Mike Scotto: Rockets will shop the No. 3 overall pick ahead of the draft in hopes of landing a star

In what way are we “notorious” for overpaying?

 

Yes - IMO this current administration over pays in trades.

Over paying for in players/prospects for someone like Bridges - then paying him a large salary - would potentially be crippling.

The only potential “game changer” out there is Zion. He actually has the physical ability and skill set to lead a team to a Conference Finals - and he lacks the desire, discipline and conditioning to do that and he has proven that over the last 4 years.

Adding players like Mitchell or Bridges are for teams that already have their franchise players. The Rockets don’t have that - so these proposed trades are short sighted.

Even the best of the group - Mitchell, he didn’t lead the Jazz or the Cavs anywhere.

 

I don’t see the upside. Mitchell is ball dominant so I think the fit is poor. I also think he’s truly not much better than Jalen, if Jalen can pull together a full season.

Brooks for bridges and 3? I think I’d rather have brooks and 3. Bridges is better than Brooks but another swing at a star is another swing at a star.

Those guys are second tier NBA players, very good players but if we’re gonna start selling out I want a lynch pin and I don’t think either of those guys are it.

 

THIS.

 

Been all up in it mang

 

Beautiful last sentence @J.R.

 

Mitchell has led every team he's ever been on to a minimum of 14 games above .500, and a minimum of 6th seed.

In his last 5 seasons he's been a top 15 scorer

In his last 4 seasons, he's been his team's leading scorer with an average gap of 8 ppg to his teams next highest scorer.

In his 3 seasons, he has averaged 27ppg, 5 ast & 4 rbd - while being above league averages for both TS and EFG in each season.

In his last 2 seasons he's been a top 10 scorer

Last season, he averaged a career-high in assist (6.1) with a career-best in A/TO ratio (over 2 to 1)

His career playoff averages are 28 - 5 - 5 on 56 TS% and 51EFG%. Mitchell is 7th in all-time playoffs points per game link

This is a guy who since day 1 of coming into the league has been THE guy the entire defense is focused on, and he's managed to both consistently win and improve. He's a perennial all-star with 5 consecutive made all-star games. He performs very well in the playoffs. He's only 27, he's relatively healthy, he's a good 3PT shooter, he's an explosive athlete at 215 pounds with long arms, and is not a defensive sieve.

He hasn't been past the 2nd round yet, but A. He's got time, and B neither did T-Mac or Yao doesn't mean they weren't supreme talents.

This is not Mikal Bridges, this is not Trae Young, and this is IMO, not a guy we should neglect to pursue IF he's willing to sign an extension here.

 

They're trading for this "S" to put on Jalen's chest for confidence...

 

I have been saying this as well. Mitchell and Bridges are pieces, not cornerstones. They are good but they're not going to get you to the next level, which is the Finals singlehandedly.

Zion is the only available player, who is young and ascending, that I think can get you to the next level. Is he perfect, NO! But I think Zion just need guidance and a push....And lme could be just that force to get him there.

 

Very good points, Im just leary of short SGs as you get further into the playoffs.

I think the Rockets main issues are in the frontcourt, not the backcourt. We have no athleticism and force in our frontcourt. Jabari is thin and Sengun is short for a his position.

Hopefully Adams address a lot of those frontcourt issues next season.

 

reported

 

Reported in Ralph the Reader style.

 

I appreciate you have a particular view of Green. However that doesn't mean you get to put words in people's mouths! I never said 'where is the downside'. I said I fail to see it.

I'm wondering if you're seriously not considering (or allowing for) different views on Green and the 2024 3rd pick in the greater context of this particular team and how to maximise the potential of the current young players.

You are more than welcome to view Green however you like, even as your 'ride or die'. I don't see him ever making an all-star team with his broken shooting form. I guess we'll see?

 

Cavs gave up a boatload of picks and players to get Donovan Mitchell, did he carry them to a championship? Or a run at it? How would it be different for us?

 

Yes, Spyda is a great player. My problem is that he seems too injury-prone. Every year in the playoffs he’s limping.

 

He's played 54 out of 57 playoff games (2 of the misses this year), and has only missed more than 20 games once in the regular season (27 games this season). In other words, he's played 95% of his available playoff games, and even at his most hobbled still played in 2/3rds of the season.

I'll note this last season has been his most injury prone, but I'd say he's been a relatively durable and healthy player to this point in his career, could be different in the future but I wouldn't say injuries should hinder one's interest in him too much.

 

I hear the Rockets are open to trading the NBA Top Shot NFT's that Jalen Green wore to the 2022 Dunk Contest.



DEVELOPING

 

It seems an unreasonable expectation that the only player we could trade for would need to be able to get us to the finals single handedly.

I don't see how NOT making the trade allows us to get to the finals single handedly... if a theoretical trade was Green (filler) and #3 for Mitchell, then by not making the trade are we judging Green and #3 as players who could single handedly get us to the finals?

The question is ALWAYS around how good our young talent can be. We have just seen what a difference FVV and Brooks made in unlocking some of their potential. Next step for the young talent to develop is playoff basketball. From there we start to wonder about making the step to the finals.

I am (personally) ok in focussing on our current youth and putting them in a place to succeed. Upgrading Brooks to Bridges without losing ANY of our current guys (and at the cost of #3) would seem an overpay from a talent point of view, but an underpay from a development point of view. A proven vet complementary piece who can produce without the ball and has finals experience? Great.

Or upgrading Green to Mitchell using the #3 pick? Great - we get a ball dominant guard who can really score, but it allows more breathing room for the young guys to grow, and makes a lot of space for Amen to develop (imho)

Again, it all depends on the particular deal.

 

Teams that make deep playoff runs have at minimum 2 stars that are offensively elite:

Tatum - Brown
Luka - Kyrie
Jokic - Murray
Curry - Klay / KD
Harden - CP3
etc.

The best “co-star” Mitchell has had in his career, offensively, is Garland — who’s not even a top 25 player.

If anything, I think it’s impressive what Mitchell has been able to do with so little. He’s a top-10 player IMO, who hasn’t had the opportunity to explode on a big stage because of mediocre rosters.

I’ve said this before: Mitchell is basically Harden pre-CP3.

 

I think we can chase two paths. Our path to a “dedicated Zion-type” is almost exclusively tied to the Nets picks OR the development of one of our current players. I guess we could win a bidding war if a player came available and then pushed for Houston. But who? Is Jaylen Brown that much better than Mitchell?

I think Mitchell interests me because of his age, abilities and the inability to extend currently should soften the price. So I want to snag him but protect the Brooklyn picks after this year. This also means giving up on Green but getting an outcome at SG that is the high end (and unlikelier) outcome locked up. And of course, we need at least a very good feeling w/Mitchell being into extending later on.

I do think there is a NBA champ in the next 5-10 years that is more of a Pistons build.

Brooks+Green+#3+2026 Nets top 6 protected.

Sengun/Adams
Smith/Eason
Amen/Cam
Mitchell/Melton (MLE)
FVV/Amen