[ClutchFans] Podcast: Steven Adams, Mikal Bridges and Trade Possibilities for the Rockets

Spoiler

BT: Don’t think you could get Adams for three 2nds if healthy but less than enthused the Rockets gave up three picks, two of which could be pretty good. … A little more than I would have liked to give up. Slight overpay but nothing I’m gonna get worked up over.

C: Sengun has been fantastic this year. Offensively, incredibly gifted player. Still has those defensive weaknesses even though they’re getting better. This (Adams) masks some of that.

C: My understanding, they like Adams better than Capela. … This came up out of the blue, weren’t expecting it and had to act quickly. They had to jump on it. Agree the price is a little high, given he’s not playing the rest of the year.

C: Sengun is a little undersized for a C. Gifted in so many ways. Added face up game, shooting more threes, incredibly versatile offensively but there are some things they can bolster on this roster.

C: I know for sure they tried to get Mikal Bridges. They made an attempt. It was more exploratory. Given that they feel confident it’s not possible to get Bridges, they might have thrown out the possibility of how much they’d give. Now my opinion: love Mikal Bridges. Fantastic player. Would love him on a team with a couple of stars. Efficient. Two-way player. If the Rockets give up all the Brooklyn assets and even add Jalen Green, that’s crazy at this stage. There’s no rush. Green has struggled this year. He’s starting to go on a tear now. We’re seeing some possibility of rounding a corner but I’d hate to jump to any conclusions. I’m not against making a change. Bridges is a high level role player. You better be confident with the rest of what you have, that you have the stars there, if you’re gonna spend that much in assets to get him.

BT: I don’t think Stone will give up all the Brooklyn assets. My guess is Green would be part of the package. …

BT: I don’t think the Rockets would trade Green for an unprotected future first round pick period. He’s worth more than a first round pick. If the Rockets were offering Green and the ‘24 Brooklyn pick for Bridges, that alone is worth five first round picks. They might offer more than that. The thought they’d offer Green and ALL the Brooklyn picks is ludicrous to me.

C: Rockets are not at the stage where they should be going all-in and limiting flexibility.

BT: I wouldn’t give up the ‘25 swap. I’m certainly not giving up Green, the ‘24 pick and ‘25 swap. I’d maybe do Green, ‘24 and forgive the ‘27 swap. Maybe.

C: Rockets have a definite interest in Bridges. I do have a concern about the Fertittas getting impatient or deciding “The time is now. Let’s make a leap.” I wouldn’t. I’d be patient. I’d improve at the margins. … If you give it time, these guys might show more. Let it play out. The Rockets can afford to be patient. Bridges would be nice but they don’t need to go all in.

BT: There’s no incentive for them to dump any of Tate, Landale or Je.Green if you can use them as salary matching to get a clear upgrade, great. If in Tate’s case you can get future pick(s), …sure. Rockets have no urgency to dump any of those guys. Between Jeff Green, Landale, Tate and now Adams, the Rockets have tons of expiring salaries if they keep all four going into the offseason. Tate is a pure team option. Green and Landale are non-guaranteed. If the Rockets want to make a star trade, having those salaries are as good as cap room. …

…

C: Amen, the goal out of the gate, was to play him. Ime I know for a fact was impressed with his defensive ability. He was gonna get him out there regardless. For Cam, I feel the goal was for him to be in the G League much of the year but he has accelerated this so fast. There’s still things they want to refine. Shot selection is a big one. He’s still learning the team game on both ends. He’s probably making his way to playing time. Tari is coming back. Tate is here.

…

BT: Rockets have not yet used their Room MLE ($7.7M going into the season). Because it’s prorated, they’ll still have over $5M of the Room Exception they could offer any buyout guys. Extreme example: Charlotte decides to buy out Gordon Hayward. Rockets will be sitting there with more money than most teams. A Kyle Lowry could get bought out. The deadline is not the last chance to get better. Armed with a decent exception, they could throw some money into the buyout market.

