OKC is the one with switching rights not Miami. They will switch their Miami pick with ours thats why tanking idea is dumb. Rox would be happy to get Precious and not give up further draft rights in addition to Dipo. Dipo has been sucking ass why would Miami trade the farm when they can get him in the offseason if ghey still want him? If I were Riley I'd offer a protected FRP and nothing else. The only scenario tanking makes sense is if Miami is tanking as well, with both OKC and Miami tanking then it would make sense for Rox to tank cuz they are guaranteed a lotto pick in that scenario. But since Miami is oretty much guarsnteed to make the playoffs its dumb to tank and then get a non lotto pick for your trouble.
With only 3 teams more than 1 game above .500, almost any team can still make the playoffs in the eastern conference.
Rox are too good to tank that is the problem. If they suck naturally then fine but they dont. Once Wood and Wall come back healthy which is the 2nd half of the season Rox are gonna make the playoffs. Just bring KPJ back gonna boost the Rox a couple of wins. Thats why its dumb to keep talking about tanking you will need to intentionally hurt the team and then you give your pick to OKC for your trouble.
Doesnt matter Heat are gonna make the playoffs. They've gone from -5 net rating with Jimmy B out to +1 net rating with him back. Even as the 8th seed they'll be there.
Yeah its 50-50 for a top 4 pick vs 100-0 for a 10th (likely 6th to 7th) gift-wrapped for OKC. I'd take the 50-50 anyday. Plus the whole Rockets situation stinks - terrible owner, new unproven coach, mediocre aging vets, young guys who have no potential left, even if we win a few more games what kind of satisfaction do you hope to gain?
I was extremely delighted and excited watching the likes of AB/Dragic/Scola/Dalembert competing for the playoffs and coming away with the 14th pick. However the guys currently on our roster would be out of the NBA by the time we have another star again (Nwaba/Brown/Tate/House/McLemore/Jones) and they have 0 potential left. Watching these roster fillers (who aren't really that young) trying to win would great if we had our own pick this year, but alas we don't. WE HAVE TO BE TERRIBLE. Say we could have the 10th pick and could keep it, I'd say yeah totally go hardout and try to win! But we are so close to the bottom that the price to pay to get there is minimal and this presents a golden chance for us to consolidate our assets and try to gain picks by trading veterans away in what looks like to be quality drafts with high schoolers being eligible for the draft, it's just a total no-brainer to try to tank. Remember its either being extremely bad and have a 50-50 of keeping the pick vs trying to be below average and 100-0 of gifting a top 10 pick away. If we had Ben Simmons and a bunch of scrubs, I'd still advocate for winning at all costs and develop Simmons. But we literally have no-one on our roster worthy of developing apart from Wood (who's injured). Tate is a decent player but he's really nothing special - his ceiling is like the 5th best guy on a championship team. Trying to win with an over-the-hill John Wall and a bunch of scrubs nearing the end of their NBA careers - really doesn't float my boat.
You are still this optimistic? We losing in the easiest part of our schedule and second half will be much tougher.
Kevin Porter Jr., KJ Martin, Christian Wood, JaeSean Tate, Justin Patton, Mason Jones, Sterling Brown. Brodric Thomas, Armoni Brooks hopefully are signed.
I do not think they are trying to win. You can clearly see in their body language during plays. Not putting much effort on defense and preventing players from getting injured. From becoming one of the best defensive teams to worst tells a lot. And then parting ways with Cousins confirms the intentions of the Rockets that they are trying to tank and go young. Dipo shown practicing all the time but not playing also tells something. What to be seen is if Rockets are planning to build the team around WOW and use draft picks to land maybe a future star or build just around Wood. Off-season is going to be exciting!
I like this guy! Good feel for the game, fluid movements, solid stroke, nice reach and defensive instincts, might be able to switch well on pnrs -- give him more time!!
KP Jr - Not on the team despite team being terrible KJ Martin - Not on the team despite team being terrible Christian Wood - He's already shown what he can do and he's injured Tate - Role player whos hardly going to do anything special Patton - I like him but what's his ceiling after being drafted in 2017? Jones - He's shown nothing and undrafted Sterling Brown - journeyman
Gives a great interview, seems like he is a smart guy that can learn a lot. Hopefully being around nba vets will unlock his game.
