I am probably in the absolute minority, but I would like for us to restructure the deal with FVV to become a long-term contract more in the range of Dillon's contract. Obviously no no-trade clause. Fred is really not old yet. But this would set him up for the rest of his career. The only thing I wish would be that Ime wouldn't play him quite as much as he does, and sit him when he keeps bricking. Treat everyone the same.
Thanks for the 2 years. Now “I still want him back.” “I want him back on a cheaper deal.” “I want him back but in a reserve role.” That like saying “I want Maldy back but only as a backup/part-time catcher.” “I want Maldy back but only if Dusty doesn’t play him every game.” Nope, no such thing. @Bobbythegreat Time to take away Ime’s favorite toy, his safety net.
Ime doesn't trust anyone else to run the point for extended period of time. These are the guys so far: Amen, Holiday, Jalen, Reed, Tate. None of them meet the triple requirements of good ball handling, low turnover, and good defense. (Shooting does not seem to be part of the requirements.) Holiday and Tate are what they are, not much upside. Jalen is still unknown FWIW. Amen and Reed have the potential and I am still hopeful for them to takeover the long term PG role. If we keep FVV long term (and assuming Udoka will be the long term HC), there isn't much opportunity for either Amen or Reed to become full-time NBA PG--unless Fred gets seriously injured or continues to get worse in his shooting.
To add on to your requirements about shooting... I think the coaching staff/FO believe FVV shooting may progress more back to the average which isn't a crazy thing to believe. Otherwise, lots of CF overrate our young guy's ability to run an offense this season. Obviously we need offensive upgrades but I'm not going to worry about it too much when we are overachieving.
Ime has said he wants FVV off the ball more. FVV is on the ball because others have not shown they are currently capable. I want to try to keep FVV for 2-3 years after this (at leastt as long as no one else shows they can handle the point when FVV is on the bench). Getting Fox or someone else that can run point may change this (i.e., Rockets still would need a guy to run point in non-Fox minutes).
I think Ime is actively putting in the effort to get Fred off ball more specifically during this home stand. Amen and Jalen have been sharing a lot more ball handling duties recently.
I want FVV to play like he played when he first got here… he would rarely shoot until 4th … he was 2-3rd in league in assist I know this kind of his contract year but he has got to stop shooting / trying to take over games - soon as he makes 1 shot you know he taking the next 2 possessions
I've noticed Jalen getting more on ball reps with FVV on the court. From what I've noticed, Amen's reps typically come with FVV off the court. The Amen on ball reps with FVV off the court have not always ended up good. The Green reps, the offense with Green on ball and FVV off ball doesn't seem much different than FVV on ball and Green off ball (i.e., better than the Amen on ball reps.).
The thing is, if FVV is a starter, he is the PG. The only scenario I can see that he plays more off ball is for Amen to be the starting PG. IF FVV stays beyond his current contract, I see 4 possible scenarios about our PG situation (not in particular order of probability): 1. FVV continues to be the starting PG. All young guys will only get backup PG minutes. (Doesn't mean they will come off the bench. They can play other position and slide to PG when Fred sits.) 2. One of the young guys (Amen, Jalen, Reed) become good enough to be the starting PG. Fred comes off the bench. 3. Either Amen or Jalen become good enough to be the starting PG, Fred plays off ball (or more off ball) as a starter. 4. We trade for an upgrade at PG (e.g. Fox) and Fred either comes off the bench as the backup or plays SG. I think #4 is very unlikely. If we are trading for a guy like Fox, Fred will likely be part of the outgoing package. #2 is also not very likely IMO. It would require FVV to agree to a much smaller contract and smaller role. I doubt that it will happen. So it seems to come down to #1 or #3. #3 will mean that one of the young players becomes a better PG than FVV. That is the best scenario for the Rockets. #1 is the saddest outcome.