(Thoughts on the season so far)
BT: Generally pretty happy. I was expecting 32-35 wins. Udoka has done a terrific job. The young guys for the most part have developed. While Green is terrific right now, he’s regressed a little bit on the totality of his season. Sengun has been tremendous. Not only his improvement offensively but defensively has been extremely encouraging. Free agent additions have been terrific. FVV has been a culture setter and terrific leader. Brooks has brought what I thought he’d bring: defensive toughness and a mindset that is contagious defensively. For the most part, the big moves (Udoka, FVV, Brooks, rookies) have all been working out relatively well. If they can make the play-in, I’d be ecstatic. At this moment, I think they’ll fall just short. If they get to 38 wins, fans should consider that a relative success.

C: I’m with you. Very happy with it. Very successful so far. When they made the moves this offseason, the goal was Fred, Lopez, Brooks, you have to envision this team down the line without some or all of those guys. Lopez was 2 years, Fred is 2 years, possibly 3 years, Dillon is 4 years. How does this team contend without those guys? I do think they’re here like you said to set a culture, how to be professionals and bring it on both ends of the floor. I don’t think if you take out Fred that this is a playoff team. He’s been tremendous. We’ve seen enough growth from the young guys to call this a success. Jabari has made huge strides. Sengun has made strides. Jalen really struggled. It was his first season under a professional coaching system. We heard John Wall talk about it constantly. He’s learning the fundamentals and how to play winning basketball. It’s encouraging to see him come along, not to mention Tari, Cam and Amen. The young core six, all very positive. We still have a ways to go before they’ll anchor a playoff team or contending team.

BT: The Udoka effect has changed the entire franchise. Moving forward, post-FVV, post-Green and moving into 2025 and beyond, players that before wanted nothing to do with the Rockets franchise are gonna want to come play here, sign as free agents if the money is equal or would be willing to be traded here. I think you’ll get more positive reviews and willingness to come here from good players going forward.

 

Trade Deadline week cometh

 

Segunatics about to blow up Clutch's feed. @Os Trigonum

 

@Os Trigonum @juanm34 @ElPigto

 

Thanks @Clutch, thanks @BimaThug , great podcast as usual!

This statement by Bima is by far the most encouraging for me!!

BT: “The Udoka effect has changed the entire franchise. Moving forward, post-FVV, post-Green and moving into 2025 and beyond, players that before wanted nothing to do with the Rockets franchise are gonna want to come play here, sign as free agents if the money is equal or would be willing to be traded here. I think you’ll get more positive reviews and willingness to come here from good players going forward.”

There is a new Sheriff in Tombstone and the O.K Corral is open for business once more!!


Go Rockets!!!
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All hail Clutchfanaticos.

 

Finally the woman basher has been relegated

 

I also fear Tilman being impatient. Did y’all hear him during the new practice facility presser?

 

This was a great podcast, and a summary of whats been on this board. I love how ya'll value green even though a lot of this board can't see what we have, a potential superstar. you just don't give him away.

 

Always enjoy the ClutchBima pods.

We can’t keep and pay all 6 of our draft prospects since 2021, correct?

I get that we don’t need to trade one of those players at the deadline, but at some point one’s playing time comes at the expense of another; especially when you consider the importance of playing veterans.

cam and Amen are ready for consistent minutes. Tari, Bari and Sengun will get their minutes. Dillon and Fred are the glue to this team and will continue to play big minutes.

Im hoping for a Jalen trade because I want to focus on developing our other 5 prospects. But I wouldn’t trade Jalen at the deadline for anything less than a really good starting-caliber player and a draft pick.

At the very least I’d like to make a marginal trade to help our backcourt shooting and center depth.

 

Sublime Podcast with the Daves...

 

Senguenians don't really care about him or his agenda anymore. they are active on X as far as i can observe.

ps. good listen. thanks for the links.

 

Always a good listen, thanks @Clutch @BimaThug

 

These are always great, thanks for doing them

 

Good listen.

 

Bo Porter era is gone
AJ Hinch has begun
Dynasty coming

 

Bout time, Tillman hired a boy to coach boys, taught them bad habits and in half a season, Udoka supposed to changed bad habits
God I hate Tillman, what a moron

 

The La (Mo) Bamba Boyz back at it!!!

Great job guys this was a great listen!