Are we a better team with KD or Brooks+JG + 10th overall pick (could have been Derrick Queen taken 13th overall)? To be fair we made this deal with Fred still in the picture. We were 18-9 this time last year. Our current record is 17-10.
At the time of the trade, I was weary because the trade left us with very little perimeter on-ball initiation capabilities and it meant that Amen and Reed would need to step up huge in that area, and that was even before Fred went down. Reed has improved a lot but still a lot to ask of a 2nd year player to be a championship level PG. And Amen has not stepped up in that area, so we are seeing the result unfortunately.
I sounded like a Debbie Downer doofus warning that the Rockets getting rid of Brooks and Green was not going to help Thompson but hurt him in terms of increasing the load on a guy who was already asked to play 36 minutes a game at high intensity and it...did. The other problem is the obsession with Jabari who - like Sengun, Adams, Durant - cannot be asked to guard down on the perimeter That's a problem when 3 of them are on the court at all times
I’m ashamed that I was in favor of the trade, because I thought Durant would help spread the floor and thought Amen would immediately be able to adapt as a PG. I still think that Amen can and will be awesome as a pg that drives and dishes to good 3 pt shooters (which we now have). What I didn’t recognize is that Durant’s offense is based on ISO and that he is a terrible passer, too old to create his own space, and a mediocre at best defender. I will say that I wanted FVV in the trade rather than Jalen, just to see what Jalen could do in a more well spaced offense, but of course, the spacing is still horrible with Ime’s ISO offense built around Durant and Jalen would suck again. In retrospect, we should have stood pat and waited for a better fit to trade picks and Jalen and FVV for.
Still happy. It's only been 1/3 of the season and we've had some injury bad luck. I think consolidating allowed us to better develop Reed (despite what some/many think) and will only allow us to focus on fewer young players to develop. Sengun, Amen, Jabari, Tari, and Reed are still young, developing talent and learning to play together. Way too soon to know anything, but still a big thumbs up for me.
FVV's injury changes this trade. Rockets don't make it *after* his injury. This season will be KD's youngest as a Rocket, and he's getting plenty minutes.
I am still happy with it. I don’t think that concept was ever added Durant and win championship. I think that it was at Durant, allow some development and augment roster to give ourselves a shot. there is a three season window, where Duran Duran Durant will be a significant part of the team, and then there is the window of the future that will be built around Reed, Amen and likely Sengun and Smith as well.
If we can't beat the worst team without Fred, it means KD is vastly overrated, and it's a ****ing bad trade for us.