I don't think Sacramento will want FVV so I doubt he would be in package (Sacramento will tank the rest of the season and not want someone capable of winning games). If Rockets trade for Fox in season, I expect FVV slides to SG and plays backup PG. Maybe FVV is not retained next season if this occurs. If Sacramento wants to deal with Houston, I expect they will want to do it in season as they should not want to take the risk someone better comes available in the offseason. I just don't see 2 or 3 as likely occuring until Amen is no longer on his rookie contract (it takes a long time for on ball skills to develop and I just don't see Reed or Amen being good enough that soon) and I just don't see FVV playing as a Rocket after that except on a really small contract. On 1, I really hope the Rockets add a guard that can be on ball more while they can take advantage of young guys (specifically Amen) still on rookie contracts. Whether that guard is a PG or a SG, I don't care too much as long as they can take a good chunk of the on ball reps and can stabilize the Rockets when FVV is off the court.
Recently there were too many hateful comments on FVV's play. I understand people's frustrations with his tendency to chuck at times, his inefficient offense, and inability to create for himself. Yeah, he's overpaid. That also raises the level of frustration. I understand all that. But y'all need to see that Fred is playing the way he is, taking more responsibility, because Jalen is underperforming. I'm sorry, there is a certain bar and he is failing to consistently meet that bar. He's still not a good enough pick and roll player. Not a good enough shooter. Not a good enough decision-maker. These incapabilities force Ime to use Fred more as the primary ball-handler. Even though Fred is not a guy who is supposed be your main perimeter creator, he is the only guy who can effectively play pick and roll with Alpi. Jalen-Alpi DHOs and give-and-gos are good plays but they can't form the basis of your offense. The main mechanism has to be pick and roll. That's what that doesn't work as good as it should with Alpi and Jalen. FVV-Sengun pick and roll is not ideal, because Fred is a dogshit self-creator, but it's better than Jalen-Alpi. Watch the games. There is almost no occasion where Jalen assists Alpi's offense. It's always Alpi making things easier for JG when they play together. Don't tell me "We have to play faster! That's where Jalen flourishes!" We are playing a lot faster than last year. That's a part of the offensive arsenal of the team, especially when Terror Twins are around. We score at fast breaks quite well. However, you're still gonna need that pick and roll. That's the bread and butter of a modern NBA offense. That's the bread and butter of play-off basketball. I hate it when Fred sends a brick to the rim a couple seconds into the play, too. Ideally, he should always play like the second half of yesterday's game. Shoot when you are open, facilitate if you are not. It was possible yesterday because Jalen played well. That doesn't always happen. So we are exposed to eye-bleeding FVV chuck-fest because at least Alpi can do his thing when Fred has the ball. I agree that transition from FVV-ball to JG-ball should happen faster when Jalen is feeling it. Ime sometimes hesitates to give the reins to Jalen. In short, don't blame Fred. Ok, maybe blame him a little because he's been playing really bad. But mostly blame our current situation. Tari and Amen returning will fix a lot of the issues we've been seeing these last few games. People undervalue Tari's impact, his absence changed things. Hopefully, he'll come back soon. If he does not... Oh boy. In that case, we might be having some discussions that eerily resemble the ones from January 2024.
If we are going to trade for an upgraded PG, we only have three players with big enough contracts to match a max guy's, FVV, Sengun, and Green. They aren't going to trade Sengun. And like you said, a team that wants to blow it up probably won't want FVV. That leave Green.
Green/Green/Tate/Landale/2 future firsts for Fox Sengun/Adams Smith/Eason Brooks/Amen FVV/Reed Fox/Holiday
this joke is stealing money and doing it in broad daylight. Stone and Ime just allowing it to happen. One of the worst Rockets i've ever seen just from a single season standpoint.
A team that wants to blow it up wants FVV, because he is 44m expiring contract. This is exactly why Stone structured the contract the way he did. Easy, you are smarter than this post. In fact, the only reason we would pick up FVV's contract is because we struck out at the deadline and we want his expiring contract next year. I don't want Fox. One reason is that SAC is in a position to get a pretty good package for him and I don't want us to use our powder on at best a tier 2 star that would take one of our 2 max slots we will have with the 2nd apron rules.
You may be right about a tanking team wanting FVV. It's hard to say. FVV is a good expiring. Anyway, I don't want Fox either. He's a third tier star, not an alpha on a contending team. But if we are talking about an upgrade in the backcourt, he's better than both Green and FVV.
What top 10 player can we acquire in the next 13 months? We need to acquire a top 15ish guy snd hope that Alpi and Amen make the jump.
He would be an upgrade. It is all about asset cost for a rental, because he is absolutely not worthy of a max extension.
