Rockets acquire Suns picks, return Nets picks to Brooklyn

I am not a Booker fan. But Booker is what we hope Jalen Green can be, a reliable and efficient lead scorer. Even in a subpar year, he is still scoring at above average efficiency, something we sorely need to go to the contending level.

Guys like Sengun, Jabari, Tari, and Amen are coming into their own. We have a lot of talented young guys who fill most of our needs, especially on the defensive end. A go to scorer is the one piece we are missing.

 

Yep. Typically when a team trades for a star, they have to trade a couple of good rotation players. Adding a guy like Booker would help more than what happens when a player of his caliber are typically traded.

Rockets would be trading non-rotation players and picks, and likely still have a couple of good picks left (Rockets aren't going to give high quality picks and high quality swaps).

Though, I would love if someone makes a leap like Amen did last February such that by the offseason, Rockets players are too good to trade.

 

So get Booker and we’re championship favorites out the west?

 

We would be contenders. OKC is the favorite until further notice. Favorites don't always win the championship.

 

Wouldn't say we are the favorite. But yeah, we'd be contending.

There is usually only one maybe two team that can be called championship favorite each year.

 

People are a little bit too high on our own supply about being "contenders". Booker would not make us a contender unless he takes a leap. Fox would definitely not make us a contender.

To be a title contender you need actual talent advantages vs. the other best teams. You need either 1 of the best ~5 players in the world (OKC, DAL, DEN, MIL) or you need a lower end top 10 guy, another top 20 player, and truly perfect veteran roster construction around them (BOS, maaaybe CLE). This has basically held true for at least 10 years.

Booker would have to take a (possible but quite unlikely IMO) leap to be a top 5 player to get us there. Fox has no chance of it.

Scrappy Ime-ball will take us to the playoffs and make us competitive, but it's not going to make us a contender by itself, or even if you add current Booker or any non-top 5 guy to the mix. You need the personnel. I'm pretty sure Ime and our FO know that for 100% sure.

The Rockets are very good right now, and we have no rush to make any moves given our age, team control, cap sheet, and picks. Trading for Booker could be a step 1. Step 2 and maybe 3 and 4 would be required to make us contenders. Further transactions, players taking big leaps etc.

 

book does play defense

i suspect a trade for book brings kd too for all the picks

james may want out though.......

 

There's the assumption that one or two of our young guys (likely Sengun and Amen) will take a leap. It's more realistic than hoping Booker to take a leap at his age. I think it is not too far-fetch to expect at least one of Sengun and Amen will turn into a top 20 player. Some believe Sengun is already there. But the rough start this season put doubt in my mind. I am optimistic though that he will break out of this funk. And Amen is visibly much better than his rookie season. The trajectory is very promising.

If we get Booker without giving up the four guys mentioned above, it is conceivable that we will be a contender next season.

 

What exactly is the parameters of the Rocket's 2025 pick? We will swap 1 pick with OKC but we keep the best overall pick?

 

There are three magical picks involved, and we get the best deal out of it. 2 things happen:

1. OKC can swap picks with us.
2. AFTER the OKC swap, we can swap whatever pick we got with the PHX pick.
(edit)3. a third thing then happens - PHX gives whatever pick they ended up with from us (ours or OKC's) to BKN.

Before the season started, it probably looked like a pretty weak deal.
Right now, U GENIUS STONN

 

Mitchell is the clear better player IMO, and on top of that would have been a substantially better fit as well.

Career averages 4% higher 3PT shooting on DOUBLE the volume. In todays league for a guard, this is major.

Also 30 pounds of muscle heavier. Much more versatile and capable defensively. Offensively has the strength to go through people on drives and doesn't have to rely on finessing around everybody.

Fox is still really good but the fit is far from that, he's not a natural or consistent shooter from distance (and our best 2 players long term are Amen and Sengun...), he's also small on defense. We don't have good shooting, we don't have a rim protecting big.

We're basically a few elite wing defenders better than the Kings, (Sabonis - Sengun) (Jalen - Monk) (Murray - Smith) and Fox despite his recent improvement is still far from capable of elevating them to a contender.

 

That's the high on our own supply thing I'm talking about. Sengun is not a top 20 player right now, stop.

The worst mistakes franchises make are when they they jump the gun and rate their own guys higher than they should. Look at the Kings for exhibit 1A.

I love our guys, but neither Sengun or Amen are more than ~25% likely to be top 20 players IMO, taking off my Rockets tinted glasses. Even if one of them did, it would be in their prime 3 or 4 years from now, when Booker is 32. Plus we wouldn't have a path to build the literal perfect supporting cast a la Boston, given the offensive fit problems of our group and the idea that we'd be trading away our surplus of picks and young players to get Booker.

There is no world in which the Rockets are a title contender next season. If we don't internalize that we're bound to make a window closing mistake.

Think of it this way -- in order to be an actual title contender we have to be competitive talent-wise with OKC and Boston. Right now when we play a healthy OKC they have the clear 3 most talented players on the floor, similar with Boston. We have a ways to go, but we're on a good path as long we don't divert it. Can't rush it.

 

Sengun is currently 16th in Vegas MVP odds, so I would think people who are saying he is a top 20 player are not high on their own supply, it is perfectly reasonable to say he is a top 20 player if he is 16th in MVP odds.

 

That Phoenix pick this year in a loaded draft looking good…Suns keep losing

great trade asset

 

The Suns really look bad overall if you watch the games. The games they have won against decent competition they have not really won by a lot (negative point differential), there has not been a game where they looked like they clicked as a team and could consistently perform. KD has pretty much had to play hero ball for them to get a W. No Murray, No Booker, and the Suns looked completely lost on defense and only have 2 guys who can score.

 

I haven't seen the box score from tonight, but in the previous loss to the Pistons, they shot 58/48/91 for game and lost. We talk about the 50/40/90 club, imagine a team being 60/50/90........and losing. People in this thread keep saying Durant will save them, but not necessarily if it's the defense that needs saving.

 

lol he is +50000, same odds as the other ~435 NBA players who will not be MVP this year.

Those are the odds they quote for people who want to bet on things that are not going to happen. I.e., people who want to give the casino free money.

 

Suns have tough stretch of games ahead. Their losing streak could easily reach 9 in a row.