The fact that the Rockets made a terrible trade for the scrub that is Westbrook doesn't mean he's any good. For the record, I don't "hate" Westbrook, he's just a terrible player and always has been. Some see the flash and get fooled by the stat padding because they don't realize efficiency is a thing, but Westbrook is essentially all of the worst traits of Kobe taken to the extreme without ANY of the good.
If Wall isn’t healthy Harden will leave... but Harden was leaving if Westbrook stayed anyway because Westbrook didn’t want to play here... Westbrook has little value.
So for me Russ was actually a valuable player on the same contract as Wall. same length and same money. So unless the draft pick is really valuable, this is basically a trade of Russ for Wall. Now i honestly can't be supportive of that. I lived in DC the last 11 years and have watched Wall closely (granted he hasn't played in 2 yrs), and while i think Wall is a good player, there is no way to know how good he will be coming back from his injuries. Russ played really well for us last year. He augmented his game to suit the team and he was hugely productive and he played his ass off. I think it's a clear signal that this is a panic move and that we are on our way to blowing up the team. a heavily protected 1st rounder does not equate to making this trade a good one for Houston. This is a clear signal that Russ doesn't want to be here. And that is a clear signal that it is all about Tillman. Which really sucks.
Love the trade....this **** type of offense that we had with MDA was a mistake from Day 1. But with all the talent we have on this team, how much do we need to rely on Wall? I think it's going to be the same participation that we got out of CP3, which is fine by me. Just need him for his defense and being the floor general on the court.
You are right WB has little value, but just a year ago he was worth 5 picks. Rox bought him at his highest and sold him at his lowest for another asset objectively worse. It's a triple clown surprise, the Rox got clowned by Pritchard, Wizards FO and even Morey who probably cant believe how dumb this trade is. Even if Russ said he gonna sit out....whats he gonna do? He locked in for years he really gonna leave 40M in the bank for years? Rox can penalize him and have league void his contract if he doesnt play. We seen his vids playing with Harden and doing dunks, dude was keeping in shape waiting to play. Sitting out training camp was just a statement he wanted out but doesnt mean he wasnt gonna show up and play. And if he plays he will increase his value, it cant be any lower than it is right now. I dont mind trading WB but not now. They shoulda traded him at the start before the drama or later in mid season.
You wanna make this team better after that trade? Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Issac For P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon plus the Portland protected 1st rounder and a 2nd This will make our bigs pretty much stacked. Then figure out if you can flip Jonathan Issac and something for Buddy Hill. This would be a complete make over team and a much more dynamic team. Wall is a great passer and 3point threat.
Fair enough. There are trade offs between the two but they both are better creators for others than themselves.
Russ was not worth 5 picks. The Rockets were just desperate to make Tilman and Harden happy that the only contract they could match was CP3s who had a down year, a large contract and OKC demanded high picks to take on his contract. It was a stupid idiotic deal. No other team was giving up 5 picks for Russ and his $160 million contract.
This team is better rounded right now and Harden can utilize his lobs again. Better rebounding and paint and rim protection. Where we need a star is on the wing. Harden is already our high usage guard. Wall can complement him and he’s a better shooter and passer than WB. Bring in midrange and we are less predictable. I know there’s risk here but you weren’t getting a star back for WB and he wanted out. The alternative was not looking good.
I agree with that completely. If you could ever convince Westbrook to become a pass first PG that NEVER shoots 3's, he'd be amazing, but he just doesn't have it in him. He NEEDS to shoot the ball all the time. I want Wall to be that pass first PG for the Rockets, I want him surrounded by shooters when Harden is not in the game and I want him ready to take and make a catch and shoot 3 when Harden is in the game.
And yet WB has a better career EFG and TS%..... they are different players who get buckets differently. Without FTs then WB would be considerably worse.
harden is as good as gone, but i'm down to see 1 more year of him getting a scoring title and throwing it in people's faces that he's still a beast without d'antoni.
I think a lot of that is Wall taking a lot of bad shots. I'm hoping that he can improve on that in a different role here where hopefully he won't feel like he has to be the guy. I'm hoping the guy who fits better with the horrible efficiency numbers will do better here. Who knows? IMO it's better than sticking with what we know doesn't work and a guy who won't even show up.
Posted weeks ago in the thread, that I didn't want Wall no matter how much came with him. Didn't want another 40/yr deal..especially for a guy that I believe will never play more than 40 % of a season for us. And, we're only getting back one frp with all those protections. I absolutely hate this deal...We had a chance to get unstuck, and get a lot of what we need without the downside risk..and they do THIS. I thought Stone was A LOT better than this. Like many big you, Im wondering if the Fertittas DID demand this move. It's just so bad....and, weird. Feels UnStonelike. Massively disappointed! One would guess EG and picks go out for a stud three. I sure hope something is added to this deal. Damnit, I'm hitting the rack! Mother******!!!!!!!!!!! They played their cards horribly. We truly are screwed now...and for a long time.
The video posted earlier with Arenas and Wall was a great watch. Listening to Wall talk about Gilbert pushing him to work on what he wasn't great at over this summer was the most interesting, the spot up 3's was the big one he concentrated on. Gilbert was really strong on pushing the fact he knows Wall can get to the rim and finish, stop worrying about that really concentrate on what you aren't as good at and make that a strength. That video alone gives me a lot of hope for this trade.
It is actually a fact that Russ was not worth 5 picks. Not sure why this keeps being said as 5 picks is completely inaccurate. It was 2 1st round picks (*2024 & 2026) and 2 pick swaps (*2021 & 2025). The pick swap in 2021 is likely not to matter assuming we keep Harden so you are then looking at 2 1st round picks and 1 pick swap.
