Our once proud franchise is being run into the ground

So melodramatic.

I swear, you would think we are the Sacramento Kings the way some of y’all have been carrying on of late.

 

It's extremely amusing watching fans realize they aren't special.....

 

This.... It's actually embarrassing how ignorant and entitled some of yall are about the greater NBA.

 

@Plowman I certainly understand your perspective and I have no love for Stone or Udoka. It's still early and 2026-27 season starts at the beginning of July, so moves maybe made. However, like you I'm not confident anything of substance will be done and we'll roll it back with substantially the same team. My only hope is that if we don't see a huge improvement in our young guys, the team will take a step back and TF will have to take action. I hate to waste a season, especially at my age.

 

If u compare yourself to sh#t, you might look pretty good, compared to…well…sh#t. I’m with you, we aren’t total sh#t. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice.

 

Lol, no sh#t!

 

Yeah in 2026 there isn’t a real promising billionaire out there that screams trustworthy man or woman of the people.

The best we could hope for is Ime or a new coach creating a culture an owner really can’t afford to mess with. Sometimes too it can be a player too (see Brunson with the Knicks).

I think it really starts with Ime to really set the table and of course a competent GM who can work with what the coach is creating in the locker room and on the court. Even clown billionaire owners are capable of finding GM’s who make good transactions.

It’s really the coach who does the most to influence the things that really matter and create that friction needed to get the GM and owner bought in on the things that matter like player development, and scouting which seem to be big issues with what Stone has overseen.

So while my qualms are mostly about Stone, I do think the coach and a star player can do a lot to course correct a lackluster owner and GM. So there is hope that Stone could get lucky with a Brunson type of surprise or maybe Ime grows into a coach that creates something from nothing or forces the org to make positive changes.

(I say this as someone who isn’t the biggest Ime believer. This is just me having a moment of optimism that surely will exit sooner than later)

 

It’s hard to give an offseason verdict during the middle of the draft. This team could be completely different one week from now.

That being said.

In the aggregate the FO has made a lot of sharp moves and avoided many mistakes - but also has been insufficiently interested in continually placing and churning bets on young talent, strategically blundered in acquiring KD, and they have generally engendered a poor fan experience via their approach.

The Rockets IMO are around the middle of the league in title equity outlook over the next 5-7 years.

But we are close to the bottom in reasons for fans to be excited to watch them play or follow their season.

Who would be less fun to be a fan of going forward? Nets, Pelicans, Kings for sure. Bucks? Clippers? Sixers maybe?

What is the org giving Rockets fans to look forward to right now? CTE ball, no significant rookies or year 2 players, another probable embarrassing first round exit, and miserable KD point accumulation?

There is no fan constituency for this stuff. Just fans who remain interested despite it.

Ultimately building up a franchise is not just regular season net rating maximization and prudent transaction negotiation. You have to keep giving fans new compelling reasons to care.

 

Or what fans don’t realize is that there isn’t that much different structurally between the Kings and the Knicks. In the end the Knicks got super lucky with the Brunson trade and that changed everything.

Yes there are world class front offices like OKC’s that you would much rather have and some owners are slightly better than others (although most now are billionaire clowns).

However much of what makes an NBA successful is blind luck from landing a player you likely had little to do with developing into who they became.

 

This is what happens when a pretend billionaire with daddy issues buys the team on credit. Assuming there was better groups out there but the NBA liked that Tilman would eventually play ball with the hardcore gambling direction the league was headed in.

 

of course luck plays a role. But Leon Rose signing Brunson wasn’t luck. He saw undervalued talent and was willing to pay for it; Nico Harrison wasn’t. That’s called being a sharp GM.

 

Silas-only fans disagree. We LOVED the Golden Age of Rockets Tanking™

 

Bull s*&$#…

 

Not being satisfied with mediocrity in a big market is not ignorant and entitled. In no way, have you demonstrated some elite knowledge of basketball or the NBA. We are just fans and want our team to be not only entertaining (we are not right now), but championship caliber. Get off your high horse.

 

Bingo. Sac fans have supported their team through years of mediocrity maybe that is why their ownership has underperformed. Fans should raise hell if they don’t like the product.

 

The Knicks got super lucky, but they are different than the Kings.

The Kings drafted Fox and Halliburton. For those 2 guys, they now have Sabonis, Nique Clifford, and a 31 Wolves pick. Besides for Fox and Halliburton, they have drafted Queta (cut him), Murray, and Willie Cauley-Stein over the last 15 years despite never having a team as good as the Rockets the past 2 years over that time. 15 years of mostly sucking and that's the best of your draft picks! Somehow, they gave away a FRP swap to the team with Wemby while receiving what most teams would consider a salary dump. Acuff looks like he will be a good scoring PG. Maybe they won't screw it up like Fox and Halliburton.

 

What'd I miss? Did the Rockets invade Iran or something??

 

every fanbase and team: lets tank so we can position ourselves to play the Rockets. They're free eats

delusional Rocket fans: Guys, I think you're overreacting on the state of our franchise.

 

I think watching Amen Thompson play basketball is super entertaining.