I’m with you guys there’s a real chance Cam Whitmore gets traded and breaks out somewhere else. He has the potential to be a great scorer. But at the same time, immaturity could hold him back and hurt his development. I’m hoping for the best, but we’ve seen young players fail to mature before. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the time to wait and see right now.
I'm not happy about this, Cam is only 20 years old and is an excellent shooter/slasher. Yes he has IQ and defensive effort problems but he is SO YOUNG. It doesn't matter, Ime has made his choice clear. I just see us getting a very bad haul for him, which sucks. Our core is down to Amen/Sengun/Tari/Bari/Reed, which isn't terrible I guess, though I have concerns that Tari hasn't signed an extension.
What does that mean, we don't have the time for that? Of course you do. This is a MASSIVE risk putting all our eggs in a 37 year old injury prone KD, he will be getting 55+M a year, and there has NEVER been a guy traded that late that led a team to a ring, EVER. What we hope is that this is the first time - and that we can just squeeze enough out of the juice left to get there.....but what happens if he gets hurt, we are cap tied, and stuck with his untradeable contract while we waste the years of our young core.... Stone will be JUDGED on whether this works out or not....and I don't understand why we are bringing in 33 year old players when we have younger more athletic guys already in that position - coach em up, how hard is that? It is literally HIS ONLY FLIPPING job. DD
I think things have changed a lot since that interview. I'm not sure Cam is good enough to get a lot of minutes on the Rockets as currently constructed. I like Cam, but not to DD levels. It looks like the Rockets are betting on Reed.
Cam is just an unscratched lottery card. He could turn out great but the odds are he is a dud or a very low return.
The Rockets are likely going to have to choose between Reed and Cam if they both flourish. I think the Rockets have basically decided that Amen, Sengun, and Reed are their best options among the young players with JSJ and Tari having high floors, and Cam is a wild card. If the Rockets don't play Cam a lot, he's going to lose a lot of potential trade value as teams don't like trading for unproven players that are about to make money. If the Rockets trade Cam, it will be for something they want (likely a pick), and not to just get rid of Cam.
I understand where you're coming from, but you really don't know what's happening inside the org. There was certainly some evidence of something larger happening with the comments by Cam and just the way he appeared on the bench and court. That's a fair point on Pritchard. That dude is a baller.
We are not putting all of our eggs in KD’s basket. We still have our young core intact. Trading Cam, if it happens, will be indicative of the fact that we don’t consider him part of that core. And frankly, he has himself to blame for that. But again, we are not putting all of our eggs in KD’s basket. He is a worthwhile gamble who came at a price that we couldn’t say “no” to. Also, you have repeatedly gotten DFS’s age wrong even though you’ve been corrected multiple times. Feels like you’re being deliberately disingenuous to bolster your argument. He just turned 32.
FVV is the next best guard defender behind Amen. Jalen was a better guard defender than Tari, Jabari, Dillon or Cam. FVV is valuable because he can guard a myriad of positions up to 3s and 4s. We need a Jalen Suggs/Alex Caruso/Jrue Holiday on this team. FVV can be criticized for his offensive inefficiency but his defense is more than sound. Even against guards because he usually blows them up early by bodying them. Been one of Steph's best defenders for years now.
I agree on the last part. If they trade him for second round picks that’s a big blemish on Ime, or at least should be. We don’t know what has been said behind closed doors. Maybe Cam did ask for a trade and the Rockets said they would try. I’d rather he sit on the bench than trade him for less than a FRP that has a chance of being mid-round or better. Sometimes the switch does come on for immature players.
FVV’s defensive game is pretty good. It’s not enough to make up for his offensive deficiency in my opinion for a couple of reasons. The massive amounts of minutes he plays deprives the development of Amen and Reed. 2. He does not create opportunities for other players which should be the prime duty of a pg. It leads to a slow offense with virtually no team creativity on that side of the ball. Ime could mitigate his offensive deficiencies in either of two ways. 1. Playing him off ball every possession with the starting unit, basically letting him thrive at what he does well, defense and spot up shooting. 2. Let him play off the bench in situations where the team could use a steadying hand.
Rockets dumped off every guy they deemed is lower basketball IQ. Green- gone Brooks- see fouls late in playoff games- gone Whitmore- On the way out. Whitmore is super young and crazy talented. It says a lot that the Rockets are willing to let him go.
He believes in him. I do think that Cam is what some people thought KPj to be. A guy that just needs a chance to figure it out. KPj was never this. Guy was a basketcase and a loon. Cam has some talent in him but if he doesn't figure it out this next year (whether here or somewhere else) he's going to bounce around the league Christian Wood style before retiring and going bankrupt. Feel bad for him a bit but he's an unserious player on a serious team at the moment.
Indy needs a center, Ime love defensive guys. Maybe Capella and a future pick for Mathurin. What other centers are available? Maybe Vucevic or Zack Collins?
