Obvious choice as fans is to let him walk next year.. But fans rarely make the smartest decisions even on keypad. He has value as a starter but not for the extension the FO probably promised him BEFORE the KD trade.. Hopefully he plays his role as an overpriced 14/4/6 guy and stfu till after the parade
I saw a video on YouTube from Rockets ChopShop and he mentioned that he’s heard some things regarding the possible return of Harden to Houston but didn’t elaborate. I thought Harden had one more year with the clippers. Can anyone else share what they’ve heard?
Give him his 45 million and bring him back next season. Perhaps flip him at the trade deadline to a rebuilding team as an expiring. DO NOT sign him long term.
Beal didn't get Tyus benched I've always liked Tyus but he'd be an extremely clear downgrade from FVV and making moves to be worse in the short term after we just acquired KD would be stupid. He's a good backup PG, not a starter. You don't go make a huge win now move then go replace your other starters from the scrap heap
The one thing Dillon Brooks brought to the Rockets was the mental and physical toughness. Brooks wasn’t going to back down from anyone, and the young guys definitely fed off that tenacity. Brooks is gone, and you hope the young Rockets learned good from Brooks, because he gone off to Phoenix. Both Jalen Green and Brooks were excellent defenders. But the candidates to take their minutes are Durant and Jabari. After Amen took off into that next level of play, he was getting 30+ minutes on a nightly basis. But the one guy who lost valuable minutes was Jabari…. Trading Brooks gets Jabari his minutes back! I’m very excited to see if Jabari grows by leaps and bounds being around Durant. The Rockets are going to have a very big team: Sengune 6’11” Jabari 6’10” Duran 7’0” (i know he lists at 6’11”, but he’s a left 7’0”) Thompson 6’7” Vanvleet 6’0”
Here's the breakdown from Spotrac: https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2...len-green-dillon-brooks-2025-10-pick?ref=team In addition, Houston has pretty good flexibility for building out the rest of the roster. After this deal, the Rockets are about $33.6 million under the luxury tax line and $41.6 million under the first apron with 10 players on the roster. That doesn’t include Fred VanVleet or Aaron Holiday, who both have pending team options. That figure does include Jock Landale and Nate Williams Jr., who are a combined $10.3 million in expiring salary. Let’s say the Rockets bring back Fred VanVleet on a salary around $25 million for next season (as part of a new contract), which is more commensurate with his ability than $44.8 million would be. Houston would then have more than enough room to use the full Non-Taxpayer MLE of $14.1 million. (Note: Houston does not have access to the Bi-Annual Exception this offseason, because they used it last season to sign Holiday.) That $14.1 million is more than enough for Rafael Stone to get another wing or guard in the fold. Because there isn’t much cap space available, the Non-Taxpayer MLE should have a bit more spending power than usual.
We 100% sign FVV. He will perform better in a secondary scorer role and has shown that he is clutch in the playoffs when the team needs big baskets. Fred also controls the offense and is a true point guard, something that KD was complaining the Suns didn't have during his tenure there. The Warriors literally started doubling Fred off the pick and role to force Jalen to beat them. The Suns thought Tyus Jones could be a rising point guard but it turns out the dude can't shoot or make plays. KD wants a point guard and he respects Ime/FVV leadership.
The Rockets probably could get Tyus Jones for whatever Rockets have for an MLE. Unfortunately, he's likely a worse shooter and defender than Reed going forward, such that he would just ride the pine as he's not good enough to play backup much less challenge for starter spot.
I don't think this lineup is going to work as well as people think Durant - Sengun - Smith means you have 3 PFs who can't really guard on the perimeter and not much rim protection - it puts an insane burden on Thompson
Sengun is definitely not a PF. I don't think Smith starts. If the Rockets basically keep team together as is, I'd expect Tari to start as he was ahead of Smith in the pecking order before the playoffs. Tari is a better PF than SF, but is probably a better fit than Smith, as I expect both Durant and Smith will be used as the low man on defense.
I don’t see any feasible way they can pick up the option. Picking it up puts us in the second apron. I don’t think even declining the option on Landale would get us back below. The second they announced the signing of Adams was a simultaneous announcement that they would not be picking up Fred’s option. While I would rather see someone new at PG, renegotiating Fred at $20-25M would still keep them under the tax. I think they would prefer to spend a little extra on the continuity rather than letting him walk and gambling that they could find a better replacement with the MLE.
Evidence keeps piling up that would make exercising the team option bad. I understand that people have different opinions from mine on FVV, but it seems odd to me that they don't accept that some things are not suitable for the Rockets, regardless of one's opinion of FVV.
I’m pretty sure they had this and multiple other scenarios laid out going into the offseason. Now that this major move is done, they can hammer out the details on FVV’s extension, which hopefully leaves room to use at least some of the MLE.
Of course you bring him back? Unless you have a better option at PG lined up, Reed ain't ready to be a starting PG on a championship team, FVV is. FVV is the only reason that GSW series was a 7 game series, WTF wrong with some of yall? Yeah, he's annoying sometimes but he's a starting level PG and has a history of playing above his head when the playoffs come around.
