Process Brain is the Scourge of Our Time (Or. why the Rockets should WIN NOW and forever)

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Keep in mind that nearly all of the recent purposeful dive to the bottom would've been unnecessary had said buffoon of an owner not given away 4 -- FOUR YEARS' WORTH! -- of 1st-round picks just to rid himself of "the league's worst contract," taking in return a less effective player with an equally onerous contract.

Remove that worst-ever trade from our books and dumping Harden would have given us a metric Thunder's worth of FRPs on our hands, to use for acquiring both young guys AND talented vets, possibly even a star or two.

Bottom-lining it: Don't blame the three-headed Morey/Presti/Hinkie dragon, nor even the rightfully derided Takeoverse. Place the blame solely on the polished sheen of the cocobolo desk owned by one Tilman J. Fertitta.

 

This was just a DD thread with extra steps

 

I think this is a good point, and I mostly agree. I would point out that even before Fertitta bought the team it’s not like Morey was trying to bring in a bunch of high ceiling, young players.

 

!

(Couldn't find a pic of Joe Chee.)

 

Is that cap for DD not getting in enough steps?

 

But we DID get Harden, without bottoming at 20 wins like now. While I don’t see a Harden among the 9 picks that we got from the "process" (not yet).
Plus, the OP literally said that we need to sign… Harden!

Here’s also another alternative scenario. What if we don’t trade Lowry and have him blossom into the 5x All-Star in Houston, instead of TOR. And we draft Kawhi in 2011 instead of Marcus M? lowry + kawhi as a core has won a ring, while none of the "process" teams has done so yet.

 

TL-DR

you old

 

I really enjoy the draft lottery and draft night, its become my playoffs.... We have come so close these past three years, I say run it back.... I know they won't thou, its going to feel weird being out of the lottery next year....

 

I liked what OP said......I didn't understand a word of it, but
that's neither here nor there.

I'm a believer that most of the front office personnel are composed
of M.I.T. nerds and/or lawyers that can read data but rarely ever
played competitively and therefore have trouble with team building.

Analytics say this and say that and you must therefore get player A
because player A is the best player available, and player B is a better
fit but player B is not player A.

Cam Whitmore is the best player available but his knees might be
suspect.....so we will go with ? next best player available? The rules
change as we go along or fluctuate whenever the time calls for it.

Scoot Henderson was seen as best player available but the Hornets
Kupchak said he would go with best fit available......huh? Like the
Astros you sell Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez as salary
dumps to minimize team salary while going with young up and
coming flashy guy like Scoot Henderson.....not boring B Miller.

You use LaMelo wrapped around Gordon Hayward and that
terrible contract for salary dump so that Michael Jordan can
sell his shares of the team. But go figure. It's neither here
nor there.

Philly used the slow drawn out process which was estimated
to stretch 7 years....players that were initially drafted like
Okafor and Nerlens Noel lost patience and demanded more
playing time or trade them.

We have players like Kenyon and Tate hitting those cross roads
now. If we do not learn from history.....we are doomed to repeat it.
Philly had to trade players and/or lost them in free agency.

Getting no compensation after years of training up a player. The
next team probably reaping the rewards of hard labor, time and effort
of the previous team that drafted them.

I know fans here want to keep all our young kids.....but history says
use them or lose them. We can't play 10 starters....and all will
lose interest in being a backup. In order to add 3-point shooting,
more than likely the Rockets have to obtain said shooter by way of
trade or free agency. Those from free agency will more than likely
want to start or go elsewhere.

KPj (good catch and shoot 3 the past two seasons)
Green (so so 3-point shooter)
Kenyon (below average 3-point shooter)
Jabari (was a poor 3-point shooter last season)
Sengun (I don't want to talk about it....33% on 0.8 attempts)

Taking out KPj doesn't improve our 3 point %, especially if you
are replacing him with Amen.

Amen (?VanVleet? Look up FVV 3-pt % last year)
Green
Kenyon (Amen)
Jabari
Sengun

Even those who are M.I.T. nerds can figure this out.

Starters get over 30 minutes per game
Backups roughly 18 minutes per game
If your starters all suck at shooting
=
No spacing
=
No winning
=
20 wins because opponents camp out in the paint and we
get lucky to score more than 86 points a game.

If we are still developing guys while giving them major minutes,
We probably aren't winning much. People need to accept that
maybe their favorite player or two might be traded or losing
minutes as a backup.

