For rim protection and patrolling the paint, Capela's been our best option. But for banging with bigger bodies and the more traditional big-man game, I think Nene has been our go-to guy. Capela's still not strong enough, and Harrell lacks the size. Anyway, it's all relative, because even with both Capela and Nene, the Rockets don't have an advantage against the league's bigger and better front courts.
He was pretty banged up three years ago. He's still not ready to play full time starter minutes now either. He and Harrell are going to have a hard time filling in all our minutes at center.
Chinanu's stats with the RGV Vipers this year: MIN 26.8 FG% 62.8 FT% 67.4 PTS 10.7 REB 10.3 OREB 3.7 DREB 6.6 AST 1.9 TOV 2.2 STL 0.7 BLK 1.5 PF 3.8 +/- 6.8
I think they're going to have to integrate CO now. Ready or not, especially on back-to-backs. It doesn't have to be anything crazy but if he can come in and eat some minutes in the first half it's going to help the main rotation guys keep their legs fresh game to game and half to half. Like, 5-10 minutes. Nothing crazy. Nothing overboard. 2nd unit only, 1st half only. Just bridge the gap, play solid D, hustle for boards. Easiest role ever.
Brewer, ennis, onuaku, Harrell, 2017 first for Noel, Rodriguez, Covington, Holmes, 2017 second makes a lot of sense to me.
in case anyone cared, CARMELO, the 538 player projection engine, lists Chinanu Onuaku as a "great prospect" https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/carmelo/chinanu-onuaku/ For comparison sake, Capela is considered an "up and comer" https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/carmelo/clint-capela/ The good news is that CARMELO sees Onuaku as producing as much or even more than Capela is producing this season, and it sees him as having a much higher ceiling than Capela. The bad news is it doesn't project he'll match Capela's current production until at least 2019, but probably not until 2021...
To get a draft pick upgrade and to have more cap space for draft pick trades at the deadline. I realize my deal is too one-sided. Let them counter.
From a Rockets standpoint, sure. But why does Philly make that deal? Brewer, Ennis and Onuaku have almost zero value at this point. And Houston's 2017 1st and Philly's 2017 2nd rounder could be separated by like 10-15 picks. That's a terrible trade for Philly. I think it would take some combination of Harrell, Dekker and at least one (if not multiple) 1st rounder(s) to get a deal for Noel done.
but isnt noel's value at an all time low at the moment? and he's a FA this upcoming summer right? Does philly really want to lose him for nothing?
It is. Dekker is way more valuable than Noel at this point and i also don't want him to be traded away.
As I wrote earlier, I really think Chinanu has the tools. He's 20, so no, he's not ready. He might hold up in a physical battle for 5 minutes, but his conditioning is far away (further than Capela's was). But he's really settled down since the preseason. . . Nice hands, strong frame, good timing ... responds to coaching. Strong FT shooter (no really, he makes them now).
Then they don't Then they'll never trade Noel. Noel has been injured multiple times, he's got attitude issues, character issues, and he's in his fourth season headed to restricted free agency. And now he's hired Fegan in an attempt to strong arm his way out of town. The trade value simply isn't there. And his trade value goes lower every day we tick down to the deadline. If.......Philly pulls one asset for Noel in trade between now and the deadline it will be a minor miracle. So, a lower level first rounder plus a matching salary represents peak value. The rest of the trade is simply trying to get back roster finance and a high second rounder in next year's draft. CO would give Philly a nice backup center prospect with years left to develop on a cheap deal. He was medium high second rounder last summer. Harrell was drafted a couple shots ahead is Holmes and gives them a different look as a backup 4 and Ennis can be exploited for his game, while helping them lose. That's two second we'd be giving them. They can give us back two seconds (pick and Holmes) and an undrafted guy (Covington). Brewer for Rodriguez actually favors them. Cleveland or another contender will come after Brewer at the deadline. Of course one caveat to this deal would be Rodriguez would have to agree to be traded again ahead of time at the deadline since he's on a one year deal.
A couple of things here. First, it wasn't just the value of the assets the Rockets were giving up in the deal. It was that they were getting competent assets in return for poor ones. If the trade had just been Noel for Harrell and a 1st plus whatever cap filler was required to make the deal work, I'd buy that as a possibility given how well Harrell has played in a small sample size this season. But you then threw in Philly's high second rounder and some decent bench pieces for Corey Brewer's bad contact. Why does Philly do that? Second, I think you're overestimating the Rockets' leverage here. Philly still has until the trade deadline. Why do they make such an underwhelming trade when they can still wait until the trade deadline, play him to increase his value and auction him off to the highest bidder? Houston has zero leverage today, and they're the one in need of a big man. Not Philly. If I'm the 76ers, I have zero motivation to trade him until his value improves unless a team blows me away with a trade right now.
He is, but that's all the more reason for Philly not to trade him right now. Why rush a trade today when you can wait until the trade deadline and offer him up the team with the best package? Plus, there's always a chance that Noel will get more minutes and improve his value. So if I'm Philly, I don't make a deal for Noel today based on his value right now, I deal based on the value I think he's going to be worth in a few months. And if Noel doesn't end up improving his value, and that value is the same at the trade deadline, only then would I consider taking a subpar package for the guy.
Yeah Nene did play well in preseason with the starters (on OFFENSE). I'm sure he'll be fine there, offset what he gives away on defense. At that time no even expected the defense to be even average or like it is now, it was more acceptable to be ALL O NO D just outscore everyone for a #6 seed. Now that we got a taste of decent defense, dont want to regress on it. I'd be fine with just a Cole Aldrich type depth piece. But a prolonged win streak "leave chemistry alone" situation probably isnt gonna happen now, so some small or big roster adjustment is within expectation. Upgrades have to hurt a little bit cuz you have to give to get, so while I do love the chemistry I'm not falling in love with any player too much
