Is it just me, or does it feel like we're trying to go for it this year? looks like making the 2 seed out West and seeing how wide open things are now has accelerated the timeline it there's an opportunity to win a title, it's now
100% we are, you don't waste time with a 37 year old, you hope and PRAY he stays healthy otherwise we are stuck with a 55m albatross contract for 3 years. This is 100% a GO FOR IT NOW, move. DD
The give away MAY have been the KD trade?? I had thought we duck the tax this year and then have the next 2 paying it, before ducking again to avoid repeater. But perhaps we go for it the next 2 years, and duck the tax in 27/28 (or pay the repeater if we are still contending)
The Rockets were all-in on winning the tank wars at that point. Milwaukee is in far worse shape because the only protected pick swap they have is top 4 protected in 2027. 2026, 2028-30 are all completely unprotected so tanking is not a (viable) option for them.
IMHO Replacing JG + Brooks with Durant + DFS doesn’t win the WCF. It MIGHT get us there. We’re a big jump from 1 or more of our core guys away (looking at Amen and Reed) from making real playoff noise. BUT, we also hold a bunch of PHX draft assets so as Durant ages out we’re in a position to make more moves. I personally love where we’re at.
That makes more sense. Go for it while he's still got some juice. Duck it later as he's closer to the end.
I understand, but we did just give a 37 year old $50 million per year, playing out the extension of course, so crazier things... But, if I'm San Antonio I'm giving them Castle, Barnes, plus whatever for him...
[Scotto] Dorian Finney-Smith's year 4 is a non-guaranteed mutual option This is similar to Buddy Hield's deal, if either one declines the option it's essentially a 3 year deal.
If you told me I could pick one of Dillon and DFS and the cost was equal, I'd choose Dillon, but that may also be my bias as a fan. However, if you told me I could pick between Dillon at 25 million and DFS at 13, it's not even close. I am all on board with DFS. Stone is crushing this offseason and I don't even like KD. The bonus is the Lakers really needed to keep this guy.
4th year not guaranteed make this contract good enough. Honestly would have preferred Ty Jerome but I guess with a coach like Ime thats never going to happen. He and KD will essentially be 3 years and then come off the books. Presumably the Rockets will try to reset the tax that year
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45519132/nba-free-agency-2025-reaction-grades-biggest-signings June 30: Finney-Smith chooses Rockets Houston Rockets agreed to a reported four-year, $53 million contract with forward Dorian Finney-Smith Grade: A The Rockets adding one of the best free agents to change teams after dealing for Kevin Durant to begin the offseason reminds me of summer 2017. That year, Houston added Chris Paul via opt-in and trade and structured the deal to have the non-taxpayer midlevel exception available to sign P.J. Tucker -- like Finney-Smith, an experienced 3-and-D role player. Tucker ended up starting as the Rockets won 65 games and took the defending champion Golden State Warriors to seven games in the conference finals. Finney-Smith helps Houston fill the void left by trading defensive stopper Dillon Brooks to the Phoenix Suns in the Durant deal. As compared to Brooks, whose three most frequent halfcourt matchups defensively included a center (Victor Wembanyama) and a point guard (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) according to GeniusIQ tracking, Finney-Smith isn't quite as versatile. At this stage of his career, having Finney-Smith guard forwards is probably preferable to putting him on quicker guards. The Rockets can supplement Finney-Smith with All-Defensive first team pick Amen Thompson, who proved to be one of the NBA's best point-of-attack defenders last season. Offensively, Finney-Smith fits better alongside Durant than Brooks would have in a different construction of the trade. With shot creation at four positions in the starting five (Durant, Thompson, All-Star center Alperen Sengun and point guard Fred VanVleet), Houston primarily needs floor spacing from the fifth spot in the lineup. Finney-Smith, a 38% 3-point shooter over the past six seasons who hit 41% beyond the arc last season, provides more of that than Brooks. Although Brooks shot a career-high 40% on 3s in 2024-25, he's at 35.5% for his career. There is some risk here that a four-year contract for Finney-Smith becomes a negative value by the end. That didn't prove the case with Tucker, who ended up helping the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 title in the final season of his four-year deal. Still, locking in more guaranteed money helps explain why Finney-Smith declined a 2025-26 player option for $15.4 million that would have paid more than his new average salary. On the plus side, the Rockets getting Finney-Smith for less than the entire value of the non-taxpayer midlevel exception could make it easier for them to avoid paying the luxury tax this season. If Finney-Smith's contract features 5% raises, Houston should end up about $3 million over the tax line, meaning moving Cam Whitmore or multiple minimum contracts midseason could allow the Rockets to dodge the tax. Whether Houston pays the tax is trivial this year but could have important implications down the road in terms of starting the clock on the repeater tax. For now, adding Finney-Smith gives the Rockets a rock-solid top seven that also includes forwards Jabari Smith Jr. (who struck a five-year rookie extension on Sunday) and Tari Eason. Houston supplements that group with center Steven Adams, a key contributor in double-big lineups in the playoffs and recent first-round picks Whitmore and Reed Sheppard. The Rockets also intend to re-sign their own free agents Jeff Green, Aaron Holiday and Jae'Sean Tate, per ESPN's Shams Charania. All of that means Houston appears to have pulled off the rare feat of upgrading star talent with Durant while not sacrificing any depth. The Rockets are ideally suited to handle any time Durant will likely miss during the regular season and still rack up wins. So long as the Oklahoma City Thunder are healthy, the defending champs are rightfully the favorites to win it all again. As in 2018, however, I think Houston is the biggest threat to a repeat title.