I accept KPj may be coming off the bench for PG, SG, and SF or traded....
are some here ready to accept Sengun, Kenyon, Tate, Tari, Amen
may be relegated to the same faith? If not, the Rockets may not
be getting better and we may lose some bodies in The Process.

 

We can have both. Keep the core of Sengun, Green, Jabari, Tari, Amen, Cam, and KPJ. Sign 3-d wings or vets via FA or trade, dump the rest or keep Garuba if you can’t get decent value for him.

I think we end up with a couple of prototypical sharp shooters that play decent defense. We would be really stupid to go after the likes of Harden, FVV, Dame, or other close to max players at the expense of developing our youth now that we have a competent coach. Hard nose guys like Grant Williams and Harrison Barnes would be great. I know you hate the idea, but Sengun is going to be our half-court PG and Amen our 2nd team PG. We have an incredible group of high ceiling players thanks to the plan Stone initiated day one and has stuck to. The only big mistake he made was handing on to Silas last year, when we could’ve started the development process and still tanked.

 

The Org had to play the hand it was dealt following the ruins Morey/Harden left behind. Over the last 3 years the influx of talent is outstanding… arguably adding 6 top ten talents through the draft.

Trust the process Good Sir, Phase 2 will soon unfold.

 

On paper everything looks good....in reality players won't want to come
to Houston who was last place more or less for 3 years running
and 30th in 3-point shooting much the same during that span.

VanVleet is opting out of $22M on a team that was .500.
You think he comes to the Rockets who were in last place
and a worst 3-pt shooting team than the Raptors who were 27th?

He wants $30M.....and will find other teams more appealing.
Rockets may have to go $33M to $35M.....and then maybe?

Brook Lopez comes here to start....what are you going to do
with Sengun? Play him at PF? Then where do you put Jabari?
Play Jabari at SF? Then where will Kenyon and Tari be? Tate?
KPj ? Amen?

For every action there is a reaction?

Cam Johnson (starts?).....he was predominantly a PF last year.
Around 82 or 86 percent of the time according to basketball-reference.com

Yes, he can play SF again but he doesn't have to sign every tendered offer that comes
his way.He will pick the best for him. Money isn't always the deciding factor.

Rockets being so far under the luxury tax is nice.....but how many
$20 million contracts are you having come off the bench?
How many $30 million dollar contracts will be coming off
the bench in your plan?

 

The lows must be experienced to fully appreciate the highs. Struggle strengthens and is a necessary component to long term success. The goal is not constant happiness -- but rather long term fulfillment.

The_Conquistador

 

I don’t want any of the guys you mentioned, accept Lopez if he’s willing to come off the bench. I really think we could use a vet SF to start or 2 vet 2nd unit guys that can shoot and play defense, Barnes, Grant Williams, Bridges (although very unlikely), Reeves, etc. FVV is a terrible fit and Cam is fool’s gold.

 

I subtract 0.5 years from the tank clock cause we weren't trying to lose yet. You add 1 yr to the tank clock that hasn't actually happened yet. It's tomAto tomAhto, I guess.

However, there's a difference of understanding of what tanking is here. To me, tanking is intentionally trying to lose to get higher draft picks. The rockets will be bringing in vets, have expressed that they're going into a win focused phase, and they don't even have their own pick to tank for.

If we have a bad year next year it's not tanking.

 

Forget that, just not take Harden at all and luck into Giannis, then take Jokic with your higher 2nd round pick in 2014!

I really can't get mad at teams for whiffing with late lotto picks and beyond, Morey was a well above average drafting GM and many still rake him over the coals for not landing superstars at 14 every year.

 

No, no, and no lol

Players like Barnes, Conley that are up in age are thinking of
joining a contender. They won't come to a bottom feeder
that was dead last over the years.

Grant Williams is not coming here to be a backup.
Rockets would have to entice him by paying him
handsomely. $28 million to $30 million.
Would you start him? Where will Amen, KPj,
Kenyon, Tate, Cam, Jabari be?

Cam Johnson has been mostly a backup.....would
accept $25 million and come off the bench since
he is expected to get $20 million to $22 million.

Brook Lopez is going to want $25M to $30M in order
to leave what many think is the #1 team in the East.
I believe some odds makers have them making the finals
next year. He would know he would start at Center in order
to come to Houston. $30 million & coming off the bench
would probably only be a one year deal. Doubt he accepts
that.


Reaves will come here if we offer $20 million to $25 million.
Are you starting him over Jalen Green? Jabari? over Amen
if Amen starts at SF? I'm guessing Reaves wants to start.

Bridges would start if you have seen him play and saw his contract.