That would be great but Bulls already got burned on the Caruso Whatshisname trade. I doubt they give Lavine for JG straight swap.
I don't see why his shooting would increase overall. If history is anything to go by, he will gave a few hot weeks post ASB and finish the season well. If he does: MUST TRADE (if possible).
I can only hope my doubts are wrong, but nothing has changed again this year to give me hope anymore. I agree though, it would make no sense to pay a SG over 30 million a year who is a below average proficiency shooter. The problem is that they jumped the gun on giving him that contract, and that is something I'll never understand. He had not shown any consistent improvement last year in his shooting.
When this contract kicks in, $25-$30 mil will be the mid cost of your average NBA starting SG. The contract has value if he can perform like an NBA starter - even as a 3rd option….but yeah, the shooting has been so bad that it’s debatable if he is still considered a starting caliber SG.
If they want to pay the mid cost for an ave NBA starter to a below average shooter then that makes no sense to me at all. Anyway, he still has a lot of the season left to show a consistent improvement. But, by that I don't mean a couple weeks here and there, or some spurt in April like last year. I mean consistently being ave to above ave in shooting proficiency.
He is just so streaky. I still absolutely see the potential and there is a chance that he hits it. I’m someone that has been generally supportive of him. I guess that the last game just kind of irked me a bit. There were times where I wanted him to go to the basket and he didn’t and then there were a couple open shots that he had to hit. So I don’t know, I feel myself souring on both him and FVV a bot.
...my point is - Jalen's money isn't outrageous. People aren't realizing that the cap is increasing in a substantial way (we are in the middle of the cap smoothing to prevent "the Warriors suddenly freeing up cap space to sign Durant") and the "crazy" money Jalen got is just what starting NBA guards will get in the near future and if Houston wants to be a contender, they need a starting quality NBA SG. By the way, I'm not saying Jalen is our guy - I would love to see him mature into a better shooting version of himself but I'm not holding out hope anymore that he is going to figure it out before someone commits to long term money for him...but the point is Jalen is now on a short time table before he negotiates his next long term deal and his contract is our cap hold for a starting SG - whether that's Jalen or someone we trade or sign for remains to be seen.
Well if he doesn't improve his shooting this year I don't want to keep him as our starting SG. Maybe someone else won't think it's outrageous to pay him that money and be fine with having a SG who shoots about 3% below average for 34 million a year. Then we can sign someone who can shoot above average if someone is available after this season. Preferably someone good at 3's as well as driving to the rim and scoring.
Suns keep free falling. Whether they want to admit it or not, the Rockets potential package has to be the one they’re looking for. It’s basically Bridges all over again. They couldn’t tank properly because we held their picks. Suns can trade Booker and KD elsewhere but that means nothing if you don’t control your own destiny.
I like Fox over Booker personally. Could we get both? Sengun/Adams Smith Brooks/Amen Booker Fox/Holiday Predicated on Landale, Cam, Reed, Tari, Green and picks out for both.
Here a random trade. I think it's a good deal since the Kings appear to be heading towards a divorce with Fox and they can acquire another All Star caliber player in the process that could help them out long term. The Pelicans do it because they are heading towards a rebuild and this gives them the flexibility to get a bunch of expiring contracts and shed salary while also acquiring one key young asset. Rockets get a Fox and another excellent scorer/shooter that can run with Amen/Eason off the bench.
The more I think about it, the more I believe Stone needs to trade some defensive talent for offensive talent, forcing Udoka's hand a little bit in playing shooters who are not necessarily great defenders (like a large Aaron Holiday). Seems Ime can make a team overachieve defensively but on offense he needs better-than-usual playmakers and shooters to help him. Frankly I'm happy as long as we finish with a top 5 or top 8 defense so there's wiggle room there but we must get better at making shots that are not off rebounds. We can't be 3rd worst at that skill (TS%). We don't have worse offensive talent than the Silas years, but our shotmaking efficiency is exactly the same (bottom 3 in the NBA). We're just grabbing our own misses and obviously those get converted at a high FG% so we nominally get a 15th offensive rating. It's not reflective of how far behind we are at executive offensive plays after 1.3 years of Udoka. Jabari, Amen, Tari, Brooks, FVV are excellent defenders, hardly anyone has top 5 defenders that good but it's over-concentrated on the wing, we're underutilizing Tari and Amen in order to balance it - a horrible idea imo. Udoka doesn't deserve all these defensive toys. That's why you hear me recommending we proactively trade Brooks while his value is high and he's producing so well. His shooting makes me hesitant as heck, but ultimately I'd bet that post deadline Tari and Amen are head and shoulders above him as overall players (personally think they are already). With each passing month the gap between Amen and Brooks' defense and playmaking ability widens and while shooting is important - it's not HALF the game like defense is. Defense is half the game. Shooting is just one part of the other half (offense). Statistically, we're going to end up understanding that having Brooks is a HUGE luxury when you have Amen and Tari and you have 0 intention of trading them. So if you have a luxury while you're suffering at shooting, I think the natural course of things is we will trade Brooks in a package or alone for more 3PT shooting. We're the 2nd best defensive team. I doubt we would fall further than 4th with Amen and Tari replacing most of those minutes and an excellent shooter coming in at the 2/4/5 to improve our spacing and thus everyone else's offense. I would not give up a FRP this deadline unless it's for a player who would be top 5 most productive on our team and on a very good contract. However teams are picking up excellent rotation players for the price of a few 2nd rounders. Stone and Udoka may not want to touch the key rotation, but they can't just sit around and hope Jalen Green gets good at making 8 3pa a game. These guys are working way too hard. Give them a shooter or two for some low value draft capital. Brooks went down for 1 game and Udoka played Tate, like wtf? I love Tate but what more invitation do you need to play more shooters like McVeigh or Green and try SOMETHING to boost the offense? Maybe the easier offense will lead to less fatigue on defense, I don't know, try anything, give it a shot Ime ffs. If he wants somewhat two way players, you have to settle for slightly less spacing and definitely can't afford a young wing: Isaiah Stewart, Vucevic, Bobby Portis, Tobias Harris Low cost, one-way options: Duncan Robinson, Patrick Williams, Olynyk, plus our very own Jeff Green & Jack McVeigh Stone needs to get busy and make some marginal changes without giving up too much.
