The Rockets’ offseason plan is a retool, not a teardown. Re-sign Tari Eason for 3 years, $61.7 million. Sign Collin Sexton for 2 years, $21.6 million. Complete a three-team trade: Houston receives: • Day’Ron Sharpe • Liam McNeeley • Sion James Brooklyn receives: • Coby White on a 3-year, $70.9 million sign-and-trade • Dorian Finney-Smith • Clint Capela • 2027 Memphis second-round pick via Houston Charlotte receives: • Nic Claxton Why Houston does it: Houston turns DFS and Capela into a younger, cheaper rotation. Sharpe gives them a younger backup 5 with real rebounding and energy behind Sengun/Adams, while McNeeley and Sion add low-cost wing depth. Bringing back Tari preserves the team’s defensive identity, and Sexton gives Houston the downhill scorer and second-unit creator it lacked when the offense stalled. This is basically building a playoff rotation where every weakness gets addressed: • Sexton = bench scoring and rim pressure • Tari = defense, rebounding, chaos • Sharpe = younger backup center • McNeeley/Sion = cheap wing depth and development bets Why Charlotte does it: Charlotte consolidates talent for a legitimate starting center. Claxton gives LaMelo, Brandon Miller, and Kon Knueppel an athletic rim runner, switchable defender, and real paint protector. They give up Coby plus two young wings, but they already have perimeter creation and can use their asset surplus to solve their biggest positional need. Why Brooklyn does it: Brooklyn turns two centers into a lead scorer in Coby White, an expiring-ish wing gamble in DFS, a cheap veteran center in Capela, and a future second. The hope is that Coby becomes a long-term offensive centerpiece, DFS rebounds after a down year, and Capela replaces enough of Claxton’s interior production to keep the roster functional. For Houston, this is a win-now move that also gets younger. You keep the core of KD, Sengun, Amen, Jabari, Reed, and Tari, while adding a real sixth-man scorer and three inexpensive rotation pieces.
How on earth do you "feature" a guy who can't shoot and has questionable handles? Feature generally means putting the ball in his hands and allowing him to create for himself and everyone else - Amen can't do that.
He creates very well for himself and others. His only blemish is the lack of an outside shot. As StephenA has highlighted he is starting to feature a stop and pop jumper, this past year in the lane. I expect next year he will be able to expand that out to the top of the key. He gets in the lane at will and is a good passer, I hate when guys use absolutes on players at the age of 22 like they are what they will always be. He has the potential to be an SGA type offensive force with elite defense. Potential counts when you are 22.
I don’t see the full time half court PG thing others do with Amen. It can be a supplement but not the main diet. The best way to feature him would be to play him at the 4, get him over the 10 rebounds a game mark and use his grab and go game to get out in transition. Use him as a screener more. Run inverted PnR w/ Sengun and get into the short roll. Pair him with a movement shooter. Like best outcome version of Reed and watch some tape on how Kyle Anderson can get Donte Divencenzo open for a good look anytime they want. Then his dunker spot stuff is good in situations. His on ball getting down hill into a mid range pull up or euro floater is good in situations. I’d have him keep growing with diversity and using him all kinds of ways. Inking him into the point guard spot would be a mistake imo.
This. It’s in the future we have to end up putting him at power forward because all else fails. Then that is fine with me. However, everything I see tells me that he has a point guard and that with the proper spacing he will be able to generate a ton of looks for himself or teammates. my number one desire for the franchise this season is to give him the opportunity to do that so we can see what it looks like. Myles Turner/Adams Smith/Eason Durant(way less it’s working out of the mid range and a lot more spotting up from three point territory) Eason(as long as he maintains 38% on 3P)/FVV Amen/Reed This is a nine man grouping. 7 of which should be above average from 3P range. 5 of 9 being above average on defense with the same group being extremely effective rebounders. Turner it’s not the rebounder that Sengun was (nor player) but does provide more spacing and more of an interior defensive presence. obviously I’m not saying that we trade Sengun for Turner straight up. but if we were to start thinking like that, there is a lot of surplus value in the trade for us to bring back additional assets.
