In our third story of the 2019 NBA offseason series (first: Pacific Division; second: Atlantic Division), let's take a look at the Southwest Division: the Houston Rockets, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Dallas Mavericks, the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Are the Rockets improving?

Houston Rockets biggest gains: Acquiring Russell Westbrook via trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder

Houston Rockets biggest losses: Failing to do anything to improve their wingman position

The Houston Rockets had a roller-coaster summer in 2019. Firstly there were various reports about the team's two core players, James Harden and Chris Paul, falling out, then head coach Mike D'Antoni watched his assistants leave one by one while he and the Rockets came to a deadlock over contract extension negotiations. Meanwhile, the team kept getting involved in almost every on-going trade talk about star players but, like usual, they never took any real move; after that, general manager Daryl Morey suddenly reached a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder to land Russell Westbrook and send away Paul.

As exciting as the last part sounds to Houston fans, that trade does not necessarily make the team better, as we analyzed previously. It's hard so say whether Harden is willing to reduce his ball possessions but one thing for sure is that, he does not enjoy playing with Paul, who is not vying for possession with him. However, Westbrook is basically useless without the ball in his hands in offense, not to mention his unstable defense, and thus his partnership with Harden is not convincingly hopeful.

Furthermore, one of the major reasons behind the Rockets failure last season is that the team lack powerful wingman players but so far nothing has been done to change that. And, by the way, the team were not passionate about pursuing 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala because their owner Tilman Fertitta still does not want to pay luxury tax, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Pelicans have more to show than Zion Williamson

New Orleans Pelicans biggest gains: Selecting Zion Williamson in the draft; receiving Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and multiple future first-rounders from the Los Angeles Lakers

New Orleans Pelicans biggest losses: Losing Anthony Davis in the trade with the Lakers

The Pelicans managed to maximize the trading value of Davis by sending him to the Lakers. Since Davis was determined to leave, there's no point keeping him against his will, especially when the purple and gold made the best offer on the market for a deal. Moreover, the team already have Zion Williamson who has the potential to become their cornerstone player, they can rebuilding around him.

As for the three players New Orleans got, they should be contributing in their own ways. In spite of his shooting problem, Ball has shown potential to become a first-class orchestrator in the league and his remarkable ability of launching fast breaks can help Williamson play very comfortable. Besides, Ball is a good defender and his partnership with Jrue Holiday can make top class defense in the league.

Ingram's case is a bit more complicated but at least he won't cause any trouble. Though he has not met people's expectations on him in the past three seasons, Ingram is still only 21 years old and his physical talents of 2.06-meter-height and 2.21-meter-winspan are real. The Lakers cannot wait for him to grow but the Pelicans can – that is one of the merits young teams can enjoy.

24-year-old Josh Hart is the oldest of the three but unlike the other two, he has a clear future: to become a 3D player. Though Hart's 1.96-meter height seems small for a wingman, he is strong enough and still has two years of contract for the team to observe.

One more hidden benefit for New Orleans in the Davis trade are the two draft swaps they get for 2023 and 2025. LeBron James' contract with the Lakers will be over in 2022 summer and he will be 38 years old by then. This means that there will be a good chance that the Lakers will underperform in the following seasons, making their draft picks valuable enough for New Orleans to exchange.

Mavericks may surprise you

Dallas Mavericks biggest gains: Offering a five-year, 158-million-U.S.-dollar contract to Kristaps Porzingis; signing Seth Curry with a four-year, 32-million deal; keeping Maximilian Kleber with a four-year, 35-million contract extension

Dallas Mavericks biggest losses: So far none

The Mavericks will be one of the most interesting teams in the NBA in the new season. If Porzingis stays healthy, him and Luka Doncic will make the best European pair of the league. Having chosen the two youngsters as their cornerstone players, the Mavericks also found enough help for them.

In front court positions, the Mavericks kept Dwight Powell, Maximilian Kleber and landed Boban Marjanović; in their back court, the team added Seth Curry, an outstanding shooter to enrich their offense. These role players plus Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Jalen Brunson will give head coach Rick Carlisle enough franchise depth to stay competitive in the long, 82-game regular season.

The San Antonio Spurs are probably the quietest team in this division. The biggest noise they made was when Marcus Morris broke his verbal agreement with the Spurs and joined the New York Knicks. The direct result of Morris' act was that the Spurs sent away Davis Bertans, a 2.08-meter shooter who kept a 3-point rate of 42.9 percent last season, only to get a 32-year-old DeMarre Carroll who did not reach 40 percent with his field goal rate, not mention that the team gave him a three-year, 21-million-U.S.-dollar contract.

Fairly speaking, San Antonio had some improvements this summer because Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker both came back from injuries. When they were healthy, Murray was selected into the 2018 All-Defensive Second Team and Walker could enrich San Antonio's back court unit depth, which is important for the team to stay competitive in the regular season.

Since the Spurs will still rely on DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge as their core players in the new season, it will be difficult for the team to make any break through in the playoffs in the wild Western Conference. However, thanks to the effective system established by Gregg Popovich and the good stock of capable role players, the Spurs should be able to secure a spot in the playoffs.

The Memphis Grizzlies though were involved with may trades this summer, a few of which were about making them better. In fact, since the moment they sent Mike Conley to the Utah Jazz, the Grizzlies made their goal clear: they are rebuilding.

Memphis' front office did a good job of maximizing Conley's trading values by making multiple deals. On the surface, the major returns of team were Jae Crowder (one-year contract). Andre Iguodala (one-year contract), Josh Jackson (No. 4 select of the 2017 draft), three first-round picks and two second-rounders.

Nonetheless, if you take a close look, you will find that the team have more to gain. Firstly, both Iguodala and Crowder con be valuable pieces for championship-chasing teams so trading them for three second-rounders won't be hard. Secondly, the Grizzlies have a 2024 first-rounder from the Golden State Warriors – Stephen Curry will be 36 years old then.

In the 2019-20 season, Memphis will have enough patience, time and ball possessions for their No. 2 select rookie Ja Morant to get used to the NBA and maybe compete for Rookie of the Year with Zion Williamson.