Y'all keep getting me excited that there's some kind of news out there every time this thread gets bumped... but it's the same ol' same ol'.
That's creative for sure. Don't know if Ross/Gordon is worth a top 5 protected pick, but I like the creativity.
It doesn't help that it seems that we've chased off our awesome insiders. @ch44 save us. @cyberx save us. @Codman save us.
I’ll go to the mat for Tate because that guy is the hardest worker on the team but I won’t be mad at Stone if he moves him for a pick this week. I think the team is likely to be 2 or 3 seasons from being competitive and a player like Tate is sort of wasted right now. A team trying to win right now would potentially see him as a missing piece. I look at Ingles going down for Utah and Tate would plug in that role very well minus the consistent shooting.
Not at all, I can recognize that a good player can be on a bad team AND the team under performs. So I'm not having it both ways. Although interesting that you use the exact same argument against me albeit with a flawed conclusion. And signing Theis was yet another blunder by Stone. Just add it to the list.
Masai might arguably be the most powerful executive in basketball; I believe he's the highest paid in all of North American Sports, and he got his bag over the objections of Rogers Communications. That's like fighting Comcast/Charter and winning in negotiations. He's never gonna leave. Which is why I'm always pretty shocked that Bobby Webster is not the top candidate for other teams to poach. He nominally has the title of GM for a championship team, is incredibly young (38), and yet he pretty much gets zero credit for any of their moves. With Masai entrenched there for the foreseeable future, why wouldn't teams take a run at a guy who has been a top lieutenant for him for nearly a decade, and I'm sure wants to branch out and get final say? Considering how much everyone went crazy reaching deep down into the RC Buford/Presti tree, with some pretty mediocre results (Rob Hennigan - Hired at 30!, Dell Demps - "Basketball Reasons Veto", Rich Cho - "So mediocre I can't even find a signature bad transaction"), it shocks me why we never even hear about Webster interviewing for openings for the top decision maker slot. Hold up. JA was traded for a FRP in the Harden Deal, so that's a wash. I would love to find your source where Taurean Prince is getting a FRP back in a trade; the guy is averaging 6ppg in 15 minutes, and the trade for Rubio in the offseason was strictly to provide Minnesota with salary relief. Finally, while the Caris LeVert trade was an excellent return for the Pacers, we should note that LeVert put up his numbers over the past two years on USG rates of 27.9% and 26.5%. Both would lead the Rockets right now, even above a guy most posters think is a ballhog in Christian Wood (23.4%). Remember that Houston is sitting Wall and his posession-dominant style because evaluating KPJ as the primary ball-handler is arguably the most consequential thing this year. I'm not sure if letting LeVert soak up a ton of empty possessions would have been worth increasing the return from the Dipo trade by 1 FRP, not to mention how him dominating the ball probably seriously damages EG's trade value. If you get a FRP and 2 SRPs for LeVert, but have to settle for a SRP for Gordon, you basically end up in the same spot in terms of future assets. End of the day, the Oladipo part of the Harden trade was a gamble that the team lost out on, and looks bad enough in hindsight. No need to exaggerate more for effect.
No one was advocating actually KEEPING LeVert. He would and should have been traded THIS season. And LeVert was worth more than Dipo got us, which ended up being a FRP and SRP. And JA is worth more than the Bucks FRP. Not all FRPs are equal.
Total Revisionist History. Jarrett Allen (2020 Season): 26mpg, 11/10, 65% shooting, 1.3 BPG Jarrett Allen (2021 Season pre-trade deadline): 29mpg, 14/10, 63% shooting, 1.7BPG Allen was definitely improving, but to say he was dominant for a month to the point of being able to flip him for multiple picks, considering he was on an expiring deal is a stretch. When was the last time that a pending RFA got more than 1 pick back in trade? Caris LeVert played 7 games before the trade deadline in 2021 after getting surgery. Absolutely no way that the Rockets could have flipped him with all the questions around both his fitness and future health, and considering his long term contract. Not to mention that in the alternate universe where they keep LeVert, Oladipo is now available at the deadline for much cheaper, further depressing the trade market for LeVert.
Stats without context, JA produced those numbers as a backup to DJ. There was a reason why Rockets analytics targeted him the last full season that Morey was GM. Just say you never watched him play. And LeVert was flipped THIS season precisely because he was injured last season. Pay attention.
I don't think you read my post properly. For Allen, I said let him dominate here. Those were his stats in Cleveland. He could have easily had more than 30 minutes a night here and would have played a bigger role in the offense. Hell, Olynyk popped off in Houston, Allen would've been even better. For Levert, I said trade him THIS deadline. Basically just let it play out like it did but here instead of Indy.
What about your statement that we could have gotten a FRP for Prince separately? Going to ignore that one? If you wanted more than a single FRP for Jarrett Allen, you'd have to be willing to sign him to an extension, have him play out for a year, and then flip him later. Obviously that's possible, but I don't think that it's really all that likely in practice. You're not going to risk $100M to improve your return by a non-lottery pick. If you're arguing that you could have gotten better than the Bucks FRP in a sign and trade after the season, I suppose that's possible, but how much better of a pick do you think you're going to get? A sign-and-trade on a huge contract like that is pretty tough, and you have to take back matching salary. Plus you're stuck with Taurean Prince's $15M salary for this year that you also need to dump. As for LeVert, are you saying you would have traded him in the pre-season or the draft for a FRP and SRP? I think that's pretty wishful thinking, considering the Rockets couldn't get a decent offer for Eric Gordon at that same time, but I can't really disprove that that offer was on the table. I think that his play this year demonstrably helped his value, along with the fact that there are relatively few sellers at the deadline this year. Again, I'll reiterate that the Rockets are investing $44M of dead money this year in sitting John Wall to get as much information on KPJ and Jalen Green. There is no way in hell I think it's worth squeezing an extra first rounder in trade value if it means letting LeVert soak 1200 minutes and 16 shots per game as the pseudo #1 option.
Why not let LeVert eat THIS season? Silas let Wall and Dipo eat to their hearts content last season. Rockets were still dead last. So let's not act like this was not possible, let alone likely. Silas loves his vets. Signing JA this offseason or trading him last season at deadline were both options. I have no doubt he would have put up similar numbers as lob/roller, rebounder and rim protector he did with Cavs this season.
Why do teams wait until 2:59pm on deadline day? Pick up the phone and make deals already you cowards!