If you want to improve offensively seems ass backwards to trade DB who has been outstanding on both sides of the ball. Tari cant even get healthy and you wanna trade our most consistent guy away? Thats a sure way to get Tate even more PT which you claim you hate. Also look at Tari's 3 pt and efficiency he hasnt exactly been good on that end even before he went down. If we wanna maximize value Tari or Cam are the ones who should get traded either of them will get better return than DB because of potential.
I just want to see Jalen playing in a wide open offense, before the Rockets make a decision on trading him. I think he is a momentum type player and Ime's insistence on FVV playing 35+ minutes a night and his crazy rotations (not playing the hot hand) are a contributing factor. Before everyone jumps on me as some kind of stan that always has an excuse for Jalen, I'm not predicting Jalen is going to magically have an epiphany, but what to do with Jalen is a huge decision for this franchise and they should be trying different combinations to see if he can be unleashed. Another option is to let him play off the bench. This team is not a contender this year and we are wasting time not figuring out who to pay and who to trade. We are a better team than last year and that is progress, but the goal is to be a contender and this year should be used to evaluate how we get there starting next year. if we pick up the option or re-structure FVV's contract next year will be another wasted year.
Not advocating just sharing. Kuzma wants out of Washington. "“By all indications, he has a lot of interest in going to Dallas,” NBA insider Jake Fischer said of Kuzma. “which is interesting to me because that was a situation he could have gone to last year. But the Wizards interestingly went to Kyle Kuzma and gave him the opportunity to accept that trade or decline it. He chose to stay.”
Real talk we should trade for Bol Bol. Phoenix doesn’t know what to do with him. They’re not even playing him. It will only cost us 2 million and he can be a guy that can help us against Wemby. Also he will be a mismatch for the rest of the league.
I feel like we are 5+ years into the “Bol Bol is a matchup nightmare” conversation and he is STILL having a hard time getting off the bench on his third team. I don’t think it’s going to happen for him at 25 on his fourth team.
Totally agree that as tempting as the illusion of contention seems, it’s clear the team as presently constructed has a limited shelf life in the playoffs/regular season. We have a lot of flexibility in the offseason to remake our backcourt - let’s use the rest of this season to experiment with players in different roles. What does Cam look like in Jalen’s current role, what does Jalen look like without Fred slowing down the pace - could we try Jalen led second units more to see if Jalen’s efficiency improves against 2nd units? Could Jalen/Cam work? How will these players respond to not having Fred “directing” - who will emerge as the new floor generals? We will be significantly better next year if we can get better answers to these questions before the offseason when we have options to retain or trade or let go of Fred and Jalen. …also - are we sure Adams is better than Landale? And when are we going to cash in that “Tate to a contender” trade chip? The guy is mostly rotting away on our bench and he is good. Can’t we get some future picks for him from the Lakers.
;this works right now and would make us contenders without giving up Amen, Jabari, or Sengun. Durant only has a two year contract and we just let him ride off into the sunset. If he is healthy for the playoffs this year and next we would be contenders. It works according to Fanspo, but they aren't always right. Phoenix gets an early start on their re-build by tanking the rest of the year. They can either bury FVV or let him go and eat the rest of his contract and use Dillon sparingly in order to tank the rest of the way. Jalen and Sheppard get lots of minutes during the tank. We have Amen and Booker as our backcourt for the next 4 years, Durant SF for 2 years (when healthy) continue to develop Tari, Jabari, Amen, Sengun, Cam. May have to throw in another of our own picks. Same cap situation as now without the flexibilty of letting FVV walk next year. So very limited options to add players while Durant is on the books for 2 years. Rockets in: Durant Booker Phoenix in: FVV Jalen Adams Sheppard Brooks All 3 of their pics and swaps. Our lineup rest of this year and all of next year. Amen Booker Durant Jabari Sengun Bench: Tari Cam Landale Tate Jeff Green Holiday
