Harden and Thompson work fine. Thompson comes off the bench to learn from James and then gives Harden some minutes at the catch and shoot wing while Thompson breaks the D. I don’t personally think that Harding is only coming here if we get Wembanyama. That being said, he might end up seeing Philly as close enough to stay there. I’ve always thought our odds were best. If they either won the championship or if Boston had just whooped their ass.
I watched quite a bit of video of Amen Thompson over the last week or so. He's very athletic and very talented. I get the appeal. He gets to the rim with ease against his current competition level. His passing is great. He's got tremendous vision which allows him to be a really effective passer in traffic. I like the fact that he's really good at creating corner 3's for his teammates and finding them around the rim. That's two things that the current Rockets are horrible at doing. Then there's his shooting. His entire highlight reel takes place in the restricted area. I'm not sure that he'll ever become a passable shooter. Right now, he can always get to the rim and if he's contested he can usually find an open player. Can he do that in the NBA? I'm not sure...maybe? Base on what we saw with Green, he's probably going to get bodied when he goes to the rim and not get calls..at least when he first comes into the league. It's a really tough call because if he had even an average or slightly below average jumper then he'd be a star and a no-brainer pick. His passing would be a huge help to the Rockets. I typically don't like to just assume that a player is going to all of sudden learn to shoot but his upside is huge. I think that I'd probably take him anywhere from 3 or 4 ( I have mixed feelings on Miller) but I'm still a bit "iffy" on it. I've already stated that I don't think that we should sign Harden but if we did, I have trouble seeing Amen Thompson playing along side Harden. Harden needs shooters next to him. If you played Thompson along with Harden then I'd have to think that Thompson's defender would just sag into the paint and be able to dare Thompson to shoot and to also help out on Harden. Harden's gravity also wouldn't help Thompson since he's not going to shoot the outside shot, even if he's open. After Wembanyama, every prospect has flaws. You have to project which one's going to be able to overcome that flaw in the NBA. Thompson's shooting is a rather large issue to overcome but if he can, then he's a star. If I couldn't get a top two pick, I think I'd roll the dice on Thompson but I'd certainly be nervous about it for a while.
very interesting comparison. Yes, CLE had highly drafted players and … traded two #1 picks away when LBJ came back. So what would be the Rockets" K. Love” trade? Wemba + Jalen Green for Anthony Davis?
30 year old Anthony Davis doesn't even get you Wembanyama, much less him and Green. The estimate is that the team that drafts Wembanyama gets a $500m increase in value. Nobody is going to trade him.
If a true franchise player like Lebron wanted to come here and NOT play with Wemby, that would suck. We'd probably have to accommodate him and look for a win now trade. Target any star whose team is not competitive right now like Luka, SGA, or Lillard?
Joe Giglio another Philadelphia sports radio host Harden to Houston at seasons end very,very likely . Funnily enough the narrative now in Philadelphia is Harden is saving Embiids playoff legacy and has more playoff moments than what Embiid has had in Philadelphia. funny the Harden haters told us Embiid will carry Harden but it is Harden carrying a 7 foot. 2 300 pound Embiid.
If we are assuming Harden is coming back, let’s ask the biggest taboo question no one wants to: are we better off with a Harden/KPJ backcourt rather than a Harden/Jalen backcourt? Most of us believe KPJ is the better player at this point and they’re only a year and a half age difference. I’m convinced the perception of KPJ would be different if he was playing in position instead of out of position. Green can still be the centerpiece of a package for a star player. Im not suggesting we trade Green, but I am suggesting that KPJ is a starting caliber 2-guard and since we gave him a contract that pays him like one, why is it a forgone conclusion that one gets relegated to backup status as opposed to a trade? And if we are trading one, wouldn’t Green be that guy given he’ll command a much greater return?
U can always just put up a poll to gauge the folks. I'm pretty sure the forum is pretty much in agreement of a green pairing with Harden over kpj/harden barring the few kpj stans. Kpj doesn't have the same scoring potential Jalen green brings, this is based on what we have seen so far. With Harden getting older we need someone to handle the scoring load instead of making harden the main work horse.
KPJ being better than Jalen Green right now doesn't mean much...he is going into year 5, Green is going into year 3 Jalen Green has far more potential than KPJ
I’m not nearly as good as some here with their player evaluations but man does Amen remind me of Dante Exum, 6’5-6 pure passer not as athletic but still good enough to get by their man but can’t shoot/broken jumpshot. These type of prospects are always present at the top of the draft and they never seem to develop past their draft position. If we land outside the top 2 I really do hope we trade down or outright trade it
I understand the comparison but Exum is nowhere near the athlete we're talking about here (he's still playing in EuroLeague and has made a pretty good career for himself there). It's important to understand just how special of an athlete we're talking about with Amen Thompson. This isn't some guy who's just really good on that level, once he enters the league he will be firmly in the conversation for "most athletic pro basketball player in the world". I wouldn't have anywhere near the confidence in him being able to develop into, at very least, a good NBA player if that wasn't the case. And we're not just talking about leaping ability, we're talking about all-levels athleticism. First step, last step, full court speed, body control. He is the complete package. You can draw comparisons to some NBA players... John Wall, De'Aron Fox, Derrick Rose, our own Jalen Green--but they're all smaller. I've personally never seen a young draft prospect who could move like he does on the court at 6'6", 6'7"... I was kind of checked out of the NBA when LeBron was a prospect, though, to be fair. (Too into video games as a teenager.)
There is zero doubt in my mind that Green will end up the superior player between the 2. Green has shown the ability to absolutely go supernova on the offense side and is a bit of strength and better overall shot selection from doing it consistently as well as being defensively competent. I genuinely believe this past season hurt his growth, a part of it the complete lack of any structure or system courtesy of Silas and a smaller part due to the failed KPJ as PG project that our FO tried to simultaneously run, which I do also believe hurt KPJ's overall development. Plainly said, I will always keep Green over KPJ because I see in him traits that can help make him a superstar. Will he actually become one? Who knows... a lot has to line up for him, for any promising young player. On KPJ's part, my viewpoint of KPJ has admittedly never been particularly hopeful; a talented player with a lot of positive physical mismatches held back by being a poor decision maker. His time at point has done nothing to change my mind, in fact it has worsened it. That doesn't mean I think he is a bad player. I actually think he could become good if decision making was taken out of the equation for him; attack when the D is not set and shoot open shots. This with his ability to play D can make him like our Klay as that has basically been Klay's entire career plan.
Unless we are talking defensive athleticism like from Giannis who plays bully ball. Gary Payton was never that athletic but got it done.
Payton was a big strong pg who could manhandled opponents. Today's rules don't allow you to play that way anymore.
yeah I pretty much agree with everything you said. Green has the better upside and had the ability to take over games. But I do think KPJ is a very good prospect that has been misused. Agreed that we hurt Green’s development, in large part because we paired him with KPJ at point. But I’m still worried about a Harden/Green backcourt given the defense. Defense is still so important; just look at what Miami is doing.
Thibs team offense blows in playoffs. Superior offense will always trump a good defense. U can only defend so well until the refs starts interferring
When did KPJ become known as some really good defender? u can have Jalen Green guard the PG and put Harden on the weakest perimeter threat Jalen Green’s potential on offense blows KPJ completely out of the water…it’s not like KPJ is some 2-way beast
It would be Green + Smith/Sengun for Brown. Harden/KPJ/Tari/Brown/Wemby is certainly an interesting lineup. Could package the picks from Bk down the line to get a 6th man. (not that I'm saying we should do it).
