I’m a firm believer that at this point you take the pick and don’t try to offload for a veteran you could always trade other less valuable assets for or sign for cap later on. This close to the draft, picks aren’t currency anymore. They are real players and players that every GM is going to have an opinion on and will be able to pick apart those flaws if you put that pick in trade discussions. Have fun shopping for sure, but you better not just assume you’ll be getting a franchise game changer in a trade for #4 or 5. FYI I think Stone and co are full of crap and everyone out there knows it. If Stone thinks he can us the media to inflate the value enough for them to pull off a Kawhi/Paul George type of double whammy off-season he’s really delusional and everyone will role their eyes when the day after the draft he sits there telling everyone how he had all these “great” options but just really thinks the prospect he picked is going to be special. Stone needs to stop using the media to negotiate. Everyone sees through it and knows what you are trying to do. Just call the GM’s you want to talk to and shoot them straight. Shut up about shopping the pick and just make calls to negotiate for the player you want to trade for like a GD professional.
Would not trade the #1 pick for even the best young player in the NBA to be honest. I'm happy to take that risk myself for the potential reward. If he busts he busts, it would have still been totally worth trying. Now if we're trading something like #2, I would seriously consider offering it plus KPJ and KJ to the Blazers for Lillard. Now, it would be very difficult to convince Lillard to come here so this is only possible if we then could also acquire a great big man that he would love to play with. Like a Draymond Green plus Udoka plus this talented young roster would maybe be enough to convince Lillard to join here. Draymond/Garuba Sengun and/or Jabari (both of them would end up getting starter minutes and learn a lot from Draymond) Tate/Tari/KJ Green/Christopher Lillard/Tyty We would still have some cap space to pursue like an Austin Reaves level player ($20m/season). Of course there's also the option of pairing Harden with Lillard and that would be incredible too. I think Harden is better than running an offense but Lillard can function as a SG. Offensively that would be insane. Would have to bench (6th man?) or trade Green in that scenario though because you'd need to put a wing defender on the floor with Lillard and Harden while still needing a PF and a C. I lean more towards trading up than down. At this point in the rebuild, I would rather consolidate our assets into high potential players than endlessly add youth to the roster. We have enough picks and assets to make a massive offer for a star player if that opportunity became available to us. I would trade up to #2 if it was possible with future picks. The difference between the the 5th best player and the 2nd best player might be a lot so it's worth paying for imo.
Trade it to move up and take Scoot, or just pick the best player available. Unless something changes, there are no superstars available this offseason who are worth packaging a top 6 pick in a draft class that has the best, most athletic top of the class I've seen since I started paying attention to these things about 10 years ago.
Harden makes $33 million, set to make $35.6 million on player option next season. I take Harden back for $38 million or less next season if he opts out. I'm twisting your arm, needing an answer fast......do you want Harden at $38M or less? Would you rather have Conley at 35 and making $20M (non guaranteed); explain? No, wrong answer, just curious on your opinion
Conley's contract is expiring. Trading for Conley maintains our cap flexibility moving into the next offseason after this one. Harden will probably be on a four year deal which escalates in value to around $50M his age 36 and 37 seasons. Maybe the Rockets can get him on a contract with a non-guaranteed back-end similar to CP3's though. That would be a lot easier to stomach.
It's both expiring and non guaranteed (not sure on deadline)....but I'm guessing we would trade for Conley to play him and not for payroll reduction. I question Harden wanting the big payday though. Harden signed a 4 yr deal in 2017 for $171M.....final year was a player option of $47M; which he opted out of only to re-sign with the Sixers for less money per year ($33M and $35M next year). https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/james-harden-contract We shall see.....the way people are stating it's 70% sure and Harden is telling those close to him that he is going back to Houston, kinda hints to taking less money over wrangling for hard negotiated top dollar uncertainty.
This is why I want Conley He can help Ime mentor these boys for a year and we aren’t stuck long term and maintain flexibility
I really don’t think they are looking to shop the pick if it falls past #3. I’m sure they’ve said the pick is available if they have a chance to upgrade. If they can use the #4 pick to pull off a trade for Trae Young or Dejounte Murray, I’m sure they would consider that. But I don’t think it’s a case of, “if it falls to X spot, we have to trade it.” I think what could be in play is that outside of the top 2, the Rockets may have similar grades for a lot of guys. It probably opens up the possibility of trading back a few spots if someone really wants to go after a Brandon Miller. If the Rockets trade back to #9 and got Anthony Black (along with a player or draft pick), I would still be extremely pleased.
I don't think there's any chance he agrees to a 2-year deal. But perhaps there's a chance of something structured like CP3's current contract, where year 3 is partially guaranteed and year 4 is essentially a club option.
No freaking way we'll trade that pick before the lottery. No team is trading away a legit (albeit only 14%) chance at Victor Wembanyama. As far as trading the pick, yes, it can be done. For instance, if we end up with the 4th pick, it should carry a cap hold of approximately $8.7M for 2023-24. However, it will only count $0 in trade. Given the Rockets' cap room situation this offseason, an uneven trade can be agreed in principle on or before draft day, then officially consummated after the July Moratorium. Personally, I'm not a fan of trading the pick, even if it's 4, 5 or 6. I don't think the team is going to get a major difference-making veteran for that pick. I'd rather add the young talent to develop and instead add veterans via free agency.
I am not a fan of the Thompson twins or Henderson. Miller seems like a solid player but more like a mid-lottery pick. Walker’s floor and ceiling are the same. That is two through six. Orlando is our answer here picks at 7-11. Same tier talent but get 2 for 1. My picks are Hendricks, Black, Wallace & Hood-Schifino (in this order) Whitmore or Dick would be my alternate if need. Two of these vs one of the others any day all day. New coach / new ways / new players. trade # 20 for a future FRP.