I hear you but I want a first round pick in this draft. This is almost a litmus test for me with Stone. Next year’s draft is crap and we have a likely combined 13% chance for a #1 pick…in a bad draft. We so badly need more talent and backcourt talent especially, which this draft has a plethora of. We’ve gone way off track potentially sitting out back to back drafts. That’s unacceptable given our position as a team. Stone simply must get back into the first round of this draft or it’s malpractice.
Amen is 23 and will turn 24 in the middle of next season. I agree that there’s still huge upside there but he lacks two essential skills for being a guard: ball handling and shooting. I also think the play-making/decision-making has a ways to go. All of this can improve, but it’s a little ridiculous to me to be comparing him to SGA, who always had amazing handles and was a much better shooter than Amen coming into the league. I’m a believer in the mid-range jumper getting much better. I’m a believer in Amen period. He’s the only player of the rockets I wouldn’t trade away. But I don’t believe in him as a guard and I think it’s a reasonable take to have. That doesn’t mean he won’t be an amazing player. It doesn’t mean he won’t ever be able to play at the guard spots if needed. But I’ve always thought he was a 3/4 and I still believe that’s the case. That’s where his skillset is best utilized and where he should play most of his minutes. And I know u disagree, but I think we have a really need in the back court for guys that can handle the ball and shooting especially at a high level. I really think prioritizing finding some really good guards will help Amen out tremendously.
The Thunder are trading Aaron Wiggins to the Hawks for two second-round picks, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports (via Twitter). Two 2nds for Wiggins is a steal. Smart move by Atlanta.
I am curious what sort of value our future picks hold now with changes to lotto protections. I’d definitely love to be picking #3 for Boozer. Giving up all 4 picks b/w 2027 and 2029 is fine with me if they would do it.
Starting to wonder about FVV. The longer it goes without an opt out and new deal at lower AAV + more years, the more likely something unexpected is happening. Teams typically don’t let valued starters become lame duck expirings, especially when they don’t have cap space plans. FVV traded? Maybe even FVV opting out and signing as a UFA somewhere else (Chicago?). I would not have guessed it. But my radar is lighting up.
Hope you're right, I was never thrilled about the idea of getting him on a longer deal. We need to start making moves with upside, with players who have a chance to get better instead of a near-guarantee of being on the decline.
I mean, it could be the opposite. Once he opts-in, he is tradeable. So if we're not going to extend him, why would he opt-in earlier than he has to?
Well yes, that’s part of the “something unexpected”. FVV opting in at the last minute is very suggestive that he is not firmly in our plans, isn’t locked in with the FO, and is getting potentially traded. Which would have been surprising to me if you told me a week ago, even though I don’t disagree with it. Partially bc there is some danger he just walks somewhere on July 1 if Chicago or somebody gives him guaranteed money for two years.
Im sure that’s part of the negotiating process. I wouldn’t expect to hear anything from him until the final day. If he opts in, then you are correct, he will not be part of the team’s long term plans and would be a trade candidate at some point. If he opts out, I would expect there to be some follow up announcement that they are working on an extension, or that they have already agreed to one. The good news is that means the team is trying to free up money for additional moves. The bad news is that “additional moves” could just mean re-signing Tari. The other plus about Fred declining his option is that $25M comes off the books and the team could arguably find a better replacement with the MLE. I think a restructured extension is by far the most likely outcome.
I would have thought so too. But Ben DuBose put out on twitter yesterday that no new contract with FVV should be expected. I don’t think he’s reporting it, but I assume this is “informed” opinion.
I don’t care if he plays forward or guard, but either way he needs the ball in his hands. He is the only creator for the current Rockets and gets better at it every opportunity. With a shot, he should be 1A. All good offenses can mix it up with different offensive sets with different players. Unfortunately, our current coach is stuck in the mud. It doesn’t help when only one person on your team can get in the lane. This last year it was Amen. The year before it was Jalen. Spamming FVV/Sengun PnR’s will be difficult with Durant on the floor, so I really don’t know what the offensive genius of Ime has in mind other that chunking it up and going for offensive boards.
While I think most of us would like to see Fred’s tenure come to an end after this season, keeping him without an extension means it’s unlikely we will be able to use the MLE to improve the roster. Any improvements will almost certainly have to come through trades. Stone pulled the trigger last year, so we’ll see what he comes up with.
