I think most of us are thinking of adding Ivey if the 3 bigs are off the board. Sharpe is inexperienced and Murray doesn't seem to be good enough to go that high.
I thought about that seriously. I'm giving Banchero a minor edge over Ivey right now. I won't be disappointed if Stone selects Ivey over him.
Well if the Rockets go with Ivey they obviously have to get plus defenders and rebounders at the 3 and 4 by trade or FA and balance out the team. I never said Sengun was the answer on D, I said that JG and Ivey are a feasible backcourt duo if Sengun is the creator on offense. IMO Sengun is the starter, he's shown enough on O to warrant that. There's no doubt in my mind that he will improve on D and be serviceable (obviously We would all like to have a team full of great two way players but that's fantasy land). It's not like not being a great defender disqualifies a guy to be a starter.
How about this future team: Ivey Green Tate Martin Jr Sengun with Christopher, Porter Jr, Garuba and others as back ups
Kpj coming off the bench in a contract year. Yeah that would work great for team moral and chemistry. He would go off in more ways than one.
Then it makes the decision to get rid of him all the easier. If I'm the Rockets, and I'm considering keeping Porter long term, I want to find out right now if he's gonna be a little b**ch every time he doesn't get his way. As for Ivey, if the Rockets think he will clearly be the best player in 5 years, then you take him, even at number one. You can figure out how to build the team after the fact. Priority one is assembling the highest level of talent, not roster construction, that comes later.
Why wouldn't we have a top pick again next year? This team is trash. And should continue to lose for another season until Wall is off the books and we can spend.
Yea, I don't see why we would draft another two guard to restart the learning process over again. Jaden Ivey is going to need a couple of years before he could run an offense. Hell he didn't even do it in the Big 10. We would be better off drafting Liddell as our new PG. Instead of drafting the athletic combo guard with weak defense because dudes like Dennis Smith Jr./Muniday are real. I'm in the stick with Porter for '22 camp.
That team needs balance. Way too small and not enough defenders around JG/Ivey/Sengun. Also, no way the Rockets move KPJ to the bench. If the Rockets fall in the lottery and get Ivey, they should look to move KPJ and Tate (EG and Wood should be moved regardless), to move up in the draft to get some lenghty defenders or get them via trade. I would maybe keep KJ in the starting lineup assuming he contines improving his 3 and D, because he moves well off the ball and has great chemistry with Green and Sengun. The 4 spot though needs to be filled with a defensive presence that can also space the floor on offense. But that kind of player is tough to find. In that scenario, We draft a defensive 3/4 wing like Sochan/Eason with the other pick, and get couple of frontcourt defenders while moving the guys mentioned above, and see how it goes. But I personally prefer Jabari/Chet over Ivey if available when We make the pick.
This question is going to be so relevant until the draft because who’s to say our scouts don’t have Ivey as #1 on their board? I’m not saying they will go pure BPA and ignore the fit with Green, but if we are picking 3 or 4 it’s definitely going to be the biggest question the org has to wrestle with. I’d love for some one who has watched Ivey closely over the last year to break down the likelihood of Ivey evolving into a good fit with Green. Most of the folks posting are just dismissing it because they want a big or want to stick with KPJ and I get that it’s an inconvenient question. But I just haven’t watched his game enough to know if he can be a Jamal Murray for example.
Idk if a 3 guard lineup like Ivey-Green-Porter-?-Sengun is prudent but it sure would be fun to try. I'll give it to him, the guy's got easy athleticism. Makes everyone else look slow. You would absolutely dust some teams with him and Green. Porter's no slouch either but it would hinge on him being willing to share the load like that.
That's a matter of perception Silas: "We really started at zero this year with a lot of guys. So getting to the point where we played an 82 game season with these guys and their roles will be similar next year...we'll be starting at a much higher place than we were this season as far as understanding. It won't be as bland on both ends of the floor because there'll be a much higher level of understanding when it comes to young guys." https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...d-to-return-as-rockets-head-coach-in-2022-23/ So in other words, the roles have been established, stamina built up for a full 82-games season by players only use to 32 game seasons....and players were given a dossier of their weaknesses to which to work on this off season. ________________________________________________________________________ Silas is going to expand the playbook; which is code for, "We ain't tanking next year" Which means the Big league level Rockets are going to implement more high PnR, screen more (even off ball), and incorporate more cutting action... (I only saw Tate/Kenyon do it on a regular basis since Feb and that was far and few between)....like it's affiliated G-league team the Vipers have been doing. As @peleincubus and I have been speaking about lately: *Rockets "as is" could probably win 30 games next season. *Depending on who the new rookies are? 35 wins next season. *Depending on removal of clutter [EGo (trade), Wall (Westbrook buyout), Nwaba (trade), Schroder (SnT), Bruno (SnT)] ....clear money for free agency? Bring in said free agent or free agents....possibly 35 to 40 wins? Since the guards in free agency will be re-treads or just Brunson, Tyus Jones types.....I would go Ivey at #2 or #3....Mathurin at #4 or #5 because Porter is a restricted free agent after this season. *side note Eric Gordon non guaranteed $20.9M after this season makes him a prime trade asset. Free up touches for Ivey. We (Rockets) can cash in his $19.6M salary this year at the trade deadline or sooner (before Free agency ?trade for Bledsoe?). $19.6M brings in some nice talent to fill some holes....even if it's just role players. [I know, work around cap holds] ______________________________________________________________ So if the Rockets young players improve like the young Hawks players did circa 19/20.......35 to 40 wins can be expected. Taurean Prince went from 5.7 pts (rookie season) to 14.1 pts John Collins went from 10.5 pts (rookie season) to 19.5 pts Huerta went from 9.7 pts (rookie season) to 12.2 pts Trae Young went from 19.1 pts (rookie) to 29.6 pts.
I hope they aren't dumb enough to try and win 30-40 games next year. I want to see improvement by the young guys and losses. I'd be happier with 0-82 than 30-40 wins. Trust the process. No need to rush it. 2025 nba champions.
You think they can just turn on wins and losses? Guys have to learn how to win. Need improvement every year.
I hope they are dumb and try to win as many games as they can. Rockets contracts on the books for 23/24 is a team salary set for $50.5M and that with Eric Gordon and his non guaranteed $20.9M...$29.6M w/o EGo. Not to mention the salary cap may go as high as $171M because of new TV and streaming rights per rumors. We have players that have incentives in their contracts, so they may not be showing your patience. Jalen Green is an example of a player that got screwed because they team has been pulling up on the reigns deliberately. Contracts are only so long and it takes rookies 3 to 4 years on average to develop, so you have a revolving door if you wait too long "tanking" Porter, Wood, Tate, could leave (both Porter and Tate are RFA's) You end up spinning your wheels going nowhere as vets leave and Rooks enter and need 3 to 4 years to develop. Perpetual losing and quote unquote poor culture ensues. People think the NBA is so easy and just anyone can walk into the playoffs with a bunch of 20 year old kids and win. Go zero to 60 mph without touching miles in between. Our kids at some point are going to get their @$#&$ handed to them in round one or two. It might as well be this year. Such a thing as playoff experience.... and we ain't got none!