I want to watch the Lakers game tonight, just to see WB get benched in the 4th. Could see some hasty decisions after the game.
Rockets unlikely to budge on asking price for trade pieces https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...ely-to-budge-on-asking-price-for-16846118.php
Christian Wood insisted he has dismissed concerns about Thursday’s trade deadline. Eric Gordon said again that he has long since learned not to worry during trade season, even if, as with most players, friends and family share the rumors he prefers to ignore. Upstairs at Toyota Center, or wherever general manager Rafael Stone and his iPhone might have ventured Wednesday after his long post-practice chat (and presumably, progress report) with coach Stephen Silas, the deadline cannot be conveniently ignored, even if the Rockets reached deadline eve without a deal they were willing to make. For weeks, there seemed no momentum in the direction of a trade of Gordon, the Rockets’ longest-tenured player. Some of that was the rhythm of trade season, with teams often feeling out one another’s interest in deal-making and in each other’s rosters before offers are made. But even when talks heated up that would eventually send Caris LeVert home to Ohio to join the Cavaliers’ resurgence, little had moved on the Gordon front. The deals that have been completed — delivering C.J. McCollum to New Orleans and Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield to Indianapolis — combined with the annual urgency of Thursday’s 2 p.m. trade deadline could change that. Gordon might stick around but had clearly emerged as a target who can be pliable and useful to a win-now contender in a shrinking field of suitable trade acquisitions. With the influence of the play-in playoff system — see the Pelicans’ move for McCollum or the Kings’ for Domantas Sabonis even at the considerable cost of Haliburton — there are fewer sellers than buyers. For that matter, as glamor teams have fallen far from their expectations in Los Angeles and New York, the even longer long-shot efforts to trade John Wall might be back in play. The Rockets remain unlikely to move off their asking price on deals. They have not only sought a first-round pick if they are to deal Gordon, who has at least one more season under contract, they would almost certainly hold out for a pick without too much protection and in a year when they are not already well-stocked with picks, as they will be in June. Would the Jazz, who have been unexpectedly inconsistent, have a way to acquire Gordon now that they have dealt Joe Ingles’ expiring contract but did not get back a ready-made replacement for him? Would the Suns, who are far ahead of the pack of championship contenders, go all-in by adding Gordon, a move that would come with the approval of Chris Paul? The sinking Lakers and Knicks would seem to need backcourt help, perhaps even enough for the Lakers to consider ending the Russell Westbrook experiment to try it with Wall at the cost of a 2027 first-round pick. The Lakers, however, have been steadfast they would not deal that pick without ample protection, according to multiple individuals with knowledge of their talks around the league. Those protections likely would make a deal with the Rockets, who would buy out Westbrook, even more unlikely. The Rockets could believe there are benefits to hanging onto Wall until the offseason, when his contract could figure in sign-and-trade scenarios. As with Gordon and the veterans who are not in the rotation, there is no immediate need for the Rockets to get what they can for their potential trade pieces before they walk as free agents, the motivation of many trade deadline moves for lottery teams. Wood also has another season left on his contract and, at 26 years old, could fit with the timeline of the Rockets’ rebuild. He has been clear he wants to remain with the team he chose as a free agent in 2020. “I’m just happy to be here,” Wood said. “For some, I’m sure guys talk about, think about (being traded). I just stay focused.” Gordon has been traded once in 14 NBA seasons and never at the deadline. He has been with the Rockets — who have agreed to trades around the deadline for 16 consecutive seasons — long enough to know change is possible. He also has seen plenty of examples of rumors never escalating to deals. “We haven’t talked about that at all,” Gordon said. “For me and for everyone else, it’s a business. You never know. But me, I just worry about playing basketball. You hear about it for sure. That doesn’t mean it’s going to actually happen. “A lot of rumors happen. You’re definitely going to hear about it as a player. Family members are going to look at that. Friends, fans. It’s going to be talked about. At the end of the day, you’ve got to play basketball.”
Stone can do no wrong with folks on Twitter. He’s on the verge of flopping again, and they’re blaming “the market”. Gtfoh.
Blaming Tilman made sense before, but now, we are under the luxury tax, per CBA rules you have to keep minimum salary floor anyways, so you can't run bear bones otherwise you'll still have to pay out the money to meet the minimum floor. So at this point, it's all on Stone and his insistence on trying to come out too much on top. Seems to me he is going to have the Danny Ainge syndrome and what a ****ing waste that will be. Hopefully we are lucky enough that J Green does turn into something more special, Alp is the MVP we need, and this coming draft we draft another cornerstone. I'm loyal to a fault, so I don't want to be talking to ole @Reeko about the good ole days 20 years from now because we still haven't made the playoffs after the Harden trade.
Owner GM Coach. They can all have some blame. I don’t have a lot of confidence in any of them. We’ll see what happens tomorrow but it’s not looking good. If you can’t pull a few future first rounders for Gordon and wood with the path to the championship wide open what are you here for?
Honestly not making a trade (while extremely disappointing) is not the worst thing. Not getting good value in return but making a trade just to do it would be far worse.
Who’s making those claims? That’s you perceiving in that way because people are adding logic and reasoning to the contrary. The only thing that makes it bad its the awful pr and posturing, leaking false bs claim of 1st round picks being available.
