I am curious about the Window as well and how much time can basically the group of Fred, Alperen, Amen and Jabari buy Durant and Finney Smith. That is me assuming Fred, Sengün, Thompson, Tari and Jabari would play the majority of time barring injuries and are the Old Guards that rep Continuity. I view Adams, Uncle, Holiday, Capela, Sheppard, Tate as merely 'Bonus'.
The view of winning a trade is so different than what really happens. If one was to win or lose in a negotiation they are not doing their job. IF a deal is struck every party should get their goals meet or the deal wouldn’t / shouldn’t happen. It’s all prospective and benefits everyone involved. “The Window” is time period when benefits mature simultaneously.
I see the Rockets with 2 windows of opportunity for a championship. A) KD is the player is a smaller one. B) KD the tool —> a global spotlight to our team ~~> getting our players playing in more meaningful positions so they can grow and develop their own spotlights.
We are not part of the daily of the Rocket organization. There has to be something that just “wrong” with Cam the person. From him to drop in the draft then no offers are made in trades. He seems a little “KPJish” judging the way he looks on court VS his “market”. Not the domestic violence.
I hope Tate develops a better 3 and he may see more playing time at 3 or maybe even 2. He might be a sneaky x factor this year.
I think there's a little KPJ immaturity on and off the court with some KJ Martin being a locker room distraction over his role with the team thrown in. Personally I'm a bit sympathetic because I think Ime did him dirty, but the team was always going to side with the coach over the young head case.
One thing I'll say for Fertitta: He doesn't do the Les Alexander thing of insisting that the team stay above a basic level (I think it was .500? Can't remember). That's a recipe for never getting top draft picks. We sucked, we got the high picks, we stacked the team. Some of it didn't work, so two guys are gone now (only one was a top pick). And now we're rolling the dice on Durant. If it works, we're a contender. If it doesn't, we'll try something else. But at least we're aiming for real contention. I'm bummed about unloading Jalen Green (and also bummed about losing Brooks). But on reflection, I think a lot of what bums me out is the revelation that management had given up on him some time ago. That crushed my illusions about him.
Next season looks great. Just prior to the 2027 draft, the Rockets likely have a top 3 core of players under 25, if not the best, along with 9 FRPs over the next 7 seasons. I think there is strong evidence that Stone has dramatically improved the roster for the now and for the future. Complaining about two trades as indicating a chain reaction when the totality of moves has drastically changed the Rockets situation for the better seems overblown to me.
As mentioned, I'm ecstatic about pulling KD from PHX. And, I wanted Green gone. That said, I'm of the opinion that JG had more perceived value (even with the contract) than most believe. My hope was to use him in another deal. PHX was asking for the moon, and I think we settled...bidding against ourselves a bit, if you will. We had ALL the leverage. Yet.... In addition, Cam is now gone for nothing. (Ime) Obviously, we need to maximize our assets, with an eye towards the present AND future. I love the guys we still have, but this wreaks of lousy asset management and short sightedness. *There's also the Tari situation. Does he get moved for another target due to that leg and the downside risk associated with it? If so, that would be three youngins that are outta here. We shall see.
I said it at the trade and don't think anything is there to suggest otherwise, but basically the Rockets have two timelines. One KD, and one post-KD. KD is the next 2-3 years, pending his health. Post-KD starts probably 3-4 years down the road. If we assume Tilman's avoiding the repeater tax, then the Rockets will probably consolidate a bit 3-4 years down the road to reset the clock. That will also coincide with their next bunch of picks from Phoenix, Dallas, and Brooklyn. At that point, assuming Reed doesn't turn into Curry or Jabari turning into tall Klay, the Rockets are probably going with Sengun/Amen core and the fresh faces from those drafts. KD trade simply make the current core that includes better. Long term, the money will be so much they have to break up some of the current youngsters anyways.
There's certainly an element of bad asset management, but sometimes the coach forces the GM's hand in those matters. Cam Whitmore needs playing time, and has the talent to warrant it, but Ime and most head coaches on teams trying to win are almost always going to go with vets, even if those vets have a low performance ceiling compared to the young guy on the bench. Ime is a great coach, but he's not without his flaws. Watching Jalen Green, who was given an almost unlimited leash to make mistakes and grow even after Ime took over, get confounded by GSW in the playoffs, I couldn't help but think that Cam Whitmore's physicality and aggressiveness, which are on a whole different level compared to JG, might have provided enough spark to take that series. But since Ime kept Cam on the end of the bench all year, he wasn't in a position to contribute to a playoff rotation that frankly sucked on offense, particularly with JG not showing up in 6 out of 7 games. Cam getting traded is not a bad reflection on Rafael Stone. Stone did what was in the best interests of Cam, and in the best interest of the team by keeping a disgruntled player out of the locker room. Ime Udoka's inflexibility and unwillingness to sacrifice any defense whatsoever to give development time to a promising asset is a glaring fault for Ime Udoka. Ime Udoka is a very good coach, but you'd think he'd realize that almost every championship team has a player or two in the rotation who isn't an elite defender, but who makes up for it by being an offensive threat that the other team can't ignore. As much as Ime loves his vets, none of them other than FVV are offensive threats, and FVV is usually an inefficient offensive threat and has to exhaust himself to score more than 20 points. Ime's mismanagement of his rotation priorities due to his unwillingness to trade away a bit of defense for a lightning-in-a-bottle scorer is a professional flaw, and I hope it doesn't haunt the Rockets.
This is where a GM should step in - technically Stone is Ime's boss. He should be talking to Ime about how Ime is doing and where he needs to grow. You don't give up on promising players for 2 nothing picks, that is poor work for the Rockets. You talk to Ime and let him know that development NEVER stops, that having the next generation playing alongside the current one is how you sustain greatness.....Hakeem had Sam Cassel, and other young players helping him......every team has a mix of vets and young players....every championship team.....that is.... Now we do still have plenty of young players, but Cam's size, aggression and confidence is something that generally leads to massive success.....and he is just 21.....I just don't get it....we seem like we have flipped from Morey's ASSET management is brutal but truthful to all hugs and sugarcane candy with Stone. DD
There was no article talking about whether Fertitta really liked tanking...... AFAIK he was talked into it.
I don't think KD makes us a contender - he is old, and is a sniper for sure, but he isn't a LEAD dog anymore even at PHX he was more finisher than lead....the only way we win with him is if Amen blows up...IMHO.... This feels to me like a desperate attempt to move into contender status and we were already trending that direction - I don't mind the KD deal, but I honestly don't think we will be that much better this year....because of him......it will all depend upon a 37 year old injury prone guy to stay healthy. Essentially we still don't have a STAR player - unless Amen blows up, which we all hope he does. BIG RISK. DD
2 Seasons Left to Prove for Ime Udoka, Kevin Durant, Fred VanVleet. If they won't get it done, those 3 will be replaced. Need a Offensive Head Coach to help Reed Sheppard and Alperen Sengun to Fully Unlock their Potential.
