They can talk all they want. There was time for talking like when Silas said he has great schemes for Jh and Wall and blew board away with his pptx open office presentation. Im not falling for this **** again unles they get Cade + someone else along with changing coach they aint doing ****. Silas ***** his pants when vets like Wall talk
Obviously you compete next year but it’ll look like a tank because they’ll still be worst five records in the league. But you have to keep trying to win games with the young guys.
to put this into recent perspective: after their rookie years, Trae had 5th worst record, and Luka had 6th worst ... and DAL didn't even own that pick, so zero incentive to tank.
In the old days, we used to gab on here about strategy, secure in the knowledge that Morey understood strategy, even if we didn't always agree with his moves. Now I'm just looking for evidence that this owner and the people he has appointed know what they're doing.
Wrong But very funny I also think it's very funny that you dont realize the Rockets/Spurs/Lakers teams were built through tanking.
With the talent on this roster, even if they luck into a top pick, I see another several bad years ahead. We do not have good ownership, and we have shown that saving money is more important than retaining an asset that could be used to improve the roster. We will have a fairly inefficient rebuild from the looks of things. Hearing these guys speak in the exit press conference, you can tell they are arrogant and not very bright. Silas was really an awful hire, there were many games that they should have won, but didn't. I do not think he intentionally tried losing games, the guys on this team were fighting for NBA roster spots, or their next contracts, or the desire to be wanted by a contender. Everyone had incentive to win games, and they still had the worst record. That will not change next season. Having a roster filled with injury prone players and then saying the season was an anomaly due to their injuries is ridiculous. John Wall has been injured his entire career, as well as Eric Gordon, and from the looks of it Wood will likely be the same way. Best case scenario is that you luck into good players via draft, you continue to lose with Silas and this ownership, and eventually that star will demand out. The Kings are a good example of this type of team. They were awful for 20 years, they get a player like Fox through the draft after 2 decades, and now he wants out within a few years. How is this franchise any different from the Kings, Pistons, Pacers, Magic, TWolves, etc? This team is more like the Magic once Shaq left, imagine how long their board has been thinking they will get a rebuild and be competitive again. Thinking we have some sort of option and can flip a switch to be competitive is absurd. Even someone who was trained by Morey in Sam Hinkie took several years of tanking to finally net ONE player who is still injury prone, but worth the gamble on. In order to be competitive in a market like ours, you need either a generational talent (which we gifted away), or you need solid leadership in an elite coach (Pop), an owner willing to spend anything to win (LAC), or you need a stellar front office (Miami, OKC, BOS, and now PHI etc). We do not have any of this.
In a vacuum this seems like a persuasive statement, which is why people repeat it. But far more teams have competed and come away with squat. For every tanking team that has gotten a Hakeem or Tim Duncan, there are dozens of teams that competed with tier 2 superstars like Dominique Wilkins and Shawn Kemp and Baron Davis and Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony Russell Westbrook Damian Lillard Stephon Marbury year after year and won nothing. A high draft pick has a chance to change the 5-10 year trajectory of a team in a way that NBA free agency typically does not. It's like making $80K this year versus making $40K this year with a 10% chance of a $1M bonus. Which do you pick? The math says option 2 unless your risk aversion is just exceedingly high
Tilman: If I'm paying tax and were not in the finals, time to find a new general manager Masai would be gone under tilman too with his obscure goal post that Milwaulkee, Philly, Nets, Warriors, lakers, Clippers, Jazz, Nuggets or all the teams trying to go all in can't guarantee a finals. Doesn't happen in this league.
This is not a decision to be made at the end of the season. If we get the number 1 pick and Cade turns out to be the next Basketball messiah in Houston then of course tanking is over. You start building as quickly as possible to help the team succeed. If Cade KPJ and Wood turn out to be just as potent as Denver's big 3 then there is no reason to tank. The first thing we have to figure out is how to ship Wall's contract into some smaller more trade friendly contracts. If we can do that and retain our pick this summer instead of shipping it to North Dallas, then the offseason is what I would call a success. Then we see what the young Rockets look like at the beginning of the season. If we still look like a pile of Landry's dog poop food, then we continue to tank and pile up on assets.
I'm gonna need some receipts. Sucking and tanking are not the same thing. Show me proof that those teams deliberately aimed to lose their games or not build a competitive squad?
The Rockets tank cannot extend past the 2023/2024 seasons as their picks will presumably convey to OKC in 2024 (top 4 protected), 2025(swap with OKC) and 2026 (top 4 protected). So the tank/rebuild/asset acquisition window extends for the next 2 seasons (it doesnt matter what its called). If the Rockets keep their pick this season then I think the "tank" part of the rebuild is over. Tanking, in my mind, is the willful indifference to losing or outright trying to lose rather than just not being very good. As has been mentioned, the Rockets will likely still have poor records in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 but that is more of a result of being young than trying to be bad. The kids need to grow up quickly so I expect the Rockets to put the young guys on the court early and often trying to get them seasoned for the 23/24 when hopefully the breakthrough comes.
We can also hope that Harden, Durant, and Irving don’t get their rings the next two years and go ring chasing somewhere else. At that point Brooklyn sucks and we replace the picks we are losing to OkC with lottery picks from Brooklyn. Would be so satisfying!
Tank not only next year, but the year after. The Rockets keep those picks, right? This team needs to reload with young talent and spend the next few seasons developing those players. I'll gladly sacrifice another two years of bad basketball in exchange for a decade of playoff and title contention(assuming the Rockets draft well, use their cap space and trade assets wisely, and don't have any bad injuries).
You can find the strategy, but it better be communicated in five minutes or less with a bottom line number at the beginning "After the meeting, Fertitta points to his watch. "We cover more in 17 minutes than most companies do in an hour because I will not have long meetings," he says. His attention span is about as long as this sentence. Besides, the numbers tell him everything."
i think rocket fans should be rooting for nets to win this year. if they don't, they will be hungry for a title chase until they get it. if they win it all early, i think its more likely they go separate ways and do their own thing or more chances for implosion
I never felt Morey knew it well enough. He never had any experience of playing basketball at a high level.
True. But neither do most of us. That's why there was so much sympathy for Morey on this board. A lot of us are wonky and schlumpy and out of shape. (Not me! )
I'm not out of shape either. Lol! Honestly, I didn't have sympathy for Morey because of his inexperience. He used to crunch the numbers more often than I liked. I was excited with his bold and fresh start with Brooks and Scolandry. Unfortunately adding quality depth surprisingly went out of the way for the most part afterwards. The Harden trade was a stroke of genius. Morey deserves huge credit for that. I hope Stone will surpass him. He should learn from the Oladipo fiasco. Tilman needs to stop poking his nose around into selections. He should spend more on coaching, scouting and development. End of my rant. Sorry about that, Will.
If your not a destination city building through the draft is the only way.. Recent Dynasties were built through the draft and organizations that develop prospects well GSW Spurs Miami OKC Lakers Stone has proved to be a great evaluator of talent cant wait to see what guys we draft I look forward to the future of the team & the prospects they get going forward. That top 4 pick along with the group now. I say 3 more years until at least playoff contention. Go Rox!!!
