The Houston Rockets' next opponent is the Jazz, which is also the weakest opponent the Rockets face in the last 5 games, and this game can be called the easiest game. Taking this opportunity, the Rockets should be able to give their main players a good rest and adjust their condition. Especially those veterans, it is estimated that they will not play for too long. After all, in the next 0 games, the Rockets' opponents are stronger, including the Warriors, Thunder, Lakers, Nuggets and Clippers. The overall strength of these teams is not inferior to the Rockets, or even surpassed.

The current Rockets have a so-called three cores: two-guard VanVleet and Jalen Green, as well as All-Star center Alperen Shinjing on the inside. These three core players, against some weak teams, can indeed play All-Star level performances. However, against the mighty Lakers, the gap was evident in the stats.

那場對陣湖人的比賽，火箭隊輸球。范弗里特14投2中，僅得7分，另外還有9助攻4籃板。杰倫·格林雖然剛拿到西部周最佳球員獎，但是他13投4中，僅得9分，另有9籃板5助攻。申京的表現略好一些，11投5中，砍下14分、7籃板、6助攻的數據。3人全場38投僅8中，只得到了30分，顯然是不合格的。

While the Lakers' two superstars, LeBron James and Luka Doncic, were also average in that game, the two of them were able to attract the pack and defend, and make clever passes to create more opportunities for the Lakers' other role players. On the other hand, the three cores of Team Rocket have no such ability at all. That's why the Rockets' bench and role players scored so much less overall than the Lakers.

可以說，火箭隊的三位核心下賽季總薪資應該在1.1億美元左右。范弗里特如果火箭隊願意留下他，他將執行4500萬的年薪。而杰倫·格林和阿爾佩倫·申京的年薪合計也在7000萬左右。所以下賽季，對於火箭隊來說，三位核心球員將至少拿走1.1億，佔據了火箭隊薪資空間的一大半。

However, in this kind of hard-fought game, it is obvious that the three cores of the Rockets have not played their own strength at all. As long as one of the three players can play normally, the Rockets will not lose on the road.

因此，下賽季當杰倫·格林和申京的新合同被執行時，火箭隊能不能收到預期的效果，真的很難說。至於范弗里特4500萬的年薪，看起來顯然是一份超級溢價合同。正常情況下，火箭隊最好放棄范弗里特的合同，甚至直接將他送走；要麼就讓范弗里特降薪，火箭隊再和他重簽一份合同。否則，火箭隊所謂的三位核心，下賽季拿著1.1億的超級工資，在與強隊的比賽中卻一直發揮不佳，這無疑是火箭隊最大的麻煩。

不可否認，現在火箭隊角色球員陣容非常不錯，薪資結構十分合理。但作為三位核心的范弗里特、申京和杰倫·格林，他們真的該調整自己的狀態了，只有這樣，火箭隊在未來的比賽中，尤其是面對強隊時，才有機會勝出，尤其是在季後賽里，更需要火箭隊3核心的表現了。否則的話，火箭隊下賽季這1.1億薪資，真的就要“打水漂”啦。