Former Houston Rockets guard and current NBA on TNT television analyst Kenny Smith is picking his former team to represent the Western Conference in the 2020 NBA Finals.

He’s also predicting franchise icon James Harden to win his second Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

In predictions made on Tuesday’s season preview episode of Inside the NBA, Smith explained why he’s confident that the new dynamic in Houston between Harden and Russell Westbrook will ultimately work out this season for the Rockets. Smith said:

He knows how to play with Russ, and Russ knows how to play with him. This is what’s interesting about it. They were the second and third options when Kevin Durant was there in Oklahoma [City]. So of course they’re going to know how to be one and two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ao3Tja56Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59JDliN5nAI

In the team predictions video, Smith projects the Rockets to face off in the 2020 NBA Finals with the Milwaukee Bucks. Coincidentally, those two teams will open the 2019-20 season this Thursday in Houston in a nationally televised game on TNT.

Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, who serves as a studio analyst next to Smith and former Rockets forward Charles Barkley, also predicted Harden to win MVP. Barkley picked the Lakers’ Anthony Davis.

Harden averaged a career-high 36.1 points per game for the Rockets last season, along with 7.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Westbrook — the 2017 MVP — tallied 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game with Oklahoma City.