If we actually got him at $8.5 million a year for multiple years that'd be huge. I'd definitely go a little above that though, specially if we can make it team friendly. If we can do a third year team option plus make the deal front loaded I'd go up to like 3 yrs/$40 million I appreciate that this front office is intent on making sure we aren't locked into bad long term contracts
Sure it would be "huge", but it's not realistic. You'd love it if every player would agree to get locked in to a long term deal at less than half of what they could sign for.... but you aren't going to find many, if any, players who want to do that. If the Rockets go the cheapskate route, they'll just end up losing players and keep perpetually tanking. Free agents don't want to sign with cheapskate franchises, young players don't want to stay with cheapskate franchise. That said, I understand that CF is a special kind of place that has "Rockets fans" who would actively root for that kind of thing. Those brain dead takes are part of the charm.
This is a guy we got for a top 55 protected second round pick and temper tantrumed his way off the court less than half a season ago. He's very talented but he's not going to make or break this rebuild I'd like to keep him but he's way too volatile to lock up at big money right now. If we can get him on a team friendly deal now, great! If we can't, I'm more than happy taking chances on restricted free agency, and even letting him go if some other team wants to way overpay. As it stands now, we're too close to the incidents to lock him up at big money when we can just let the season play out and see how it goes.
Bobby already saying it's Houston being "cheapskates" when being wrong once again. Nobody is paying anything close to anything significant for this clown
You realize that's not a competent argument right? If we had picked up Giannis for a top 55 protected 2nd round pick, would you be advocating for throwing a lowball offer at him? What you get a player for is irrelevant....and I know you pearl clutchers out there like to whine and cry about the halftime incident last year, but it's just really not that big a deal. A deal of 15-18 mil a year isn't "big money" anymore....15 mil a year would make him the 26th highest paid PG in the league, 18 would only push it up to 21. There's rookie PG's making more than 10. Like I said though, I'm fine with whatever they do, it's just hilarious to see fans actively root for a franchise to shoot themselves in the foot by going the cheapskate route.....usually fans complain about that kind of thing because of how it absolutely kills franchises. Then again, this is CF, so really weird hot takes are to be expected. When you get a chance to lock down the most talented player on the roster for a discount rate before they hit RFA and cost A LOT more, smart teams do that.
It’s like people think that driving home during halftime of a game is something that happens once in a while. KPJ would be in China right now if the Rockets didn’t gamble on him
oh the irony. FA's don't sign with "cheapskates" LOL. it's amazing the amount of garbage some of you spit out and don't realize how ridiculous you sound. I guess that's why it's such a personal problem being so oblivious Who is the owner of the rockets again?
My point is there's very little sunk cost into KPJ. It's not like we took him with one of our top draft picks, the guy was just a bonus we got. If we lose him then we didn't give up assets in that The NBA is different than other leagues in how strict the cap is. MLB doesn't have one and numbers can be manipulated so much in the NFL that it doesn't matter. But in the NBA, locking yourself into a big deal for long term for someone that doesn't produce there creates a ton of opportunity cost on potentially getting other assets and players. It's how mediocre teams stay mediocre. The only time the cheapskate argument applies is when we have to give up assets to stay under the luxury tax, but in this case we're about to be far under the cap and need to be using that cap space wisely. Look, if Kevin Porter Jr has an incredible 22-23 season with no incidents, I'm ok to pay him big. But I only have the current data, and that current data is not worth $15-18 million guaranteed a year. I'm sorry. It isn't. The guy is talented (I disagree hard on most talented on the roster though) but he also definitely has issues. There's a reason he went so far down in the draft despite his talent, multiple teams did their homework on him and decided they wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. This was a thing scouts have actively said. And we're a season and a half away from him temper tantruming himself off one team, and a half season away from him literally leaving the stadium. I'm not arguing that deserves him being cut, I have faith he can overcome that, but I do argue that cost him a few million dollars in guaranteed money if he wants to get paid early. We need to be further removed from that incident. You can hand wave and say it's not a big deal but are you seeing other young players doing that? It's not normal behavior Things can change if he has an incredible year this year, which I think is not out of the realm of possibility, but we are at a point where we can afford to play cautious and we should, there's no reason to lock him in big right now. I guarantee you if he was an RFA this season no one would be offering him $15-18 million. Collin Sexton averaged 24 points a game a year ago and isn't getting that. If he has a season this next year worthy of that or even a bit more and others are offering it, then I'm fine to pay him. But this off-season? I'm not.
