This isn't an urgent issue but will be more urgent after the season is over and we know our draft pick position
Christopher is a big unknown, so much hype and looked good in short stints and in summer league, he has gotten zero playing time. My guess is a month or two before trade deadline they will have to play him to see if we are keeping him or moving on. Not sure how you really make a decision based on what we have seen. The summer league ball hogging just seemed like summer league stuff, he should be able to learn to play better in a regular season game. People were ready to send KMJ off for a 2nd round pick, and he obviously can play, this could very well be the case with Christopher as well.
He’s desperate for minutes and to prove himself and that’s fueling the ball hog thing in my opinion. He is seriously hurting his development by trying to do too much in the limited minutes that he’s getting.
Here is mine: Cornerstone pieces Sengun Green Tari Jabari Keepers KMJ Garuba TyTy (unless proven otherwise) Boban (possibly as a coach?) Can stay or be moved KPJ (stay only if he accepts a lesser role and doesn't cause trouble) Mathews Tate Bruno Christopher Should be moved ASAP Gordon Nix
The way I see it, there's the guys we must keep given the potential they've flashed: Jalen Jabari Sengun Eason Then there's these players fighting to be a part of this dynasty and could still double or triple their value relative to their salary by the end of next season: Garuba KJ Tyty Everyone else is not worth investing more time in beyond this season if they don't improve soon. As far as incoming picks and players, I say let's just let them compete with whoever is here. I don't see the logic of making a trade other than to unload EG. We're not using the FA money to sign anyone, there's no one worth signing who would consider it. Most likely we rent that cap space out for another two first rounders. Let's just keep pitting them against each other like gladiators and see who comes out on top.
Simple - these players should’ve been cleared out already (last year) Gordon Mathews Tate Nix How the hell do they have consistent minutes over the KJMs and Easons of the world - even Josh Christopher?? Makes. No. Sense.
it actually makes perfect sense bad/dumb, poorly led and coached franchise proceeds to thank because it doesnt know better...stays bad forever because bad/dumb franchises lack iq to develop players they draft.... lack of talent is never a problem...only lack of management/coaching
Here's my take FWIW, projecting for when we are competing. Starting Bigs: Smith Sengun Starting Smalls: Green Eason "PLAYER X" Contributing Bench: KPJ Kenyon Martin Jr. Garuba Take 'em or leave 'em Eric Gordon Daishen Nix Jae'sean Tate Garrison Mathews Bruno Fernando Josh Christopher TyTy Washington Jr. Boban Marjanovic Trevor Hudgins (2W) Darius Days (2W)
i mean... we're gonna have the same number of bodies regardless... if Silas chooses to run undrafted projects over developing first rd picks...
man I guess folks aren’t as high on Tari as I am. I see our core as… Green Jabari Sengun Eason Ironically this ends up being our two highest picks from the last 2 drafts. I think everyone else is tradeable, but I think these 4 have the highest developmental upside and I hope we keep them and develop them. btw: I don’t think we’ve seen enough from Christopher, TyTy and Garuba to know what we have (they were all 1st round picks). But I do think we know what we have in Tate, Gordon, KJ, KPJ and the rest. I would trade Tate, Gordon, KJ and filler, potentially the Milwaukee pick, for another core piece, or really good draft compensation out into the future. But I’d be willing to include anyone outside our core to get a really good deal done.
I agree with everyone that Gordon needs to be traded ASAP. Tate's a nice 7th or 8th guy on a contender. That's not the Rockets right now. Tell him thank you for your service and trade him. Scrappy little inconsistent Matthews has no place in the long-term plans. Jettison him. Your 2022-2023 minutes are split between Green, KPJ, Smith, Sengun, Eason, KJ, Garuba, JC, TyTy, Nix, & Bruno. Boban is moral support. After this year, Boban, Nix, and probably JC and KJ are gone to make room for improving the roster. Get a real PG and then decide what to do with KPJ--6th man or trade for a better fitting piece? Oh, and draft well while finding a really good coach who can figure out how to best take advantage of the young talent we have.
We need to cut Mathew and Nix, and trade Gordon and play the young guys. They Love Tate but he cannot shoot and short they will keep Tate Tari, Jalen, Jabari and Sengun are our building blocks for our team. I believe Jalen is a superstar, Jabari is a Star and Sengun and Tari still have question marks. We need three STARS to compete for a Championship and our next star is in this year's draft. I believe either Wemby, Scoot, Nick Smith Jr or one of the Thompson Twins will be on our team next year. We will be set to go.
You're jumping the gun. We don't need to move any young guys until their rookie scale contracts are close to being over. We need to trade Gordon and that will open up significant minutes. You want to keep as many young developing players on the roster on these rookie scale type contracts as long as possible. You let them develop in the 4 years and see who stands out. I don't know why people seem to think that players only develop during NBA games much of the development happens outside of the games. The players battle each other in practice and they play during summer, honing their skills. The best players will rise to the top and it will be obvious after 4 years who the keepers are. You want to maximize the value you get back in a trade anyway. What do you think you'll get back in a trade for an unproven player that couldn't make the rotation of one of the worst teams? If you have a player that can't make the rotation after 4 years on one of the worst teams, he's likely not going to be in the NBA anymore. Outside of Gordon, I think there may be some fringe guys who get cut next summer like Boban/Nix/Mathews. I suspect they try to see what they have with Tate at the 3, especially after Gordon is gone. If it doesn't work they may salary dump him in the summer since he'll be an expiring contract with the last year non guaranteed.
