I like him, but we’re kind of full on 2s and 3s, and very thin up front. I wouldn’t mind some roster rebalancing. I expect McLemore to be traded at the deadline - someone will value his early bird rights as a shooter. I’m curious what they do with Nwaba - he fits in the identity, but he may be pricing himself out as a free agent for a rebuilding (maybe) team.
I'm curious what Stone will do the next few months. Pay Dipo the supermax that he demands and satisfy the many non-tankers of CF or trade him before the deadline for picks while his stock is high. If he ends up trading Dipo, I can see him doing the same with Tucker as well. Losing those 2 key pieces will definitely hurt us in the playoff standings. Paying Dipo the supermax for 5 years means we're stuck with him and Wall on our books for the remainder of Wood's contract basically locking up our cap space. If we keep failing to win it all does Wood leave for greener pastures after his contract is up? That's in 24' when we owe our pick/swap to OKC. Our team doesn't have any expectations now so everyone is happy and jolly but once the chip or bust goal kicks in, then for sure players will start getting unhappy if the result is not a ring.
Trade Dipo, Tucker, House Jr, Brown, Nwaba, Gordon & Mclemore. You still have Wall, Cousins, Tate, Kevin Porter Jr. & Wood and the trades would yield more young talent & picks. Additionally, you'll have more cap flexibility.
I'll enjoy PJ while he's here, however long that lasts. Lots of people have been taking him for granted, but I guarantee nobody in that locker room does. I hope they dont trade House just to trade him. If PJ is gone we need him at the 4. This offense is becoming more 'everybody eats' by the day and you saw last night the amount of different plays all the guys were making. Even PJ wasn't just a corner 3 spot up shooter anymore, he was being used as the roller and making plays out of the short roll. I think you saw Silas use all of our guys more dynamically last night.
Sure, at full strength it's essentially the same team that broke the record for NBA offense last year. I don't think this year's Rockets team has that kind of ceiling but I'm not going to cry that Luka's MVP campaign narrative is getting derailed.
Come to Houston Luka.... yes.... leave douche town I mean dallas.. they can tank and still get Cade Cunningham... we tank and we watch OKC jump for joy!
I think if Wall/Oladipo/Wood seem happy and WANT to play here Stone will probably keep Vic unless a deal is too good if we have a real shot at the playoffs, I think only PJ will be traded. I think we will keep Gordon & House around for a playoff push to bring hype to the franchise after trading harden Stone will clear the vets on the bench in the offseason. He will get the best deals for PJ/Gordon/House to make room for Jones/Martin/KPJ and other rookies we will be drafting over the years. By the time the Brooklyn picks become useful Walls contract will expire and Jones/Oladipo/KPJ/Wood or whoever will be our starters until oladipos expires & if anyone ever wants to be traded, it’s just more assets for the rebuild lol
I'd keep Brown and Nwaba if their price stays cheap. They are really valuable role players right now. But otherwise, yes. I'd only keep Cousins around because he's BFFs with Wall and Wall is not movable.
Brown and Nwaba are 1 yr deals who can walk fir nothing after the season. These are the types of contracts that you have to move at the deadline for picks to get value. Someone may overpay for those guys now.
If allowed we should extend them right now, trade House, Dipo, and Tucker and ramp up their minutes as starters. Wall Nwaba Brown Tate Wood Gordan Cousins Jones Porter Jr. Great defensive team, gives the necessary playing time to the youngsters and still competitive. More assets to use or trade to be back in the conversation in 1-2 years. Also, may get more serviceable players back to keep our extremely deep bench.
The problem is that, while the team might be good, they're definitely not good enough. You either want to be really bad or really good. In a regular season, this team looks like it could be a 40-45 win team, which is like 7-8 seed range and has us picking just barely outside the lotto. Which isn't a good spot to be in.
We are a lot more likely to land another superstar by making ourselves an attractive destination than we are with the lottery.
I would agree, but also disagree, since that hasn't particularly been the precedent, lately. I don't think team success really factors greatly into attracting FAs. Brooklyn was really bad (42-40) but attracted Kyrie and KD. They went 35-37 with Kyrie / with no KD last season, and now have Harden - all 3 are balling out. Spurs have a great culture, but aren't attracting anyone of note. Lakers are the Lakers - LeBron certainly didn't go there because the Lakers were successful before his arrival. Miami was pretty bad before Butler signed there. In recent memory, I can't remember when a superstar FA decided to jump to another team purely because that team was moderately successful in the prior season. It's either because 1) that city is a desirable place (LA, Miami), 2) that team already has a good player. Not saying it can't happen with Houston, especially if Wood keeps up his amazing play, but it's tough.
I hope that Stone can extend Nwada, Brown and Mason with good nice cheap contrats (4 year- 12 M) so we can move from Tucker and Gordon or Dipo.
I just cancelled my Netflix subscription today and started binge watching all these awesome threads in here starting from couple months back. It's a life changing experience.
