There is no doubt that Stephen Silas wants the rebuild over tomorrow, because he is afraid of being labeled a losing coach. That is a tough reputation to overcome. However the GM and the owner need to be on the same page and need to be able to overlook what Silas' motivation is. I just do not see a team of Wood/Gordon/Tate/Porter/Wall winning you ANYTHING.... it is possibly a playoff team, but who cares? The upside is really limited.
Geez, that sucks. If he was smart, he would have taken 1,000 corner 3s a day in practice to nail those down. It is disappointing that he doesn't see how this would massively increase his value as a player. But that's always been the knock on him: he views himself as more LeBron than Shawn Marion.
The Magic system has him take most of his 3's above the break so players like Ross can sit in the corner.
AG is a glorified but essential role player. Rockets still need that franchise player, or two. Rockets may have that in Porter, Wood, draft pick or via FA. Adding AG does not change this strategy.
A team with: PG-Wall SG- E Gordon SF- House SF- A Gordon C- Woods Bench: Porter, Tate, Nwaba and K-Mart Jr these guys can play elite defense and score 115 points a game...we can beat Utah, Phoenix and Spurs...now we can have problem with Lakers and Clippers but we are a elite team with a player away to win this ALL. People always after trading a star always player want to trade everything and wait 5 years...The FUTURE can be now, Stone is working to make this team Elite now and free agents will be busting at the seams to get to Houston!! I would trade Dipo, Tucker to Knicks or Heat or Lakers for picks and young talent send them to Orlando and we will give them two more 1st round picks. YES!!! Gordon is that important to our quick REBULD!!
#Truth I have been screaming this into the ether all season! AG was used very differently this season due Fultz injury and the loss of DJ Augustin. AG as point forward had the team positioned at 6-8 in the East. His 3P is just under 37% and he was averaging 6 assists during this period. When AG went down, the Magic fell out of the playoffs.
AG offense will level up in a 5 Out offense. With the spacing provided in our system, he will have more room to attack the rim without a 5 and another forward (like Isaac) sitting in the paint. But it is his ability to defend 1-5, rebound, roll to rim/lob threat, create for himself (Silas loves show and go ability at every position) and be secondary ball handler that should excite Rockets Nation.
AG fits next to Porter (and even Wood) exactly the way he would next to Harden. But I also wanted AG when Harden was here. This is probably why Nets are also interested in adding AG as well.
If PJ not instrumental for AG trade (he shouldn't) then I am ready to pull trigger to send him to 76ers or Heat for whatever.
I would send Magic either Pistons or Wizards pick, both are essentially garbage anyway. But Dipo and BMac should be enough. Heck throw in Kurucs for shets and giggles too.
I appreciate the optimism but that's a 40-42 win team in today's NBA if I ever saw one, regardless of how well they play on defense. ...45 if Porter continues to improve. As for being an "elite team with a player away".....you're either going to acquire this player via free agency (which we don't have the cap room to do) or you're going to draft the player (meaning most of these guys won't be around by the time your draftee gets settled into the league). Either way the Future really can't be now.
AG is a very useful player, especially on the defensive end of the court. That really isn't in debate, the question to me is do we want to pursue players like that at this point or when we have a better idea of who our stars will be.
As long as trading for AG doesn't derail the tank then I'm on board. Since they're losing by 20 pts each night I dont think AG will stop the tank.
Agreed. If we're in a situation where we're rebuilding (and all signs point to "hell yes") then we need to: 1. collect as many draft picks as possible 2. collect as many high risk high reward players as possible 3. make sure we are not bringing in any players that make a ton of money if they're not an elite player By trading for AG (and thereby giving him an extension that'll probably be more than $20 mil/year) we're going away from #3 completely. The counterpoint would be "Well in two years the biggest contract we would have is Wall's and AG's new deal....well now you're committed to almost $70 million (Wall's $47 player option and Gordon's ~$20 estimated salary) to two players who are no where near options 1A or 1B on an elite team. Again, I'm a fan of AG but I don't think trading for him at this point in the Rockets' timeline is the smartest thing to do....unless Stone is somehow predicting AG is going to make The Leap to elite status in his 8th season in the league next year.
