Yes. I have no idea, but I think the team likes Oladipo more than you realize. And you can’t say you think we won’t make the playoffs because of a projected trade. That’s silly.
100% this. Portland was missing 2 of their best players. Houston should be trying to get a top 4 pick playing the young guys.
Because it's the best strategy for this team what's the point of playing to miss the playoffs? OKC gets the pic if it's not top 4 protected. I'm sorry I don't get exited about these guys beating a depleted Portland team. This team isn't good enough to make the playoffs. There are too many teams in the West that are much better than Houston. I don't see the value in not tanking.
Oh, I’m sorry. You just watched tonight. Just FYI, we’ve won four in a row. Welcome to Rockets’ basketball.
Lol. I watched them all. We beat 2 terrible teams in Detroit and Washington. The Mavs win was a good one and tonight we barely beat a depleted Portland team. So why the playoff bound optimism?
I love Victor, but see us rebuilding...longer timeframe. Tucker goes to a contender at the deadline. Different strategy.
It cracks me up how people like you always bring up the faults of the opposing teams but never discuss our circumstances. We weren’t exactly healthy in that stretch. The fact is we’re within striking distance of a division title against a team we beat with a far less healthy squad. We have the #2 defense efficiency in the NBA. We have multiple guys who can put up 20+ and a 25 year old playing like a top 3 center. And you want to “tank?” Get out of here.
I think the team has a different perspective. I think we surprise everyone and extend Oladipo. We have enough draft capital and talent to retool without rebuilding.
I think that as long as Fertita owes money to Les Alexander the team will probably follow Les Alexander views in being competitive and to never tank. I guess maybe that’s better for business.
Rebuilding on the fly. No tanks here. See the Lowry/Martin/Scola squad for a blueprint. We will not be drafting high boys. Get used to it. Organizational culture and hard work is the right way to do this. We found our Spoelstra.
The Rockets haven't been truly bad since 2002, when Francis sat out with migraines and we drafted Yao. This team has too much talent to be top-4 in the draft! Even if you trade Tucker and Oladipo, the floor of Wall + Wood + a deep roster of good role players is 30+ wins. If you keep them, this is absolutely a playoff team. For me, it's just nice to be able to watch a team of players happy to wear the uniform, working their butts off, and I think they've got room to grow still as they get the chance to gel.
Honestly, this team could very easily end up the number 5 seed if they want to go that route by keeping the unit together. I think the top 4 in the West are pretty clear. After that it's just a bunch of meh. Utah and Denver don't exactly scare me either. I have no clue what their plan for Oladipo is.
It's way too early to determine what the potential is of a group of guys who haven't played together. This season, I think they could be a 5 or 6 seed, maybe even upset a non-Lakers opponent. Long term? I think the NBA now depends on recruiting stars to want to play with your team. That's how the contending teams all got there. If the Rockets are a fun team with good assets and happy stars, in a major media market, I think that's probably the easiest path to future contention. Especially if Brooklyn implodes and our ship of good picks comes in. I think that's more likely that hoping that they land Cade Cunningham or whoever, hoping he develops into a superstar, and then recruits another superstar, before he also gets sick of losing, or sick of ownership, and demands a trade.
