The pick and pop move leading to a pass to the open guy seemed to work for Garuba in Eurobasket. But I think his lack of a jumper becomes more of an issue at the NBA level. From the little I've seen of the Eurobasket games, Spain even put him in the corner 3 position on offense, and the other teams actually defended him as if he were a legitimate threat. I don't think the Rockets could get away with a similar move, unless his 3-ball is better than I realize.
I agree with this. He is a system role player. Just rolling out a ball and clapping while yelling play harder is not going to work to get his potential out. Maybe it’s time to package him and move on. I don’t see a reason to build a system around him.
Fernando is good but he has limited potential nobody will say he is a star in the making. If Garuba's ceiling is Fernando then there's no point to him cuz we have Fernando right now. It IS the burn I intended lmao why wait 4 yrs developing him when you have the guy he projects to be right there? Nobody is saying he is bad just that there seems to be no space on this team for him. Maybe he eventually beats out Boban for 3rd string center and locks up the backup PF spot. Big whoop am I supposed to be impressed? If we can lock him up to 2.5M similar to BF ok we should retain him as a fringe NBA guy on the bench similar to Boban. But I aint caring either way if we need to make room for someone else he is cuttable IMO.
The way I see it, Garuba is a guy that you can play if you run well-organized sets. Imagine the following players on the court: Green, KPG, Jabari, Garuba, and Sengun. Have Garuba make the post-entry pass to Sengun from the wing and either cut to the basket to rebound or float to the free throw line. KPJ is at the Top of the key, Green is on the opposite wing, and Smith (the dead-eye shooter in this group) is in the opposite corner. Any help on Sengun is immediately punished. You let a guy like Garuba contribute on offense by helping the guards get the ball to the right spaces and people. Again, if you're looking for Garuba to be a single big that impersonates Dwight Howard on the lob, forget it. Bruno can do that. And by the way, I love the size of that sort of lineup that lets Smith roam on D.
I guess there is absolutely no chance this 20 year old ever improves any of his skills amirite? Lack of 3ball was same knock on Tate and KJ just a season or 2 ago. Both have improved.
Fernando is strictly a 5. Garuba is 4/5, slightly more position flex. Although Silas giving him more reps at already overcrowded 4 spot does not bode well.
Bruno Fernando's stated position is 4/5. He is 6'10 with 7'3 wingspan and extremely athletic tbh he can play either spot.
Having 2 non shooters on the floor and then turning Green into a corner loiterer seems - suboptimal. Honestly if the Rockets are ever designing offensive sets around Garuba's limitations then he better be a prime Draymond Green nutkicker on defense and Dennis Rodman on the boards - something there is no indication he is so far.
Exactly. Yet Rockets still were able to find value in this undersized overaged rookie energy player who hung his hat on passing and defense. Tate even went on to start for Rockets. This is a Rockets team in 2nd full season of rebuilding, and those who've preached tanking all this time also need to have patience. To build through the draft, patience is a virtue. The point is that Rockets are at least another draft away from truly establishing their identity. The team's core and key rotation players may still be in flux. For the 1st time in a very long time, Rockets have talented depth. Rockets are not just developing young players but developing assets. Undeveloped assets are low value. CF solution to everything is trade or cut every single still developing player because they lack the patience or vision or both to see potential high value assets. Garuba, KPJ, KJ, Nix, even Tate are all potential high value assets.
I'm not against trading Garuba per se. But what's the plan, who/what is the target? Trading Garuba, just to trade him, is inane.
By my count, the Rockets have 15 contracts for 2023-2024 before they even start spending their $60 - $70M in cap space. Some guys are going to need to be cut or traded off this year. If Garuba has really been beat out by Fernando in the rotation, I would argue that you might want to see if you can get a high second rounder for him prior to the deadline for exercising his 3rd year rookie option. Otherwise, you're putting yourself in this position where you will need to guarantee his salary for 2023, but he might ride the bench the whole year again, drop his trade value down to zero, and you'll be in the same tricky situation next summer where you need to pick up his 2024 option despite not seeing much, or having playing time available. Mathews seems like a relatively painless cut, but next up on the hypothetical chopping block are Nix/Tyty, Fernando/Garuba, and KJ Martin. The Rockets are going to have to make some painful moves, and I don't think it's all that unreasonable to explore trading guys who have been beat out in the rotation and are not going to get developmental minutes.
We don’t need everyone on the floor to be a star. It’s important to have role players that want to do their at max effort
This a very accurate and sound financial strategy. But it's based on things remaining static. You are factoring no natural player growth from 1st year to 2nd year, from 2nd year to 3rd year, NBA game slowing down, chemistry being honed after a full season. You are not factoring in additions of Jabari or even Tari to improve spacing and roles. You are not factoring impact of Hollins and Abdelfattah on players development and improved systems familiarity. And I'd honestly rather keep Garuba and let him go for nothing when time to re-sign (if for big $) than to give up a still young former FRP for just a SRP. I understand the need to trim roster but I only advise against prematurely jettisoning assets unless in move up trade for Wembanyana in next draft or to acquire a superstar.