Rockets need to stock up on as many diamonds in the rough it can get its hands on. Bamba is also an expiring contract. Magic simply refuse to play Bamba and are almost certain not to pay him, unless it's for a home discount. https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/1/25/22248359/mo-bamba-orlando-magic-young-nba-bigs ORL: Love, Exum, McLemore, House *Magic add more shooting/spacing, length at PG, defense - stay in playoff hunt CLE: Wall, Fournier, Cousins, Aminu, 76ers FRP *Cavs add more scorers to complement 2nd best defense PHI: Tucker, Kurucs *6ers add one of best glue guys in League, corner 3ball shooters and iso defender in PJ - immediately improves best team in East HOU: AG, Nance, Drummond, Thybulle, Bamba, Korkmaz *Rockets get longer, even more explosive, add 3 ball handlers and upgrade iso and post defense *Rockets clear up to 55M in salary next season with the 3 expiring contracts of Drummond, Oladipo and Bamba. EGo/Porter/Mason Dipo/Thybulle/Brown Nance/Nwaba/Korkmaz AG/Tate/KJ Wood/Drummond/Bamba Lockdown defense around Wood. Drummond/Bamba are better back up defender than Boogie. Small ball 2nd unit still intact. 5 ball handlers in starting 5 so ball does not get sticky. Nance, Brown, Mason, Korkmaz are 40%+ 3P shooters. Option to move either/both EGo, Dipo at trade deadline.
Celtic fans are a little off their rocker right now, especially that 3rd trade proposal. https://hardwoodhoudini.com/2021/01/25/boston-celtics-theis-trades-rockets/
Yeah I really thought about that. Ultimately it came down to if we wanted to gut completely or get younger and build. Hence why I used more of the protected picks. I would also think that we could up the value of someone like Bridges so if later on we do end up blowing it up (which I hope is never a thing) he could fetch more than what we got him for.
Given the circumstances , I think Stone did about as well as could be expected , particularly in sending Harden to his desired destination , that sucks in the moment but other players see that and it could affect FA decisions. It was quite clear that since there was no getting back a young star that accumulation of draft assets and clearing cap space was the objective. Brooklyn probably has a 2 year window to win or not .... All three of their stars have this year and next plus a player option .... I really don't see any of them there after that 3rd year. After that , who knows where they are ..... those picks 2024 and beyond have a solid chance to be lotto picks. I also think I prefer the picks over a player like Simmons ..... He's just not that number one guy you build around because he just can't shoot. I don't for a minute believe Morey was sending Simmons and X unprotected picks / swaps in return , those picks would have been fewer and had at least top 4-5 protection - there was a statement alluding to Stone making him one last offer that was related to the protections and Morey refused it. Read it in one of the million tweets , I think its in the 6ers didn't get a counter offer thread. I think they could have gotten a little better pick for Allen elsewhere but that was offset by getting off of a year of Taurean Prince contract. I hate to lose Harden .... but Stone did as good a job as could be expected 4 #1's , three of them unprotected and 4 unprotected swaps and still has pieces to wheel and deal between now and the deadline. Owning another teams draft for 7 full years is a big deal ..... windows are short.
This is the BIG we need next to Wood. Trade#1 ORL: Victor Oladipo HOU: Aaron Gordon, Mo Bamba, FRP Trade#2 ORL: House HOU: SRP Magic get an All Star and another starter, Rockets get longer and younger at 4 and 5 + what Stone covets most in the world, picks. 6'4 Wall/6'5 Brown 6'3 EGo/6'4 Jones/6'4 Porter 6'5 Tucker/6'4 Tate/6'5 Nwaba 6'8 AG/6'6 KJ 6'10 Wood/6'10 Cousins/7'0 Bamba
Defense is where the Rockets can establish their new identity. Rockets need to get longer as well as continue to collect explosive D centric players.
I believe the Rockets have a decent foundation going forward. Had the Rockets beginning to understand the offense/defense by the 18th game and being 10-8 (with Harden).....I think they can win out (see how we do with Blazers in Houston) and be 9-9. So one game off in the W/L column. I believe the next 14 games after are cupcakes. I think I have the Rockets going 11-3 in that stretch. Rockets would be 20-12. Crazy league this season as other teams are fluctuating with wins and losses.
I know AG is the perfect fit blah blah blah. But if he is unavailable for whatever reason, then what do y’all this about Tobias Harris? HOU IN: Harris PHI IN: Gordon, McLemore, PJ and cash considerations I’m pretty sure picks would be involved somewhere. Not sure which team would get them though. Cash considerations are needed to make up a 300k salary difference. Wall/Exum Dipo/Porter Tate/House/Brown Harris/Nwaba/Martin Wood/Cousins/Kurucs The trade helps balance the roster but they will need to find a backup PG. Maybe the Rockets could find one in an Exum trade?
It's a good trade, Harris is a good player but I'd rather have Aaron Gordon myself. Simmons is such a bad shooter. Wow.
Houston Rockets Trade Breakdown Change in Team Outlook: -2.2 ppg, -1.0 rpg, and +0.1 apg. Incoming Players Kevon Looney 24 year old, 6-9, 220 lb PF from UCLA 3.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 apg in 14.4 minutes in 2020-2021 Outgoing Players P.J. Tucker 35 year old, 6-6, 245 lb SF from Texas 5.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.4 apg in 31.3 minutes in 2020-2021
Don't know if Knicks do it, but this would be the best we can hope for Dipo. Knicks 2021 1st, Toppin, Noel for Oladipo
MPJ ship is sailing with his steller play, we ****ed up not getting him as the main piece while moving Harden.
Wall Gordon / KPJ House Tate / KJ Martin Wood This is everyone we currently have under contract for next season. My guess is Mason Jones will be signed to a 3 year deal later in the year using a portion of the MLE. Wall / Jones Gordon / KPJ House Tate / KJ Martin Wood Of all of our free agents, the one I most want to resign is Brown. He fits our timeline, fills a role we need, and can most likely be had on a reasonable contract. Something like 4 years $20 million. That leaves us with the potential to deal Oladipo, Tucker, McLemore and Nwaba. I doubt McLemore or Nwaba can net us more than 2nds, but still worth it IMO. Oladipo and Tucker are our real shots to add picks and prospects.
Then so much the better if he’s willing to agree to it! I do think we may pay a bit of a premium given that we aren’t a contender and we’d be locking him up for 4 years.
Agreed. He's a good player but it seems rare that a player makes over 30m a season and it's worth it.
