REALISTICALLY....What can be done to catch SA and OKC?

I see it being said a lot but I don’t think you’d be doing Amen any favors at all making him the only fast guy on a team with 3 tall and slow spacers like Myles Turner, Kevin Durant, and Jabari Smith Jr.

Quite the opposite. That team has no transition speed at all. That team can’t pressure the ball and force turnovers at all.

Amen’s life would be much better with Sengun and 3 Donte Divencenzo’s.

 

I agree for the most part. It’s why I wanted FVV included in the Durant trade instead of Jalen (If the Suns would have done it). The Rockets should have gone down the path of showtime with fast, furious, kaos. You still have to have defensive rebounding so a PF of Jabari’s length is important as is his help defense. Jabari is fine in transition. I like the idea of trading KD for expirings and a pick. Trying to get something like Okongwu and NAW for Sengun, resign Tari or try and get an athletic 3 that can hit 3’s like Hachimura. Amen, NAW (or other young Sg), Rui, Jabari, Okongwu (or Ware). Get rid of all the slow and old. Maybe get an enforcer like Dort if possible. Fast and Furious. If nothing else at least we would be fun to watch.

 

There is something to be said about the gravity Amen has on fast breaks. If he consistently advances hard, it puts pressure on teams to get back and stop the ball. Opens up opportunities for miscommunications on defense. KD trails the play and is open for trailing mid range/threes. Turner follows down the lane for drop offs.

responding without looking above to see context, so not advocating for a trade. Just can see how, if played right, amen can actually make it easy on those players.

 

He’s not getting the frequency and volume in the open court in the first place with that group though. (Turner, Jabari, KD)

He’s not getting the rebounds, he’s the only one that can guard on the perimeter.

They’re not a pressure, go get the ball defense. The tall guys have to play protect and gear up for the contest at the end, they can’t get in close and make a ball handler uncomfortable enough to make a mistake. Why go at Amen when you have better options.

Looks like a lot of pulling the ball out of the net or Jabari getting the rebound and taking 4 seconds to pass it off to someone that can dribble. Defense is already back and set.

I think Amens transition game could be a real high volume factor if you had like that Celtics backcourt with Jrue/White. Amen. A Tari type. And a center.

Amen is great at POA but i think he could be even better in the Jabari defensive spot as the help guy in rebuilding position.

 

Trade the players for picks like a Auction. Highest bidder gets these Athletes that aren't Basketball players. Track and Field Skillset really is a limited player.

San Antonio and OKC will rule WCF for a Decade.

 

Idk man, Amen was 2nd in the NBA in dunks and Sengun was a big part of that.

If I’m Amens agent and the Rockets key take away from the 2026 season was to trade Alperen Sengun for Myles Turner, I’d recommend taking the qualifying offer and getting out of there.

 

I think Jabari has a case for the worst transition starter. Atleast from the playoff teams

I can’t think of any other non center starter that is worse at grabbing a rebound and turning and taking off dribbling it themselves or even making a nice pass to get the ball up the court quickly.

his transition pull up 3s are rare and few and far in between.

not great at running straight to the rim and catching on the run but gets some.

He doesn’t have the speed to beat other guys guys up the court and atleast force a cross match.

He doesn’t force the turnovers that lead the fast breaks often.

maybe guys like Brandon Ingram or Jeremy Grant you could argue.

 

KD is not a bad fit, asking KD to play the point is making him a bad fit.

KD should be your finisher, not the guy trying to create shots for everyone else.

 

I listened to the podcast, I realize I have no credentials from an outside perspective and am just a guy on the internet but I firmly and confidently have watched more and know more about the Houston Rockets than Sam Vecine.

 

Hell yeah, I think Sengun is more often than not the one getting him open in the paint and passing it to him for dunks to get him up to 18 ppg in the 1st place. I like Sengun and Amen together.

I think our shooters are slow and will challenge them to a race up the court and back right now.

 

If you want a realistic move that gives you a chance to contend now while not sacrificing picks, then that would be Kawhi. You could get him for just Sengun with Capela as another salary to match. Then you use your MLE to bring in another center (Jock Landale?) or maybe trade into this draft:

PG: VanVleet / Sheppard
SG: Thompson / DFS / Okogie
SF: Leonard / Eason
PF: Durant / Smith, Jr.
C: Adams / Landale / 2nd round pick

Can all of those guys be healthy when the payoffs start. Who knows? But if they are, can that team beat the Spurs or OKC? Yes it can.

 

I bring up the Warriors every time people say coaching doesn't matter because its the clearest case of coaching mattering

A great coach puts players in positions to succeed, where the game comes naturally for them.

Under Mark Jackson, Draymond Green was a SF that they were trying to get to shoot the three and be a wing player.
Under Kerr, Draymond Green was a small ball big that they ran plays through who did all the dirty work for the team.

Under Mark Jackson Draymond Green was going to be cut and probably out of the league.
Under Kerr he found his role in the NBA and will likely be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Coaches do matter.

Ime out here having KD bring the ball up and be the creator of the offense at the top when we see he's not used to doing it and fails at doing so. A smarter coach simply would not be doing this. We actually play multiple players out of position and then don't run plays for one of our better shooters. No wonder we suck so much on offense.

 

I say trade everyone and see how many 1st you could get in the 26 draft. They would be back to tanking and rebuilding. But this org believes it has something in the mix now with there rebuilding they did lol.

Go Jabari and Reed!!

 

Odds of injuries derailing your playoff run probably exceed 90% at that point.

 

Stretch out our timeline.

We can't control what those teams do.

But, we can make smart moves.

 

Keep churning the roster until it all fits, just like the Knicks have done.

DD