I can see him believing that he deserves more playing time than Mathews or Tate. I like that he wants that. I personally would have given him around half of the starts that Tate got. But it’s not like he was languishing on the bench. Martin played the 7th most minutes on the team. He played more than 3 of the 4 first round picks from last year. So, I’m not sure if this is about playing time, or just playing meaningful basketball where they run plays and coach defense. From that respect, I can see where he’s coming from. That’s where I think this coaching group is lacking. They need coaches that teach and relate to these younger players. I think Hornaceck was all wrong, not just for being a Jazz, but because his entire career has been in the NBA. I thought Weaver’s credentials might set him up a little better. But Overall, I think this request is about Silas. I don’t think you fire him because a 21yo 2nd round pick wants a trade, but I think you listen to what that player has to say. Then you trade him to the Kings for a 2nd round pick.
I don't think he's concerned about last year as much as the upcoming year. I don't think this is on Silas - Silas doesn't control how many guys he's getting and that's what seems to be KMJ's concern - that with incoming players and Tate/EG/JC all on the team, all talented - is he going to get enough of a role to show what he can truly do?
If that’s the case, that’s just a kid being a kid. He should know Gordon is getting moved. And any one of those other player could be part of a trade that opens up space for him. Any one of those players could also get injured. He’s a 21 year old player playing on the team’s smallest contract. He has no leverage to make those demands. On a team like this, it takes a while for the cream to rise to the top. He’s not even giving the process a chance. That's my take if this is just about minutes/starting. He’s a second round pick that has done pretty well for himself. He just needs to have a little more patience.
Ok, two questions for you. 1) How should he know Gordon is getting moved? I've heard reports the Rockets see Gordon continuing to start next season. 2) How do you know he demanded a trade? Demand is a strong word. Know of really know exactly how the conversation went down, just what showed up in the media.
Reports stated that trade offers for Gordon have not met Stone’s value, but they are trying to trade him. And maybe “demand” wasn’t the right word. Feel free to replace it with “request”.
He's too heavy footed. Defensive liability. If he wants more minutes, he needs to become a better defender.
That's a simplistic analysis. - Miami has Lowry, who's a true point. He was key all year, and him being hurt in the playoffs hurt their offense. - Dallas has Luka, who's one of the few true score/pass fulcrums in the L, like a prime LeBron/Harden. Someone like that has to play on-ball. - Calling Steph a "combo" in the same vein as KPJ is just silly. They run a completely different offense than us, and at a completely different level than us. Steph has one of the best on/off ball skillsets in NBA history. - And Boston runs their offense through their wings, which they can afford to do with two All-Stars there, and with the best defense in the league (playing at one of the slowest paces in the L). On the flipside, having a quality PG would've helped tremendously with their TO problems in the Finals, where Smart was making bad decisions and Tatum/Brown were turning it over with more handling duties. The point is that sure, you can build a winning team without a "true PG," but you need to have specific winning pieces in place instead...and KPJ isn't a winning player. He's very talented, but the amount of on-ball time he requires is far too high for what he provides (in terms of creating for teammates and in efficient scoring).
The thing is, we've pretty well arrived at Tate's maximum potential at this point, or at least very close to his max. KJ is still only a partially known equation. Given enough PT, who knows how good he might be? Instead, we actually reduced his minutes between his rookie year and last year. It's pretty easy to see why he and his dad want him in a different situation.
i think i disagree. PJ Tucker was just getting back in the league at Tate's age. If Tate can improve his 3pt% even slightly he's immediately shipped off to the contender. but it's obvious to anyone at this point they want to keep Tate around for "the culture" which a lot of people on here bemoan about establishing....and now they want to ship out one of only dudes on the team with a tremendous work ethic. I agree KMJ should start over Tate NEXT YEAR but to say we have mismanged his development is laughable. honestly i'd like to keep both for next year but I don't blame Silas for playing Tate a lot of minutes. Remember if you want to instill good habits you have to play players that emulate those habits you want to pass off to the youngsters and much to many peoples chagrin, Tate does play the game the right way.
I’m fine keeping Tate; he’s a true dog and does a lot of the nitty gritty that people undervalue. I don’t want him starting with Paolo and Sengun in the lineup given the shooting deficiency, but happy to bring him off the bench. I predict we get a true starting wing either in the draft or through trade. Tate can be an essential role player for us, but we need a legit 3 who can knock down shots. That’s not KJ yet and given the trade request I’m happy to move him as part of a package or for a future draft asset. KJ may have more upside but Tate is better for the team long term. Having guys with that dog mentality on your team matters.
If people don’t get it at this point, I can’t help you.. KJ is wanting to leave because of culture. Culture starts at the top. Imagine yourself (regardless of your draft selection btw) 1. watching a guy leave the game at halftime 2. A guy refuse to sub in 3. You outplaying the starter and backup in front of you - Defensive and offensive metrics show this 4. While also getting less Minutes 5. And you are 5 or 6 years younger At this point KJ needs to be a team captain since he seems to be the only player ballsy enough to call out the trash culture the rockets had last year (through his father). Glad wood is gone but clearly the culture issues are still an issue according to our insiders. KJ would become another player in the long list of rockets we gave up on too early because of our inadequate coaching and player management to go on and have successful careers elsewhere. i hope he does get his trade wish if the rockets org is short sighted enough to not see he doesn’t deserve the starting gig. With last years history as future predictors, I will bet my account EG is the starting 3 next year. Complete idiocy when we are tanking to not give young guys the minutes to develop. Fml.
i think that he knows that the rockets were trying to keep him stashed, so they could lowball him on his next contract and he doesn't like it. he knows he's better than tate and matthews, even though matthews is a better shooter. the rockets wanted to keep his minutes at 20 until his next contract so they wouldn't have to pay him too much.
] Or, ya know the more likely scenario of him wanting to leave because he's buried on the depth chart so he's hoping to land a bench role elsewhere rather than settle for next to no playing time here.... because it's obvious that's his future if he stays here.
Yea but I wish it wasn’t his future. We have leftovers in the FO and coaching staff and when you penny pinch like that, you get what you pay for. No one hired Silas for a reason after all these years and Stone wasn’t a candidate for any GM gig. Unfortunately we have to live w Silas until his contract is up and luckily Stone is doing better than I anticipated (other than FA signings)
Luka is the very definition of a combo guard. Steph is definitely a combo guard. A combo guard is a guard who combines the elements of a point guard and a shooting guard. Steph does that. Tatum, Smart and Brown are also all combo guards. Lowry and CP3 may have been the only true point guards in the playoffs. And Lowry was injured. There aren't very many true point guards left and even fewer entering the league. Comb the next couple mock drafts and try to find players identified as point guards. It's hard as hell.
Stone public speaking has improved considerably. The uh's, eye pops and pauses are not so obvious or distracting.
