Yes people here feel insulted when they get a D. But truth is standards should not be lowered. There were two main goals: FVV and Brook Lopez. FVV was a success (50%) and when Brook negged the deal, they panicked. And started compounding mistakes like the AtL deal to re-offer Brook. They made it worse. Hubris to think Brook only cared about money and couldn't read all of your free agent's motivation. When bucks got close to our number it was game over. Clutch also mentioned this... If Stone never locked KPJ into that last deal, the money for Brook could have been made more readily available. Many missteps along the way that lead them to panic mode. On the Dillon thing. He's a useful player, but any GM could throw money at him, a good gm can at least limit the Silas tax.
Btw the title is misleading. The title is about the signings but the Poll is asking about the off season. Off season includes draft, hiring of Ime and gym construction on top of the signings. Overall I give the Rockets an A, assuming we signed somebody else and didn't do the red wedding for nothing. Coach - Obv hiring Udoka is A++++. Udoka is the top FA coach and I was surprised Fertita ponied the cash to get him. Gym - A. Tbh I didn't give a **** about the gym too much since Rox got the 1st seed in 2018 with the small ass gym but hey, it ain't my money. Draft - Draft is obv an A. We didn't trade the picks for a win now vet like Siakam and we didn't trade up either. Great job. Would have been an A+ if we traded some other guys for future picks if that was the direction. Free Agency - C+-B+ depending on the last dude they are gonna sign. FVV - A+. Best max signing imo. I look at the jokers in socmed who give Kyrie signing an A but give this a C lmao. I already talked about this at length, if you think this isn't an A signing you are wrong and I'm right sorry. Jock Landale - Another A signing. 8M for a backup center is good value and it's an unguaranteed contract for 3 yrs. With the cap going up it's insane personally I wouldn't do this **** if I was JL lol. Jeff Green - A signing. Great mentor, can play 3 positions so at least in case of injuries he got it covered. Plus he is actually decent for 5-15 mins. He had 58% TS last season which is extremely high for a bench dude. If Jabari starts playing like crap bench him for Green. Dillon Brooks - F-------. I'm hoping we get another dude so we can raise this signing to at least a C. 80M for a dude bound for China. 4 yrs for a dude who can't shoot straight but chucks like he's Westbrook. Icing on the cake we gave up 4 picks, Patty Mills and even more draft compensation to get him. Overall: A. While I'm pissed at the Dillon Brooks trade, Rox made too many good moves this offseason. JC, Garuba and Tyty while having potential at the end of the day they are nothing more than bench pieces imo. If Brooks is Ime's guy, then ok I'll hold my nose and give him what he wants.
Thread title: [Poll] Grade the signings (FVV, DB, JL, JG) Poll question: How would you grade the offseason (Ime hiring, Amen, Cam, signings, trades) Two different questions, therefore I can’t vote. Better luck next time.
Your grades have to be realistic. It's like looking at a random college student and saying you are being graded against all your peers. You ain't as smart as Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking so you get a D. Secondly if you are giving grades on where they end up why are you giving a grade before they even start playing? Again it's like the teacher saying you look like a hooligan you get a D for the year before the season even starts. If the Rox get to the playoffs they won't get a ******* D, Stone will win GMOTY and Ime will win COTY.
. Rockets play 29 other teams so grading next to them is fair. If you only want to limit to the dunce class we can: HOU sank to the bottom in 2020, the other teams were down there with us for the first time after making playoff in prev yr (2019), are Thunder, Magic, Cavs and Pistons. The only two teams still at the very bottom last yr were Pistons and us, other 3 teams already started climbing out. Det and Hou were also the two teams who fired their head coach, because improvement was too slow. Goal from the get go was to pivot starting this upcoming season (wall off the books, okc having our picks). Rafael sold Tilman the tank year timeline (3yrs), it's time to deliver. Given the current roster as presented, how many wins do you think Rockets will get next year?
If I am not totally mistaken, I would predict that the 2nd Apron would make middling *middle of the pack teams more competitive. That would mean the 4-10th West seeds are all adjacent to each other. No matter if they got Brooks or not. That is probably 9-13th which is doable.
The problem isn't our overall end result of the free agency, it is we now know what Stone is made of and its not exciting. Trading Tyty and Garuba for basically nothing is a problem. I wouldn't expect first round picks but to have to pay to offload them is an issue. Honestly keeping Garuba would have been great. I would have rather had him on the roster than the Brooks contract.
