I agree, but getting has beens while trading has beens for them is just another iteration of running it back. We should be selling KD and maybe Sengun for young players and/or draft picks and dumping FVV and Adams if you don’t have to give up assets to do it (to save IMe from himself).The next 2 years should be about developing our young players and adding more youngish vets and draft picks. There is no player trade available that will make us competitive next year. If you have to eat a contract like AD or JA to get a very high draft pick sure. KD is sunk cost unless you trade him.
That’s the rub, isn’t it? Couldn’t make Dallas a good team. Couldn’t make NOP a good team. Lakers got lucky to have him stay on the court. How lucky have the Rockets ever been? Draft picks would be the only way to make it worthwhile to eat that contract for two years.
Rockets don't get lucky? The Rockets were lucky with KD. Many folks around here (where you one of them?) said they didn't want KD at all cause he is too old and never plays a full season. Well, this past season, KD's health was the least of the Rockets problems. Rockets got lucky with James Harden. I don't anyone predicted he would be a perennial MVP candidate and he hit the ground hard in his 1st month with the Rockets. No one saw that coming.
How were we lucky with KD? We won the same number of games, got punked in the first round, and wasted 3 valuable trade assets to suck when it counted. Let’s not mention at all that are offense was the same and our defense took a serious step back. Lucky would be getting a better pick in a better draft by trading him.
Rockets lost 3 players in JG, Brooks and FVV and added one in KD and still had 52 wins. JG and FVV being injured to start the season would've sent this Rockets team in a tailspin (a year where they didn't own their first round pick anyway). KD at 38 is better than JG now, and actually has better trade value as well in case they wanted to go that direction.
Totally agree on this. KD can still net you some valuable assets if he were to be traded. KD is still the best player on the team if not traded. Moving or keeping does not hurt this team. The biggest problem is players like Alpi, Reed and Tari. Their value is garbage and as we've seen in the playoffs...they're not IT. Those three would be my priority to unload this off-season.
Literally every single player on the roster under-delivered this season ...EXCEPT KD. Things the Rockets couldn't predict that wasn't KD's fault: #1: That FVV is out #2: Alp has a "meh" season prob cause he played all summer and was dealing with back soreness #3: Amen loses his All-Defense mojo (prob because of #1) #4: Amen is not ready to take FVV's minutes #5: Reed is also not ready to take FVV's minutes (and/or Ime won't play him) #6: Bari is only incrementally better #7: Tari is also only incrementally better, prob due to injuries #8: Adams has a season ending injury #9: DFS was a zero Getting a top draft pick doesn't fix any of this. You need to separate the concepts of decisions vs. results. You can make good decisions and get bad results or vice versa. Just cause the Rockets had a bad result, doesn't mean they made bad decisions. Not every element of life is controllable. As an aside, it sounds as if by "luck" you mean getting a top draft pick. Blaming KD for not drafting the next Cooper is a massive stretch ...at best. Once you realize that, maybe you'll stop singularly blaming KD for the outcome of this season. Blaming KD is simple. Don't be simple.
Imagine watching how many games KD won for us or kept us in it with just otherworldly shotmaking whilst everybody else stunk up the joint and not thinking we were somewhat lucky to at least have that one star player? Great post.
Exactly. The owners decision not to replace FVV spoke volumes. It stated they were willing to see what they had as a gap year and retool the next to be even better. If they were going all in the one year they had KD (figuring they'd trade him perhaps) then they would've picked up another PG or traded the farm to rework the roster. KD will be on this team next season along with more weapons. It may not be the team we all wanted, however.
Not trading Smith for AD. actually would be interested in Davis to a certain extent, but it would be Because the cost of acquiring him was little to nothing. DFS+Capela+Adams+FVV is fine. They can have a protected first round in the future if they want
There is no point in the Rockets gambling on this. There are better odds that we can move on from Sengun for more flexibility, or that Sengun can improve his shooting just enough to make up for his defensive deficiencies. Davis on your roster means uncertainty. We know what injury addled teams are like to follow- it's miserable.
Rockets' no Davis list. No Glen Davis, No Ricky Davis. No Anthony day-to-day Davis. I’d rather an un-retire Baron Davis.
Maybe. But KD didn't underperform. It seems clear that Rockets don't have the next KD waiting in the wings ready to take the throne of NBA alpha dog. So the best shot at winning a chip is next season while KD still has gas in the tank. The Rockets had a two-horizon strategy. Horizon 1: Win now by trading for KD to supplement lack of consistent scoring. Horizon 2: Keep the young core (and draft picks) to build a long-term competitive team. As of now, Horizon 2 is super murky since the young core appears to be, at best, fringe all-stars and role players. There are no alpha dogs in the young core to lead the way. Do you stay the course and keep your draft picks and hope you get the next Ant Man in the upcoming drafts? Horizon 2 doesn't look good due to bad luck in the draft. Not to mention, we live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world. Everyone will get fired on this team before Horizon 2 is realized if Horizon 1 doesn't net some better results. Horizon 1 seems like the best shot at getting a chip ...because you have KD. But it is clear that KD alone won't get you there. So I think the Rockets will make a move this offseason. IF they can get Davis for cheap and IF he can stay healthy, the Rockets are legit contenders next season. AND would keep Horizon 2 in play IF a future draft pick pans out. Or you make bigger trades, which includes draft picks, which undercuts Horizon 2. Or you run it back and hope FVV and team chemistry gets you there. Maybe it does.
What they should do is sell KD while he's still worth draft capital and go back into a rebuilding phase. This "two timelines" approach basically never works. But if we're trying to win now, I don't think we can afford to do it with a guy like AD, Kawhi, Giannis. It's too much injury risk on one roster. It would need to be a guy that's younger and healthier.
Why trade for a guy that doesn't play. Bari and Tari are beyond excellent players if coached properly.
