As of right now we are sitting a 37 wins in the 2023/24 season. It's highly probably we win over 40 which would eclipse and shatter any expectations coming into this year. Really proud of the team and I'm so excited about the future, not matter how we finish. What is the next step? We are "adding" Tari Eason next year with another top 10 draft pick. Good times ahead ya'll.
Last year Nix, Christopher, Mathews, and TyTy played 2500+ minutes at guard. This year, those minutes are replaced by FVV, who is probably around a top-50ish player. There are obviously other notable changes, but I think FVV signing pretty much sums up why the Rockets can look so competent on the court as opposed to being laughingstocks.
Silas should be banished from Rockets history books. I'm really interested in how Whitmore factors in now.. I'll go on record as saying that he may be the trade piece that brings a championship roster together.. I just don't see where he fits longterm now due to his star potential now that Green seems to be that dude and Amen being the potential heartbeat of the team.. 6th man status seems to be kinda holding him back in a few short years
Having Bozo the clown as the coach didn’t help. Hired one of the best coaches in the game and the results are showing
The biggest reason is we were tanking before. The Process model of rebuilding is proven to be the best way to quickly get back to relevance and Stone also did a great job picking 3 studs in the 3 drafts they tanked (+3 additional studs taken outside lotto).
Even if we don’t add anything at all to the roster after Steven Adams, this is at minimum a top 10 team next season. Good chance of being a top 3 defense. If we improve our roster (picks/FA) and one of Green/Sengun improves their 3PT shot we’re top 6 in the West. It’s going to be the first time in a long time that the core roster will stay intact so we’re going to see some advanced chemistry with this group. If our assets and players are managed well there’s a dynasty in our future.
Not so fast. Whitmore and Green may become collectively passable on defense (similar to Tatum/Brown). That would enable them to start together. Whitmore was drafted 19 years old and spent the first quarter of the season in the g league or bench. He’s played 17.8 minutes in 38 games in the NBA. He’s a baby by NBA standards. Give Udoka a chance to develop his defense. Cam is a decent man to man defender but like all 19 yr olds doesn’t understand team defense yet. He’s got the toughness/grit. He’s not lazy at all. There’s a reasonable chance he will become a very good defender. IMO it’s perfect for him to come off the bench next season and compete for Jalen’s minutes. It’s actually perfect for someone who needs to catch up on playing defense and finding the open man. Could win 6th man of the year in that role which would be huge for a 20 year old. As long as you give them lots of important minutes, you’re not holding back the development imo and still giving him a fair chance at beating out Jalen.
There should be plenty of minutes and we aren't factoring injuries ahead. The future starting lineup is very clearly Amen/Jalen/Cam/Jabari/Sengun with Tari becoming a perennial 6MOY candidate.