Considering there were only a few options to improve the roster significantly with the available pool of players, I think management has done a decent job. The team is still counting on Green/Sengun/Jabari to turn into solid players so from that perspective less commitment in free agency is better.
If its for the whole offseason: Coach: A. I really like Ime and hope, that he can bring maturitiy, accountability, structure, a defensive mindset and toughness to the group. Draft: A I would have loved to get Scoot or Wemby - but I am thrilled with Amen as an upside guy and I am stoked we got Cam. FA: B- I really like the FVV signing - especially because of the team option. Without that it would have been a C. It sucks, that we didnt get Brook Lopez. I believe we overpayed for Dillon Brooks and I really don't like, that we gave him 4 years. I am fine with getting him, but not at 80m 4 years. Landale looks to be a good value signing. I don't like us having to pay for getting rid of first rounders. And I'd hope we would get at least a late first for KMJ. Overall probably a B or B+.
What did we get by trading KJ+Tyty+JC+Garuba? Nothing! Grade F at most! Those A are ridiculous joke. Laugh stock of NBA.
Each team is in a different state right? Some are contending some are rebuilding. For a team like the Lakers, they can win 70 games but the season is still lost if they don't win a ring. For a team like the Rockets, just making the playoffs is already the best result they can hope for. So grading all the teams based on what you think how many wins they will get doesn't make any sense. You need to consider their objectives and how they met their objectives. For example Houston had less wins than Portland. Ask anybody if they think Portland had a better season than the Rockets and see what they say. Nobody's expecting the Rockets to win a ring this year so why are the Nuggets and Rockets being compared to each other? Makes zero sense. Why are you calling the Rockets, OKC, Magic and Pistons as the Dunce class? Ask around the league they say these teams. Just cuz they had a bad record doesn't mean they are dunces thats like elementary school thinking. So Spurs dunces right? they got one of the worst records as well.
To be fair none of those guys are extremely valuable. While I also think its dumb AF that shouldn't take away from all the good moves the Rockets FO did prior. Btw Rockets did get 2 2nd rounders for KJM since he was the only dude worth a damn.
What did we lose? I didn't have any of them as a rotation piece penciled in. I agree, that we mishandled our assets, but that started long before this off season.
I give the off-season an F so far. I don’t mind the players we’ve signed. What I know is that they were seeking less money… There are numerous, verified published reported that FVV wanted 4 years, $130 million, and would have been OK with 3 years $100 million or 2 years $80 million. Why does saving $3 million in cap space mean something? Because then the Rockets wouldn’t have had to trade a bunch of young former FRPs and cash to Atlanta and Memphis for nothing. Those assets could’ve been used in a larger trade for a major star. In fact, I would’ve traded them by now for Beal, Porzingis, or Ayton. Young assets with small contracts are exactly what teams looking to dump their stars with big contracts want. With Dillon Brooks: love the guy, but it was a known fact he was looking for four years, $70 million in free agency… and it’s a known fact that Memphis could’ve maxed him out at 4 years $61 million, and they declined to do so. Once Detroit drafted Ausar Thompson and traded for Joe Harris (both swingmen who play Brooks’ positions), then Houston became the only team willing to hand Brooks a guaranteed contract of three years. Once again, there are numerous recent pieces that Brooks’ value was $13 million a year maximum because any team interested in him could only offer the Bi-Annual Exception. The Rockets could’ve easily locked up Brooks for 4 years $60 million instead of $80 million, and saved $5 million in cap space during the process. I think Stone went crazy having all this cap space to spend and not being as meticulous as someone who’s budgeting should be. Again, I like FVV and Brooks signings, but the Rockets unnecessary overpaid for them.
C+: Considering FVV was a top five free agent and you got him on a two-year deal essentially and lured him from his original team, that's borderline A territory. The Landale and Green signings are solid Bs. But that's where the positives end. The KJ trade was at least decent value, but the TyTy and Garuba dump where you dealt draft assets to move recent first rounders is just a straight F. The Brooks deal is bad, but I'm at least willing to go C- or D+ given that he was still likely a top 20 player in this free agent class and was one of their top targets. There's still time for them to bump this into the Bs for me. They have cap room and could add another key rotational guy. As is, though, the mishandling of assets to try and add a player they didn't get really hurts the score for me.
Damn I’m surprised with these grades ! A-B+ range . We def are aiming a low seed playoff spot this year . It just really depends on who makes the big leap !
