Of course I pushed him below Amen. Of course I had Brooks over him. Outside of the last ten games, there is a huge sample that shows Brooks is better even when Brooks is slumping. The last 10 games have felt really bad though for Brooks. Tari when healthy has played a lot better than Jabari and it looks like Tari has added some on ball juice this season. Up until the last 15 games or so, I've had JSJ ahead of Cam and saw no reason to cut or trade Brooks as Amen, Brooks, JSJ, and Tari (when healthy) were clearly the best 4 forwards. I've said numerous times it was on Cam to win time prior to the last 15 games or so. The last 15 or so games has happened. I adjust my opinions on players based on how they play. If JSJ was clearly above Cam's level, so many unbiased metrics would not have Cam above JSJ now after the last 15 games or so. I typically favor dunksandthrees EPM and Estimated Wins. While their EPM doesn't have Jabari that close to Cam anymore, I think their EPM model is still underestimating Cam's last 15 games or so (though they may have underestimated how bad he was earlier in the season). I would not call what Cam has been doing the past 15 games or so potential. Maybe this is too small a sample size, but some of the people higher on JSJ were claiming 10 games was enough. I don't think JSJ has been this good over any 15-game stretch. This isn't to say JSJ is not worthy of playing on most teams. I still like his potential. I had JSJ as my top pick in that draft (I was worried about Chet's health though liked his potential more and Paolo's inefficiency scared me though he's been showing signs of improvement prior to his injury). If the last 15 games or so are somewhat close to real for Cam, Cam is probably a better player, currently. Maybe I am being too impatient with JSJ because I think a lot of the team is already really good and I don't want to wait to see if he ever makes a big leap. I thinK JSJ will be a much more valuable player than he is currently, but he's treated like he's already a deadeye 3 point shooter by some on this board. Maybe this is just a heater by Cam. I could be wrong, and Cam could go back to blowing 4-6 assignments a game. I feel like people aren't even recognizing that Cam has been playing freaking great for a while during a stretch that the starting lineup has fallen apart. Personally, I think Amen has been playing great and put most of the starting lineup's problems on Brooks slumping and whoever isn't rotating (i.e., putting Jabari in for Brooks likely isn't a cure-all for what ails the starting lineup).
If we just keep our core 7 and add a couple of shooters, maybe a rim protector, we’ll be contending the season after next. I think everyone except the core 7 is tradeable. If Jalen regresses the rest of the season he’d fall into that category but hopefully he’ll keep up his recent strong play. We can definitely get a return for Dillon this offseason. This will open up a lot more minutes for Cam (who is clearly ready). If Tari, Cam and Amen are healthy we don’t need Dillon. I’m assuming we’ll part ways with Fred this offseason. Players most likely to be traded before the deadline remain Jock, Tate, Jeff Green, and maybe even Steveo if the Rob Williams rumors come to fruition.
I think if the Rockets add a shooter or 2, they will likely replace a rotation player or 2. I'm not sure a Core 7 player would not be traded for a shooter at their position under 30 (i.e., someone that would likely be a Rockets for 4 years+). While I expect Brooks will rebound from this slump, I didn't think all of Tari, Amen, Cam, and JSJ would be this good. Mostly, I did not expect Cam to be playing as well as he has. I don't think Brooks has much surplus value, but I think he's much better than expirings in a trade. I don't think he'll finish his contract as a Rocket.
I bet we could get a protected 1st for DB at the deadline. I doubt we’d move him in season but next season he’d certainly be blocking minutes from the 4 guys you mention, and that honestly makes no sense given how much they have improved. I’m betting Dillon gets moved this offseason. Maybe Fred gets brought back on backup money (I’d love him coming off the bench), but with Sengun and Jalen locked into $30+ mil deals, and Bari and Tari extensions coming, our cap is gonna start getting tight pretty soon.
I'm thinking in the offseason or next deadline he's either a FRP equivalent to one of the ones Phoenix just got or multiple great SRPs. I really hope the Rockets cap gets tight. Right now, it sits with about 17M below the 2nd apron for next season with FVV on option. Re-sign FVV for at least $15M less than his option would get that to $32M in space with 3-4 open non-rotation roster spots while still having Brooks.
