That's a good problem to have. It doesn't necessarily mean the Rockets should trade them. All teams have players who fall out of the rotation when the playoffs come around. It'd be good to keep the depth just in case a core player gets injured. Ex: Tari and Adams are still in and out of the lineup. FVV and Aaron Holiday have team options for next season. Rich Paul is FVV's agent and it'd be a bad look to trade Fred right now after he helped turn the organization around. Then if you trade bench players for a rotational player, that player's going to take minutes from someone already in the rotation. Or the new player will sit which could cause issues in the locker room. If the Rockets make a blockbuster trade mid season they risk the chance of ruining the chemistry they've built together, which is the very reason why they're one of the top teams. It's only going to get better if they stay together. The only team in the west they'd have a tough time beating in the playoffs is OKC but they probably wouldn't play them until the 2nd or 3rd round. By then Adams, Bari and Tari should be 100%. If they continue to play great defense, sky's the limit. I have a feeling Amen and Tari are going God mode in the playoffs. If Jabari can come back and hit open shots they have a very good chance of winning as is.
If true, then we must be holding out for Devin Booker. I can't think of another player who (a) could become available, (b) has a window that matches ours, and (c) is better than Fox.
Or we could be holding out for no one. Having access to draft capital will be incredibly valuable in the second apron era.
We can also be holding out for KD to get traded and then we bet against him for the 3rd time. That would honestly be a genius move imo.
It's rather obvious that the Rockets need a bucket getter to end runs/close games. Depending on Green to be this guy is fools gold IMHO. I would trade for Fox depending on the price, same with KD.
I hope we don't pass up on too many opportunities waiting for this to happen. I still think Booker is the last guy Phoenix trades, unless he demands an exit. Even if they "rebuild" it will be more of a re-tool, trading away literally everybody else and trying to still remain competitive. Maybe Fox isn't the guy. I don't know. I think he's at very least very close to Booker's talent level though, and probably just about the best player we can expect to become available in the next couple of years.
I rebuke Klutch sports and their demonic ways. Let the Spurs dump valuable assets like the Lakers did for AD.
Why would Rich Paul put SA Spurs in this position? If I were SA I would just hold off until Fox becomes a FA and keep my talent and picks.
Hopefully they trade everything away for Fox and Wemby's career arc is more like AD's than Hakeem's, and they get stuck as a perpetual play-in team.
Disagree. Many of those picks become your Garubas and Dekkers and such. If you are a top 5 contender, you'll be able to fill out your roster with decent vets willing to chase rings on minimum deals.
I am personally pro-Fox trade for the Rockets. But if I were a Spurs fan I actually would prefer to tank a couple of more years before making a Fox-type trade. I don't think he fits their timeline nearly as well as the Rockets, and not sure they have enough to build around him and Wemby at this point. I think if his list is just the Spurs, I'm not sure a trade gets done.
The thing is, the Spurs could just wait and sign him outright in 2026. They run a slight risk of a good team trading for him and offering a max extension. It's not a real big risk if he really wants to be there. If I were the Kings, I would settle (though start out asking for more) for Vassell+Sochan+2 FRP. That would be a good return for the Kings. And the Spurs have so many picks, it probably doesn't hurt that much. You'd be gettign a 2 year head start on Wemby ad Fox working together. They are already a mid-round pick, so there is no tanking any longer, anyway.
Honestly, if I'm considering price, I might rather go for Fox than Booker. Yeah in a vacuum Booker is better but I think Fox can be had without touching Sengun/Green/Bari/Tari/Amen/Phx25. Fox also fits the team's profile of long athletic players that can overwhelm the other team. Booker is for sure gonna cost an arm and a leg and we're not even sure if he'll be traded in the first place.
I don't know anything about Vassell and Sochan myself, but just from skimming their BRef pages, I don't see why the Kings would do that. Hell, if OKC is interested, they can put more on the table just for the rental and still have plenty of assets left over for the future. The Kings will want a return in the neighborhood of Bridges and Mitchell trades. If the Spurs add 2 more pick on top of that, even if somewhat protected, I can see that trade go through.
If its so obvious why they beat every team besides OKC and why do they have 2nd seed? I guess nobody told the Rockets they can win games without that bucket getter somebody give them the memo so they realize that and take back all their wins.
Lowkey we can get Fox without having to trade FVV. Reed would be the guy along with maybe Holiday, Tate and Jock plus 2 phx 1st rounds and the BKN 1st pick. We would still have 10.7million to use to add league minimum players that can join the stay ready group on the team. I was thinking of bring back Eric Gordon for a 2nd round pick and taking Bol Bol for the same. This whole deal would have be a blockbuster trade obviously. It would keep the chemistry intact and increase our chances for a ring.