[ClutchFans] Welcome to the next evolution of Rocketball

Good stuff! @Clutch

 

100% agree. The Westbrook trade put is in this spot and this is the rational move to make now that we're here and can't undo the past. It might be a gimmick, but it's worth rolling the dice instead of continuing what we've seen.

But the idea that we can just draw Gobert and Davis out of the paint only works if our outside shooters can keep them honest. In that way we have to hope that Covington is more than an Ariza replacement - or we could be watching a lot of 2018 WCF Game 7s. Tucker has been far too inconsistent this season and whether it's his fault or not, his lingering shoulder problem probably means that he and House will continue to be weak links in this type of offense.

 

i still can't believe we're $6M under the taxline and claiming to contend for the title

 

Good write up.

I'm hopeful.

 

I hope this works. I'm skeptical.

 

As someone said in another thread...Rockets' Tilman = Knicks' Dolan except Dolan spent.

 

Great write-up.

I don’t fully support the small ball movement but I respect them making moves to maximize it.

Sadly..hard to not think what Morey could have done without limitations.

 

I haven't been paying much attention to the NBA this season having been out of the country for a big chunk of it. My head is swimming trying to keep up with all of these trades..

 

nice piece Clutch. I'm not a believer that the Covington move makes us contenders, but I agree that it makes us better, even with the subtraction of Clint. And i am excited to see if smallball can actually work. I'm glad you are not pulling punches on all of the 1st round picks we've given away; especially when you see the return other teams were able to get on their 1st rounders.

I'll get over it if we start winning more consistently. hope it starts tonight!

 

I wouldn't call Westbrook a terrific passer.

He is good at finding open shooters. However he doesn't deliver passes where they need to be, that is right in shooter's starting shooting motion so that they do not need to catch and readjust. Instead they can catch and shoot all in one motion.

Harden is better in this regard, while Chris Paul was a master at it.

It might seem like a small matter but it makes a big difference to the shooters.

 

highlyrated says it ain't gonna work

 

This is a sad sad day. We now know without a doubt what kind of owner we have and it only took 2 years for him to destroy what we had. Imagine 2 more years with this dude.

 

If it works. . . .expect the NBA to change the rules

Rocket River

 

This hits every point. Why is Tillman turning into Dolan. The Westbrook trade reminds me of the Knicks trade to get Melo years ago. As much as I hated the trade for Westbrook there isn't much we can do and adding Covington gives us something we have been missing since we lost Luke and Ariza. I'm hoping Bruno can figure things out as well because as constructed I feel we've improved but definitely not to contender status. I really hope that somehow we are able to acquire a serviceable big man to replace Clint.

 

IMO it will come down to if we can get another player in the buyout market, if not then the trade was a definite overpay, even if it did make your best lineup a bit better.

We upgraded the russ -harden-gordon-house-pj lineup to incluce covington. Its a difference, but if both house and rob are making their 3's its not THAT different.

We lost the ability to play big . We used to be able to run out Harden-gordon--Pj-clint-and one of ben/house/ or rivers and have 4 shooters that way plus a lob threat , plus rivers and house can be decent defenders at times... its a good lineup , not our best one but one we lost.

We need another big guy to gain that versatility back. Not to mention to give PJ some rest.

 

Yeah, the future ain't bright. People who exclaim "We're better now!" after each deadline/off-season over the last 2 years while we've been dumping future picks at every opportunity, are missing the big picture.

At this point we are not going all-in around Harden, and we are also not preserving hope for the future. Instead, we are going all-in on ducking the luxury tax. I guess we'll see where that takes us.

 

Bob O'Fertitta has destroyed the Rockets quicker than Bob O'Brien did the Texans.
Tilman has certified himself as the worst owner in the city and one of the worst owners in basketball in 2 short years.

 

Dude, we're ALL skeptical.

 

Great stuff, @Clutch. Really appreciate the piece.

This can not be talked about enough...”Wouldn’t the Rockets have just been better off using a fraction of these future assets along with, say, Brandon Knight’scontract, to acquire Covington outright and put him alongside Paul and Capela? I mean, what do I know”

TF is going to run the wheels right off of this thing and fast. He’s taking for granted that he has a couple of stars and they are impossible to get without assets later.

Lets hope this thing works.