Given that the KD trade involved two multi-yeared salaries in Jalen and Brooks, there's no reason not to sign FVV in this scenario. The Rockets are about $40mil under the luxury tax so a contract in the neighborhood of $20mil/yr along with $15mil MLE will be feasible. With the rest of the money going to minimum contracts and possibly re-signing their own FA like Uncle Jeff.
I swear to god if they bring back Westbrook I will revolt and like defect to the Spurs after 40+ years on fandom. I had to eat that **** sandwich once, and I'm not doing it again.
I dont really think they need another playmaker. I do agree fvv is not a playmaker. Sengun, KD,and Amen are the playmakers. I can see him just playing on his deal or is traded during the season
I expect the Rockets to start out with Smith and then quickly ditch it when their defense drops off a cliff on day 1 (it will).
This confuses me, DD. Your take is that we need to get rid of Fred because he is ideally a good back up point guard and not a starter on a contender, so you want to replace him with a career backup point guard?
You've got to bring him back. I don't care what he did in the regular season - look what he did in the playoffs.
I don't think FVV is a starting level PG, he can't get by anyone on the floor and isn't going to magically get faster more athletic......and yes, I don't see Tyus as a backup PG, but one that has been stuck in poor situations, and would thrive with the team we have here. So, yep, that is what I think. The thread though isn't about me, it is about what others think we should do, as I am genuinely curious what folks think will happen DD
Sign him to a team friendly deal and hope that Reed is ready to take over the starting spot soon. If he doesn't agree to extension, pick up his contract and trade him at deadline.
If your 1st option is to defect to the Spurs, then you are not a true Rockets fans. If they bring Russ back, it's on the vet min to come off the bench. They need more depth at SG. Unfortunately, shooting is Russ's worst attribute. lol. Also, that eats into minutes for Reed and Cam.
Durant and Smith can guard 3s just fine. They'll get blown by when they're dealing w/ a 3 having elite quicks, but that's prob it. OTOH I'm not sure what you mean by "not much rim protection." Maybe none of them is individually a great rim protecter, but we're talking aggregates here. There is plenty of length to protect the rim with those 3 guys. Certainly more than there was 2 days ago, not even sure what this comment is about.
I doubt they pick of Fred's option too, but pretty sure between Holiday and Londale they can maneuver below the second apron.
What if they stiff arm KD's extension, pick up Fred's 3rd year? Next year we'd have 2 max slots available.
You saw last night what having a true rim protector in Chet means vs. a guy who can occasionally block a shot like Jabari Smith or Sengun means. The league average among all players regardless of position for block rate is 1.9. Wemby is a ridiculous 10. Miles Turner & Anthony Davis are at 6. Thompson at 3.6 Jabari and Sengun check in at 2.1 and 2.3 respectively. That's lousy for big men, it just is. Jokic is 1.6 but he's also the best overall player on the planet? So that makes up for a lot of stuff. Like i said, a lot of Sengun & Smith's weaknesses at protecting the rim is covered up by Thompson and his freakish ability to cover ground, but it's still there.
This both ignores what I said (look at all 3 players together and compare to what was there before) and abuses the stat itself (which favors teams that primarily play drop and don't switch). Oh and you are conveniently ignoring Durant, who has a 3.2. Come on man.
It's just the closest team logistically to the Rockets, and I've never hated them the way I hate Dallas. Guys like Tim Duncan, the Admiral and Manu were hard to hate, even if it was fun to root against them. That said, I could also just see if Josh Christopher lands anywhere and go that way! It would be fun to root for a team with a real superstar talent.
Sengun wasn't that great in drop coverage either, he had a higher block % but teams pounded him at will and the Rockets had horrendous defenses I don't think it's a controversial statement to think Sengun is not an upper echelon rim defender - which is why they ended up taking him out of drop! I know there are a few advanced stats on rim protection that make him look "OK" ; but there are othrs in which he is just flat "Bad", but in no way can you watch him and think he's actually good as in above average. Same with Smith whose career has been the eptiome of being less than the sum of his ostensible parts. Sure you're right, Durant is pretty good. He's also 37 and obv he can't play center.