No intelligent person thonks KPJ is the most talented on the roster. Green, Sengun, Smith and Eason are all more talented. Tyty is probably on par with KPJ
It doesn't matter if there's a "sunk cost" when you are talking about the most talented player on the roster. If you trade half your roster for them, or you get them for free, you still should want to keep them just the same.....because keeping your best players is a good thing. The Rockets have absolutely no cap problems whatsoever....and still wouldn't even if they paid KPJ 15-18 mil a year.....that's simply not a big contract anymore, in fact, it's well below average for a starting PG. Now, if the Rockets don't sign him to that kind of deal this off-season, and he has a breakout season, they'll be stuck paying him A LOT more....why would they risk that when they could just sign him to a mid tier contract now? I honestly don't see how anyone could watch the game and not think that KPJ is a top 20-25 PG in the league going forward....that's what you are arguing right now. As to Sexton, he's a 6'1 SG (can't run the point) coming off a knee injury and a season where he barely played but shot 24% from 3 when he did. He's also someone who is so terrible defensively that he's literally never been a net positive to his team when on the court. Why would you think that was a legitimate comparison to KPJ?
It’s not actively rooting against a player. Most of what I have seen is just people justifying their rationale for waiting to sign him to a big deal until he actually earns it, not basing it on potential. Once you lay out those facts, it does sound pretty damning. But I, personally want him to succeed and hope he is a Rocket for a long time, provided he is outplaying his contract. The “Extend KPJ Now for $20m” contingent are speculators. It could pay off, or it could not. It’s just a different approach. I do feel pretty confident in saying that all Rockets fans feel like the Rockets got a steal in KPJ and hoped he would explode into a great player, which hasn’t happened yet. He ids currently outplaying his contract, but had he been paid $20m the past two years, he would not have near the backing he currently does despite possessing all of the same future potential. He would be Public Enemy #1.
I mean we will have cap issues if we overpay players. And in a year or two we are going to start filling in this roster on top of having to pay rookies. The flip side of this is if we pay him then he has another temper tantrum and becomes a locker room problem we're stuck paying $18 million in dead money the next couple years. That's bad. KPJ has the talent to be a top 20-25 PG but the game is about more than talent. I actually lean on the side that he's going to be good! But he has not earned the benefit of the doubt yet. My man hasn't even gone a full season without an incident. I have zero issues if he earns it this season and we have to pay him slightly more, because then it's less of a risk. Right now, it's a risk and I don't think it's worth taking. We have leverage here and should use it He's not the most talented player on the team. That'd be Jalen Green
I don't think that assumption is true, and paying KPJ as a top 25 PG isn't an "overpay". I think the core is basically intact already, this isn't a situation where we'd be looking to add a max FA, they just need their core to reach their prime. As to paying rookies...you going to take the cheapskate path with them too, or is it just for KPJ? Honestly this would all make a lot more sense if we were ACTUALLY talking about a big contract, and not a below average contract.
3rd season: Player 1: 24.3 ppg on 57.3% TS, team was -7 per 100 when he was on the court Player 2: 15.6 ppg on 53.1% TS, team was -14 per 100 when he was on the court You're acting as if player 2 is light years better then player 1
PPG might be a good way of looking at players if they aren't PG's.....Chris Paul only averaged 16.4 points per game as he dragged the Suns to the playoffs. How about we look at the rate stats rather than the box score +/-? When KPJ was on the court, he was a net +4 vs when he was off the court when looking at the team's offensive rating vs the opposing team's offensive rating. Sexton, the year you are touting, was a -2 when he was on the court vs when he was off the court when looking at the team's offensive rating vs the opposing team's offensive rating. Sexton's best offensive season ever was not enough to make up for his negative impact to the defense. With KPJ, he had an inconsistent season, but was still a benefit to both sides of the ball when on the court. Of course, that's why KPJ has so much potential, he's a 2 way player that can run the point or play off ball....so even when he's having a bad game, he's beneficial to the team. You don't find that all too often and he's absolutely light years beyond a guy like Sexton who is a one dimensional, at best, player.
