Rockets one of the most aggressive suitors for Damian Lillard

RudyT is a magician.....pure wizardry

 

Cade is going 1st, that’s not even a question. He is completely out of the rockets reach. Also, the last Years of dame’s prime case wouldn’t be a star anyway, so the team would go nowhere. Giving up the future for 2 years of being the 7th seed is just horrific

 

Tate is not better than CJ
Wood or Nurkic - If healthy Nurkic but he rarely healthy
Normal Powell is interesting compared to the Rookie Cade I guess

I am not 100% sold on that

Rocket River

 

Well I'm not disputing Harden vs Dame, there is nothing to dispute. Harden is superior than Dame offensively. But they bring the same in terms of not being able to lead their teams when it matters most. Good on Harden for his personal stats and achievements but none have given their teams a chip....

 

Well one has never had a chance in hell and one lost after one of the most iconic performances in nba history by Scott foster so there’s a bit of a difference

 

We can only hope.

 

Just get rid of Wall AND keep all our young players AND keep the lottery pick for Dame + Covington with the rights to Cade. Not so hard right?
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If Stone pulled that off, I'd consider him to be one of the greatest GMs in history.

 

Dame can't defend a lick. Harden finally put more effort on defense despite being relatively slower in Houston. Dame never did that for Portland. I don't want him on the Rockets. I read on the net, Dame wants to go to Philly or to the Knicks. That's fine with me.

 

suns werent contenders at the start of the year, but they almost won it.... miami last year also was near and they werent a contender.... god bless you but noone gave the bucks a chance to win it all when nets big 3 got together...

there is never a guaranteed rings no matter who you got... just go outthere and compete, be available... dont spend next 5 years losing on purpose cause it doesnt get done that way...

look at philly and all the perennial losers and bottom dwellers of this league...who were losing for years hoarding big talent and picks and young players just to be losing even more for years and years....

 

Hate to hear that. Again...my biggest fear in this whole deal....

Just allow us to rebuild for God's sake!

 

But according to experts in this thread it's not very smart to believe that Houston/Stone is nothing more than a facilitator though.

 

Me too. AlyKhan Bijani tweeted a while ago that Stone and Silas are going to address the media soon.
They probably have traded the 2nd pick imo.
That would be terrible.

 

Kinda early for anything draft-related.

Maybe Houston Food Bank stuff?

https://twitter.com/Rockets_Insider?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

hells no

 

Tell me the last time a coach and GM announced a trade to the public before the media got their hands on it?? Come on, I understand the trepidation, but let's be real. The Rockets are not giving up the #2 pick for a 31 year old Damian Lillard. KOC might have clarified that the Rockets are in fact interested in Lillard, but that doesn't mean the Rockets are interested in paying full market value for him. They might just be kicking the tires on a bargain deal.

 

I sure hope so.

 

The 3rd team scenario, was rational folks giving Rockets front office the benefit of the doubt. But say this is true... it means what exactly:

Based on Dame's last Team USA interview, it seems like Dame very much want to remain with the Blazers, but he doesn't believe a mere head coach change will make them better, and is lobbying the Blazer's front office: Neil Olshey to get him another superstar or more pieces. Dame still prefers Blazers.

From Blazers front office PoV, they obviously would like to retain Dame, but maybe after shopping CJ, they don't think they could get such superstar. In which case if other teams like the Rockets ask for Lillard, and if some 'godfather' offer was presented; Blazers, gets so tempted, they're willing to part ways with Dame and rebuild. My understanding is that Lillard doesn't have a no-trade clause. Is Neil at a point with Dame, where he's willing to send Dame somewhere that Dame won't like.

If you're in Blazers front office's shoes, do you think they're there yet. It's possible, but in my opinion: NO (at least right now). Blazer GM and Dame are on solid grounds as far as reporting from Portland's beat writers. The GM was even in Vegas visiting Dame during Team USA practice.

 

This. Like why WOULDN'T Stone make the call just to see what can be done? And the word "aggressive" would very well mean

"Okay Neil, I'll give you Wall, Detroit's 1st next year, the Bucks' 1st next year and the #23 this year"
*Olshey hangs up*
"Neil, it's Raf again. How about Wall, #23, #24, Detroit's 1st and Tate?"
*Olshey hangs up*
"Neil, It's Raf again. I don't know why your phone keeps cutting out. How about Wall, #23, Tate, #24, and Detroit's 1st?"
"That's just the same trade as before but you shuffled around the pieces!"
"Ah so you ARE paying attention! Ok so how about Wall, #23, Eric Gordon, Tate and-"
*Olshey hangs up*

#aggressive

 

Stone says he likes Kevin Porter's passing and praised him. He also said the Rockets aren't locked in with the 2nd pick. Evaluations and conversations are continuing. Silas says he likes the draft process, he is also looking at the current roster, so they can get better.