric Gordon started to shoot a lot worse this year. I think there must be some team chemistry issues that needs to be addressed or there must be some new thing Pringles is trying, I don't know what the deal is but I hope they get back on that horse.
Its just Anthony bringing his jinx on Houston. . I guess a player leaving really left some vacuum on a team. I mean Ariza may not be helpful inside the court, but perhaps everyone loves him off-court that's why there's some missing pieces right now in the dug-out. Anyways, there's more room for improvement even to a team like Houston. Harden still needs to prove that his MVP is not a fluke so I'm sure that he will rise up to the occasion and carry Houston again.