Stone has done a great job of giving us some flexibility on the fly. If Wall and Cousins work out we can add, if not we've already taken steps toward a rebuild.
I think the only viable trade is to wait EG to restore his value, and ship him for some wing players with size. I don't like the idea of bundling PJ and EG, there is no tradable all-stars which make us better after we lose the two key rotation players. House's value of playing is much higher than his trade value, also his salary is so low that adding him with EG doesn't expand the possible trading candidates that much. If everything works out, i.e., Wall backs to 110% like what he claimed, the team is playing well and Harden changes his mind to stay, I would try to trade EG + 1/2 FRP for Aaron Gordon. AG has good size, which can make our roster more balanced. Currently the team is paying 100M for guards only. I have questions about his game that he can do a little bit of everything but is not really good at anything, not a good shooter, not a good defender, not an efficient scorer. However, he is probably the best forward we could possibly get and can likely make us better.
I thinks it’s the most glaringly obvious “fit” of the trades that are out there. It’s also encouraging that Houston and Orlando at least had discussions about a Westbrook-Aaron Gordon trade, as it at least proves interest on Houston’s part. https://www.google.com/amp/s/premiumhoops.org/2020/07/16/aaron-gordon-a-pre-bubble-analysis/amp/ This is a great article on Gordon. The conclusions: 1) great on-ball defense, but off-ball needs work. Seems to lack awareness. Learning from Tucker would be good for him I think. 2) on offense he’s asked to be the primary creator, but he doesn’t have the elite vision of Lebron. He can do it, but it’s more of a secondary skill. He does it because Orlando has not had the kind of creators that would allow him to move off ball. The skills that he is elite at, cutting and rolling, he hardly ever gets to use because nobody can set the table for him. Reading that article made me want him even more. You can just see Harden and Wood on one side with Wall and Gordon on the other with us running endless picks until the defense collapses. Having another finisher in the front court next to Wood (after having none when we finished last year) who can also do a bit of facilitating on set plays would add a tremendous amount of versatility to our team.
I know, his fit with Harden was always apparent to me!! And AG will be great fit with Wood and Silas' motion offense as well. He has great vision to find cutters. And of course he is a monster off the bounce. I've just been trying to speak it into existence for years.
It’s there, I just want to do anything we can to make it a Gordon swap rather than including PJ. Gordon could learn from PJ, and PJ would be a huge piece off the bench for us. I’d include as many picks as necessary to keep PJ out of the deal, and then give him that extension. His game will age well because it’s based on grit, smarts and shooting. I’m fine giving him $10 million per year...he’s worth it. This all comes back to Harden. If Harden will sign that extension, I’d be 100% on board with making the deal now and including all of the picks. Who cares about a bunch of mid-1st if you have Harden locked up for 4 years? Also, side note...I really hate making roster decisions based on future luxury taxes that may or may not be relevant. It’s why OKC collapsed. They wouldn’t have had a luxury tax issue at all had they just been a little patient and waited to see how things played out. This jumped into my head because I can just see Tillman freaking out over thinking he may have to pay several guys big money over multiple years. Tillman can pay a little luxury taxes for the next 2 years and the bill won’t be too hefty. If when Aaron Gordon’s contract expires he looks like a max guy (unlikely), then pay him like one and convince Wall to opt out and give him a longer term deal at a lower annual $$$. Problem solved. Or if Wood looks like a star, let Gordon walk and pay Wood big money. Or trade Wall in his expiring year if he opts in and keep Gordon and Wood. There’s plenty of options to cut salary later on. I don’t expect Tillman to pay the huge penalty taxes with multipliers. I do expect him to not cut corners and duck the luxury tax while Harden, one of the 3 best players on the planet and perhaps best offensive player of all time, is in his prime.
Amen brother! I'd do that trade for AG with FRP(s) right now even if Harden does not sign that extension (he will later, he loves to hoop and he has like minded guys all around him - Wall, Cousins and hopefully AG). Get rid of those nonbelievers like EGo and even House. Keep Tucker as long as possible is good idea, he is Harden's best friend on the team. But AG is still so very young and can help Rockets right now as well as be key part of rebuild. Tilman just has to believe and pull the trigger, make that trade happen. And Harden is back, fingers crossed he is here to stay beyond this season.
Which is why I said it would have to be Hill and another player whether it was in a 3 team trade or ensuring a buyout was coming here. We’re not going to trade EG for AG and have our guard rotation be Harden Wall and lord knows who’s left. Ben is only useful with Harden, Clemons is not useful. Walls health is iffy and probably won’t play all games.
I’d get a little antsy trading the picks before a commitment as you don’t know Aaron Gordon’s fit with the the next phase of the Rockets. If we trade Harden for Simmons, for example, does Simmons/Gordon work? I don’t know. Also, if you’re getting Simmons, I would really want to make a run at Beal armed with a mountain of picks. i really like Gordon. But spending draft capital comes with competing, and if Harden hasn’t recommitted to the franchise, then I don’t think we are winning anything and need to continue building for the future.
so i checked for anything that fits and it's true, there really are very few long forwards out there who would be an upgrade in a swap w/ EGO rudy gay would get us off 2yrs of EGO's contract, but dude's already 34 kyle anderson would be a useful player for us, but not as useful as a healthy EGO harrison barnes would require us to send out another player tj warren is a f'n pipe dream methinks EGO stays a rocket
Covington, Westbrook and Eric Gordon for Wall, Wood and Aaron Gordon Average age of the 1st group: 31 Average age of the 2nd group: 26.5 I’d call that a major success given the circumstances. Wall / Brown Harden / McLemore House / Nwaba Gordon / Tucker Wood / Cousins Use the buyout market to hunt for PG and center depth, plus general talent upgrades. Gotta say, it would be genuinely fun to watch that group.
https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/...-ideas-2020-2021.308196/page-31#post-13227959 https://bbs.clutchfans.net/threads/rockets-starting-line-up.308803/page-2#post-13251964 These 2 comments (which are also his 2 most recent). He’s said Tucker was being shopped for a pick in mid-Nov, then says he’s still being shopped earlier this week.
That would be a very fun and exciting team to watch! Just have to convince Rockets and Magic this IS right move for each team. Going to take at least 2 FRP to move EGo for AG without involving another team(s).
SnT for Shaq Harrison or sign Zhaire Smith for vet min would be a solution for backup PG after EGo for AG trade.
Other than Harden, Wall, and Gordon. Who else can handle the ball? We don't even know if Wall can play back to back. If they can trade Gordon they better get a ball handler back. No, Clemons is not a rotation player. I think George Hill and Darius Miller would be good. Backup PG and SF/SG.
yeah. As I mentioned, with an extension from Harden, I’m willing to go up to 4 picks...the 3 we acquired and our 2021 1st, to keep Tucker out of the deal. without an extension, I probably keep the picks and see if Eric Gordon’s value improves to start the season.
Concerning Aaron Gordon, I really love the idea of adding him to Christian Wood for the simple fact that we would have some young horses around when and If Harden leaves. If you end up having to trade for Simmons, and worst case scenario Wall/Boogie fizzle, we would still have a really sexy young core of Ben Simmons, Aaron Gordon & Christian Wood. Sure, we might not be real contenders, but gawdamn that’d be a fun team to watch.