No way I include any of our first round picks for a non star player if I’m Stone. There’s this talking point that the Rockets have this huge quiver of draft picks that I really don’t understand. The rockets right now barely have enough first round picks to make one star trade. Why the hell would you give up a major piece of that package and put yourself in a disadvantage with the competition just for a player that would maybe.. take Tate and Steven Adams’ minutes and that’s it?? Especially when Adams is actually doing better and better and gives us something we don’t otherwise have for the home stretch and playoffs. I get it.. Collin’s puts up decent numbers right now… but that’s not evidence that he’ll play a major role on this team. Last time he was on a playoff team he was coming off the bench and averaging 13ppg as an energy big type. This isn’t like trading for prime Amare or Pau Gasol here.
according to the cap experts, as I understand it, if we relinquish the cap holds on all free agents (including Fred) we’d only have $20+ mil in space. I won’t pretend to understand that calculation, but that’s what I remember reading. Maybe that’s wrong, but I suspect the best we’ll be able to do is resign Fred to a team-friendly deal to come off the bench as opposed to signing free agents off the market. If we could trade Brooks for expirings and a pick before the deadline we’d have $20 mil more in cap flexibility for next season.
I think by now, most people would put Amen over Jabari. Dillon vs Jabari is/was debatable, even before this bad stretch by Brooks. I don't think it was as clear cut as you thought. (As a side note, I generally am skeptical about those all-encompassing metrics for individual players. When comparing a player's impact, I'd rather look at different aspects of their games separately.) Offensively, they are somewhat even. Defensively, they bring different strength to the table. Brooks is better at guarding strong guys in the perimeter. Jabari is better at helping at the rim. The one thing Jabari is clearly better is rebounding. Tari has played two good games after coming back. His consistency and availability is still a concern. Hard to assess where to put him in terms of rotation. I believe it's still too early to declare that Cam is what he is showing in this stretch. i guess after having ridden the Jalen roller coaster for so long, I am very wary about this kind of sudden surge. I see a lot of similarity between Cam and Jalen. Both are immensely talented. Both are immature. Both need to learn to play team ball instead of individual ball. Both need to put more focus on defense. Cam is ahead of Jalen in development at the same stage mainly because Jalen didn't get real coaching until his third season. (BTW, I believe Jabari's development was also somewhat delayed. He still has something in him that needs to be unlocked.)
I don't believe Collins is worth that, ultra valuable, Suns 2027 first rounder. I'd rather hold onto that for a bigger net in return.
Does it mean we are interested in one of the Cams in BKN, along with many others, or are getting interests on our own Cam?
I just want to note SI isn't what it used to be. It's pretty much just AI articles designed to churn out as much clickable content without real human thoughts put into it. I mean if you just want to discuss random trade ideas it's fine. But don't actually expect them to have any real news information behind them.
Revising my original list of most tradeable in this order with the top 4 most likely before this deadline: Dillon Jae’Sean Jock Jabari Jeff Green Dillon Fred Cam Reed Untouchables: Alpi Amen Jalen Tari (likely seen as an injury risk by other teams)
I think Cam is most likely to be moved if anyone gets moved. He has tremendous upside, there are signs he is becoming a legitimate two way player, so there is likely a lot of calls on him. You have the issue w Jalen being the starter and the new contract extension, Cam even this game seems very upset seeing Dillon dribble and not giving him the ball. At some point this attitude is going to wear on you, regardless of his talent, he is giving Jimmy Butler vibes. Cam dropped in the draft for two reasons. One was that he was immature and did not interview well, he has shown this to be true. The other reason was they saw something in his physical that said he will likely have a knee issue after about 7 years. He had a sprained LCL this season and that is why he missed time and likely started slow not sure if this is the same knee in question? They may not be actively trying to move him, but they say they get calls on all of their young guys, so i think they will likely listen to them a bit more this deadline. I am a big Cam Whitmore fan, ideally he matures and we have insane depth from our bench.
