Rockets cut Isaiah Hartenstein

Years from now, Clutchfans will say remember the time we got rid of all the tall guys. Everyone will just laugh and laugh and laugh.

It’s like if the Texans got rid of all players weighing over 240 pounds. Speed over bulk! What could go wrong?

 

That's all ?

I expected more .... much more.


Ourtage!

 

Hell Olynyk would be a good get for the current team .... Dude is shooting 43%+ from deep this year on 3+ attempts and isn't a terrible defender .... He can guard some 3's , most 4's and 5's while not getting in the way offensively while Westbrook is on the floor and would give Harden a pick and roll option when Westbrook is on the bench. Throw in being an 85%+ FT shooter ....

Too bad he probably won't shake loose this offseason - he's got a $12.1m player option with Miami for 20/21.

Even if he did become available , the Rockets wouldn't have the money to get him.

 

If he wasn't gonna play why have him ?

Who do you think is more valuable league wide - as an asset - IHart or Clemons ?

Clemons isn't going to get anything besides garbage minutes on this team either .... probably say the same for any team he's on while IHart might actually be a rotation worthy backup 5 for at least a few teams - Just not the Rockets.

I'd have dumped Clemons instead .... they may come to a situation where they need a big man for a meaningful possession or three here and there , if Clemons is playing , its a blowout one way or the other ....

 

i think we'll need clemons next year. rivers or gordon is probably gone....or both. who knows? russ could get traded too. Clemons has too much potential IMO. they can still use him for spot minutes this year when they need a three pointer, especially a deep one. he can spread the floor.

 

I don't think Russ is going anywhere. He's the only reason why we got rid of all bigs.

But what do I know. Maybe they are going to trade Russ for a couple of real PF/C.

 

if we flame out again in the playoffs this year, i think that trading russ is definately on the table for the right deal. His value will only get worse each year so if they want to rebuild while they also compete, it might be the only way to do so. i think everything is on the table this summer, even not resigning tucker, as much as i'd hate that. this team is just getting too old so if they can't compete they may hit the reset button with everyone not including harden.

 

Wb isn’t going anywhere at this point. They’re in it for better or worse. There was already a ton of heat getting him here to begin with. Trading him after a year? Not happening. Especially with what they’re doing to appease the harden/wb tandem.

 

How can you be sure of that? i think morey and tilman will do whatever to try and win and surround harden with a supporting cast. And if it aint westbrook i think they'll trade him too. Fact is, westbrook takes up so much of the salary cap so spreading it over multiple, younger players on the right deal, makes business sense.

 

Just by looking at what's going on and what makes sense. Spreading it around really doesn't do anything. what morey and tilman want are stars and big names. What they've been trying to surround harden with for years. well let me correct that morey has. Tilman hasn't actually done much.

 

ok well, i guess we'll see...westbrook was pretty much the only way out of the paul deal. he traded paul, so who's to say he won't trade westbrook for a younger star, or an up and coming star, or even multiple players. he may not be able to trade gordon so he may have to trade westbrook if we end up losing in the first round. especially since we don't have picks and young talent. otherwise, we could be in the lottery for years once harden and westbrook decline.

 

EG is the next one in line it seems, if the right deal comes along.

That's part of the backlash and whats been discussed on several occasions with wb. not only did they give up cp3 but the picks to go along with it. it's a forgone conclusion that once harden is gone, this franchise goes down the drain with 0 picks in the future. at this point there's just no getting around that.

 

Because James Harden is still on the team.

 

Well, they got rid of speed too, so not really small ball, more just dumb ball.

 

An up and coming star? Maybe. A younger proven star? What team would trade that for a 32-year-old Westbrook with a monster contract? The only thing teams would do would be to give you an aging stars with comparable monster contract. (Oops, we just did that last year!)

This pandemic thing is actually buying some time for Westbrook's tenure here. Even if we fall flat on the face in Orlando, they can still say, "This doesn't count. The small ball experiment merit another chance for a REAL playoffs season."

 

If Russ causes us to crash and burn again we will need to give up picks for anyone to take him. Picks we already gave away to OKC

 

I agree

side effect is hopefully that the lay-off has reduced some wear on guys . We did have an older team , maybe our veteran dominant work ethic and smarts can help us be in a better position than other teams coming out of this .... maybe not haha

but I do think WB has looked more athletic and healthy as the season has gone on and a break helps a team like us that depends highly on 2 players over depth .

the wildcard for us this season (if it happens ) and next IMO is PJ . He’s older and we are asking him to play against bigger guys all the time . Right now out “core” is James , wb , Roco, Gordon, and PJ

Out of those 5 who are we the most worried will drop off ? IMO it’s PJ , you can make an argument for gordon , but he’s already injury prone and inconsistent. PJ has been an Ironman , but Father Time is undefeated.

You have bastions of harden and WB (Gordon not counted on for heavy minutes)

and roco and PJ playing heavy mins at forwards .

ideally we develop/ bring in another 4/5 so we can transition PJ into a 25mpg player vs a 35 mpg player .

 

I agree he’s a wildcard and another problem is he’s looking for another payday. He may not get it from the rockets just like ariza...

I personally would rather trade Gordon’s contract for a lesser contract(s) and pay pj on a two year deal with a third year team option.

I can’t think of who we could get to replace him on this team

 

I agree with this and I like the strategy. The only thing that throws fear into me as a Rockets fan is seeing Hartenstein grow and thrive and punish us with another team.

 

I'm not particularly worried about that. this has pretty much become a norm cycle the board goes through every time an end of bench guy is on the way out. This isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time guys get boosted up more than they really should. He doesn't fit the direction the rockets are going plain and simple. If he somehow latches on somewhere else, good for him. It's certainly better than not playing here in terms of PT