One is not truthful with oneself if they think they can go through life without passing judgement. I think Stone is a very smart person; he seems to be calculating everything all the time. If Stone can deal with Wall, KPJ and others, for him to move Cam, on a low end team friendly contract in a position of need. Stone doesn’t do ANYTHING quickly. He seems to miss opportunities because he waits (EGo, Tucker & others). Stone is so far out of character in this. There was definitely something wrong that MADE it happen. Yes, I am judging and if you’re real with yourself, you do too. Fandom is a wonderful thing.
Never said I don’t judge. Unfortunately it’s a human flaw that we all are guilty of. But I try not to especially when I have no proof. I do not want to be judged based on someone’s bias. Im sure you don’t either.
It almost feels like 4 of the players are too old and 5 of the players are too young. I do see what you’re saying. It’s going to insanely interesting to see what happens though.
The 37 year old and the 32 year old newcomers are to be behold, these 2 only played like 55-62 games last year. And I do not think the young ones left are Iron men, they get injured as well. Basically Reed Sheppard is almost guaranteed minutes as I cannot see Fred playing all 80 games in a healthy state.
If one's view of the future is solely dependent on getting an alpha and only giving Amen an honorable mention, the long-term future hasn't changed much this offseason (after the KD trade, no change at all). The short term has. I view Amen, Sengun, and Reed as all having number 1 offensive threat potential (Reed much lower than the other two, but I think he's going to at least be a shooter). The Rockets are going to have 6 tradeable FRPs in 2 years to get an number 1 guy if those guys in total don't pan out as the number 1 option. Long term, the Rockets will need another PG (backup or starter depending on Reed) and a star, most likely. This is an incredibly strong position. Edit: I'm really high on the futures (short term and long term) on Amen, Sengun, Reed, and Tari. I could see JSJ being the guy instead of Tari as he's younger. I just really like the Terror Twins fit together. There's a chance the Rockets break up the Amen-Sengun duo trying to find a better fit if their 3 point shots don't improve enough.
My eye is on Jabari making a leap. He got forgotten on offense way too often. Even on nights when Jabari was 3/5 from deep while JG and Fred were shooting 29% from deep, JG and FVV kept on tossing up bricks while Jabari got ignored. That's kind of on Ime though for not telling those guys to find the 6'11" guy who was statistically more likely to actually sink those shots.
It is just Durant - at 37, and with his injury history, I get the move - we had to do it, but to say it is NOT a risk is silly, and for me.....you take the swing, but you don't mortgage and go all in on it, because additive it makes sense, but going all in on a 37 year old? Ridiculous. Now, that being said, we still have Amen, Bari, Tari, Reed, Sengun - so some might say, we are not all in and that is fair. It will be super interesting and as Rox fans - that is far better than what we had under Silas. DD
Man, I hope he breaks out, and I can see KD being a MAJOR help with his game, his shot making ability should really shine with KD's mentorship. DD
[QUOTE="Will, post: 15812853, member: 62" 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.[/QUOTE] Agree, the KD move is play to win now without sacrificing our future. Maybe some would consider this quibbling, but 4 guys are gone from those 1st round picks (adding Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher). If we're tallying success to date... 2021 is either 1/4 or 2/4 (I'd consider the latter because we got KD for Jalen). One starter/young All-Star remains. 2022 is 2/2. One solid starter and one 6th man/defensive terror. 2023 is 1/2. One potential star/defensive savant and one not a cultural fit. 2024 is 1/1. While this is still got a TBD vibe, I think the confidence FO and HC are showing with roster construction indicates they're planning on him being a significant bench contributor this year. Essentially 6/9 (67%) 3 starters and 3 contributing players in 4 years is outstanding for the NBA draft. We can debate many aspects of this (Jalen's success, Cam's potential, what will Reed contribute, different players we could have taken, etc.), but as it stands now we have 5 young core players and the 6th contributed to us obtaining a legendary scorer. I'd salute that as a success. Taking those 5 young players and adding KD, DFS, Clint to our current vets gives us a squad that should be able to compete with any team in the West. Of course the wild card for all teams are injuries and in an 82 game season will play a role for how things shake out. Bottomline is I'm excited about this team both now and in the future. We're not perfect, but we've got a unique blend of talent that should be fun to watch and root for.
Disagree. Kobe gave defensive effort from the jump, he just needed to get stronger and learn. He was a neutral defensive player even at 18, and first team All Defense at 21.
Jokic makes them a dominant team. He's the best player in the NBA and has been for years. He makes them a scary matchup every year. I think Valanciunas was a very good pickup for them - he's the best backup Jokic has had and lets them run their offense while he's on the bench. I also like Cam Johnson as an upgrade to MPJ.
I disagree with your word choice or view that they’re scary. They have been vulnerable the past couple of years. We always played them tough the past 2 seasons. We can’t say that team is dominant without them having played one regular season game together. I have trust in our team that we match up with them and will crush them when we play them in the upcoming season
They go as far as Jamal takes them. I bet he won't have fun with Amen guarding him, and on top of that they have no defense. Not worried about Denver at all (as long as we're healthy).
Despite missing out on players like Cade, Paolo, Chet, and Wemby I'm still pretty bullish on the Rockets. Amen, Sengun, Jabari, Eason, and Reed are still young enough to get better, although only Amen and Sengun seem to have true star and beyond potential. We didn't have to give up very much for Durant, which propelled us to dark horse contenders for the short term. We also still have a bunch of picks and player assets to have some combination of future internal development and trades. And the Rockets are every fans' favorite word "flexible". Obviously how Sengun and Amen develop next year matters a lot, but I'll be keeping an eye on Jabari and Reed since I think they have the potential to develop into super role players which would be a very good outcome. Jabari needs to be that 3&D player who can hopefully get up ~9 3FGA with +37% while being a solid defender and rebounder. If Jabari can be that then his contract will be an absolute steal. Reed is like Derrick White to me, and if he can get about 20 MPG under Ime this season then he will be back on schedule.
