Rockets acquire Suns picks, return Nets picks to Brooklyn

Post-Bobby clarity is real.

 

Regardless of position, Durant is replacing Green's minutes for sure. Who is replacing Brooks minutes remains to be seen, between Jabari, Tari, and DFS.

The fact that they are selling the 1-3-1 lineup means that Amen is viewed as a wing. And they want to justify the perceived lack of depth in the backcourt. They are telling us we don't really need a 2 guard. I agree to an extent in the context of this era of "positionless" basketball. But I still think they should have gotten a big guard or else they will run into defensive problems with some matchups. As good as Amen is, he can't guard two guys at the same time. And Durant can't guard speedy perimeter players. I worry that it will result in FVV playing heavy minutes again.

 

Its projected to only go up 7% next year.

 

and if he were to stay it's really $93 million when you tack on Beal's contract of 20 mil per for the next 5 years. That team has no hope other than maxing out at a middling team.

 

It's a stupid conversation

Why don't you, Sam and JoJo...just go away?

 

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45769897/re-grading-last-season-biggest-free-agency-deals

 

At the time of the trade many Rockets fans were not happy that the Nets got their 2025 pick back. So the Rockets have netted Reed Sheppard, Tari, and still have 3 opportunities for a lottery pick…. Stone made a masterful trade, regardless if they get a top 3 pick out of any of those remaining lottery picks.

 

And we also have the ability to swap with the Nets in 2027, no? That would mean 4 opportunities.

 

Stone doesn’t need anymore top 3 picks. Just get 10-15 range. I’ll be fine with that.

 

Rockets have a talented squad, enviable by many other fanbases. Plus they have a mix of veteran (Durant, Vanvleet, Capela, Adams, DFS, Holiday), up and coming stars (Sengun, Amen, Jabari, Tari), and sky is the limit guys like Reed.

And on top of that they have a potential of getting a high lottery pick…. Nice

 

I have to say, my initial reaction was that the Rockets were letting the Nets get back on their feet. That said, looking at the Suns roster and contracts, I think I changed my opinion pretty quickly as the Suns were in a worse position than the Nets.

 

I dont get your point. There's only 3 spots on the court if FVV, KD and Amen are all playing where would that big guard play?

If they need a big guard for defensive matchups Amen can slide to 1 and then they put KD or tari/dfs at the 2.

FVV will play heavy mins regardless as he is Udoka favorite. Expecting him to play few mins is unrealistic even if we somehow got Cade Cunningham on this team I expect FVV to still play 30 mpg.

 

I wasn't talking about the starting lineup. I am talking about depth. We only have two guys who are competent at guarding fast perimeter players: FVV and Amen. Sheppard and Holiday aren't good enough. Durant, Jabari, Tari, and DFS aren't fast enough. They can do switching but not chasing fast guys full time.

So two guys, FVV and Amen. They are bound to play heavy minutes if the other team has more than one fast backcourt player. Either that or you see a lot of Reed and Holiday, which I doubt given the fact that our coach is Udoka. He just can't stand bad defense. We need more depth in the backcourt, especially on defense. I don't want to see FVV playing more than 36 mpg again.

 

It's hard for me to take opinions seriously when people act like Jalen Green is what was holding our perimeter defense together.

I can assure you, Tari Eason (and even KD) will not be worse at guarding perimeter players than he was. Fans for some reason have bought into this idea that Green was some amazing defensive hound when he was very far from it. I'm not even sure Reed will be much of a step down.

 

This deal, in retrospect, was fantastic. It basically allowed us to take a “big swing” on KD while also providing us solid assets until the end of the decade. Can’t think of many trades that simultaneously accomplished win now and asset accumulation objectives.

 

If the Rockets offseason was just Jalen for KD, I'd agree with this. But the Brooks for DFS swap is trading away a SG/SF for a SF/PF and got 3 years older in the process. Which leaves just two legit POA defenders on the team with Amen and FVV. Ime obviously knows defense a lot more than me so perhaps he has some good schemes to mitigate these issues, or DFS may surprise and be able to check guards on the perimeter. But I hope his answer is a lot better than "play Amen and FVV 40mpg in the playoffs" like Thibs.

 

Yep, I think the perimeter defense will be better without him. I think the ability to keep Sengun out of actions will be easier with DFS, JSJ, or Tari in instead of him.

I do think there will be a small amount of minutes that having another mobile wing (or big guard) would help with. That said, I think the FVV and Amen hounding the two quickest offensive players for most of the game with two big forwards protecting Sengun will be a bigger improvement than the defense is weakened in a few backup minutes. When FVV and Amen are in the game together, my biggest concerns will be protecting Sengun, and worrying that whoever is the 5th player doesn't get burned by the 3rd quickest player (Rockets should be able to handle size well this season).

 

Brooks was actually not great guarding on the perimeter last season and Udoka knows that. He was much better guarding 15 foot and in.

Maybe DFS and KD will be a little worse, but Eason won't be. The Rockets only had 2 good POA defenders last season, and we still only have 2. The team was so good in it's switching and help action it covered for a lot of 1v1 issues.

 

I thought Brooks did a great job of being the one attacked on the perimeter than letting a guy go after Sengun on the perimeter. I don't think Brooks was bad at the POA. He just was not Amen. I'm not sure Tari and DFS will handle quickness as well as Brooks, though they help the defense in other ways.

I think there is a decent chance the Rockets miss Brooks's defense.

 

People are forgetting Tate. If needed he can frustrate perimeter players although he will foul a lot, kinda like Brooks. I think we will be better defensively this year. It’s all about injuries and MPG. Durant, FVV, and Tari are all concern in that respect (as well as Amen and Jabari to a certain extent). Teams that go all the way are usually fortunate from an injury perspective. We have a lot of depth for that very reason. It is why I wanted Reed insurance.