He was in a movie https://www.si.com/.amp/nba/2023/02/28/raptors-waive-juancho-hernangomez-hustle-will-barton
If we sign Juancho we'll have 2 guys from "Hustle" along with Boban. I'm not saying that's a good reason to do it. I'm saying it's a great reason to do it.
Interestingly, Juancho was drafted using the pick (#15 overall in 2016) that the Rockets sent over to Denver in exchange for Ty Lawson, during the absolute nightmare of the 2015-2016 season that had McHale fired, Dwight Howard take a huge step back, and Harden miss being named All-NBA for the only time during his career in Houston. (The Nuggets also sent back the second round pick which would eventually become Isaiah Hartenstein, who I suppose was actually the best player involved in the transaction). I remember being so stoked at getting Lawson, thinking he was going to be Artest 2.0; maybe a rental, but good god, we were adding a PG who was averaging 15/10, and was the top player by Win Shares on Denver to a team that was the #2 seed in the West and had just stolen the soul of the "Lob City" Clippers. We were checking Steph Curry with two 37-year olds in the playoffs, for Christ's sake! Of course, we didn't know the extent of Lawson's off-the-court issues at the time, and he wouldn't even make it to the end of the season on Houston's roster. The draft pick sent to Denver was actually lottery protected, and with 3 games left in the regular season, the Rockets were out of the playoffs and sitting in the #12 overall spot. They closed the season with 3 straight wins to earn the privilege of getting annihilated by the 73-win Warriors in Round 1. I distinctly remember thinking that they would probably have been better off just missing the playoffs that year, since a lottery pick was not worth 2 playoff home games of revenue, and everyone hated that team anyway. Looking back on it, the middle of that draft was horrid other than Sabonis who was picked at #11, and having everything fall apart that year was for the best long-term. It resulted in the exit of Dwight, the signing of Eric Gordon, the final unlocking of James Harden's potential as a ball dominant PG, and the hiring of D'Antoni to catalyze it all (which absolutely wouldn't have been an option if the team had recommitted to Dwight, considering the friction they had in LA). It's also quite a trip to see the other finalist for the Rockets coaching job instead of D'Antoni back in 2016, and to think about where the Rockets would be in an alternate timeline...
Dragon would be a bad fit. He plays team, winning basketball even at this advanced stage of his career.
One of the few players from that era I wish we had never let go. He would have fit well next to Harden during those years.
