First, Stone should have known the defensive issues of taking Green #2. It wasn’t a secret. Having said that, I don’t think choosing one the top 4 is disastrous at all. First, Sengun is not someone accomplished enough to prevent how the Rockets draft with a high lottery pick. Having said that, Holmgren could play very well with Sengun. Chet can cover 4’s and 5’s, he is an exceptional defender and 3 point shooter. He also passes well and is great cutting to the basket. As for Smith, he is obviously a solid fit. He has the ability to be an All Defense team member, he hits three and is long. Sharpe will go in the top 5 of this draft if he declares. He is a combo guard with a strong aptitude for seeing the floor. The only poor fit is Banchero and he won’t likely be on the board at 4-5 so the Rockets could likely work out a trade. Porter isnt going to be the long term backcourt solution anyways.
Orlando won, too... they beat Dallas, which may hurt our 2nd pick, but helps our cause for the future a bit near the top.
Ok - the word disastrous may have been an over reaction... I would be tempted to trade back if we can't get Smith up top. A lot of water to pass under the bridge until we know where we are at. Job 1 is a bottom 3 finish
Won't be easy - OKC is in full tank and might be a long while before they win another game. Then you got NOLA, Sactown, Indiana, and the Spurs all looking like they are realizing the same thing - time to get the tank on.
Chet has a 7”7” wingspan… he has excellent shot blocking instincts, he can guard inside at a high level, is good one on one and is able to switch on to the perimeter… he plays very hard hard and passes well.. he also shoots over 40% on 3’s and finishes inside very well. People are over thinking this.
Orlando, OKC, Detroit, Rockets are in lowest depths of hell for another consecutive season with no end in sight. Shameful for Rockets to be in this group. Just hate seeing it.
Rockets have a bit more talent then those other teams and I can see them pulling out more wins... KPJ also looks like he figured out how to play decent PG. It's going to be a very stressful 2nd half.
Not shameful at all. Harden more than anyone screwed this franchise by insisting on Westbrick and then demanding a trade. We are re-building and re-building is painful for fans (see Astros). We have a nice core of young assets even if JG just becomes a traditional scoring SG with ok defense. I think we will be competing for a real playoff spot in 2023. We have a significant amount of assets that will allow us to get meaningful veterans to match with our 2021 and 2022 draft picks, plus KPJ, Tate, Matthews, and maybe Nix. Skepticism is a decent trait in the Rockets’ circumstance, but relentless pessimism is irritating to say the least.
I’m pretty sure Oklahoma will end up the second most losses. Cade is finding his groove so there is hope that Detroit ends up winning more than us. If we trade Wood and Gordan then I think we lock up the third seed. If not we will probably end up 4 or 5.
In all earnestness, please stop this blatantly false narrative. It was not Harden, it was the F'ing owner of the Rockets who very publicly interfered with previous Rockets FO to FORCE the Westbrook trade. And Stone actually helped Tilman purchase the Rockets, so if you want to lay blame, let's at least be honest about it.
Rockets would have already basically locked up top lottery odds if they didn't go on that pointless, Jalen Green-less, winning streak in December.
Would it have been more legit if Jalen Green was in the lineup or was it just a cute way to jab at Jalen? Seriously dont know anymore! ROX are guaranteed a top 3 pick. This team as assembled wont win many more games.
I think the point was that they wouldn't have won most of those games if they had played Green. By now we have a large enough sample to know that he absolutely kills the team on both ends of the court when he plays. They briefly weren't weighed down by him and it led to a winning streak that put the tank in jeopardy, but then he came back and got the tank back on track. No single player is more detrimental to the Rockets than Jalen Green this season. It's honestly kind of impressive how much he hurts the team.
Not sure your point. I would have been perfectly fine with a win streak if Jalen was the catalyst since he's the most important future piece of the team. Winning with him would show great signs for his development. Given that wasn't the case? Yes, I would have absolutely wanted to tank those games. OKC very likely will pass the Rockets in the tank contest, especially if we keep Wood & Gordon.
