I think Marcus Smart is being underrated here but this is a truly puzzling move unless there is another move set up that they are waiting on. Rockets could use the point of attack defender when Amen rests and the Rockets could use the ability he has to run an offense but holy ****, does shooting mean nothing? FVV/Smart/Amen/Adams/Sengun would all be non shooting rotational players. Capela would be a non shooting rotational player in stretches. The only 2 players out of that list that should matter are Sengun and Amen. The Rockets are failing to maximize their best two players by adding redundancy in every aspect. Should be targeting guys like Grimes, Gary Trent, Luke Kennard. They cap how good their elite draft picks can be over and over and over. With Jalen they brought in Fred too early and he became a focal point of the offense. With Sengun they played Bruno Fernandez over him. With Amen and Sengun they refuse to put them around 3 shooters to see how it works. With Reed, they are playing Aaron Holiday and JD Davison over him. WTF is going on.
I’d prefer a younger player that could still improve, but I’m not sure how many PGs are available in free agency. You could probably go with the likes of Bones Hyland for the minimum, but I’d still want a more seasoned vet like Smart. I don’t believe Fred will be part of the team going forward. And as long as they still believe in Sheppard, as it appears they do, I think they are going to want a vet like Smart on the team. I think that’s a good idea. I don’t think it’s a bad allocation of resources. I think players like DFS and Clint, who are the reason only $7M is available, are.
Meh, I don't love it, but you could play Smart with FVV and Amen: FVV Smart Amen Durant Sengun? I know people talk about Smart as a non-shooter, but his career playoff percentage from three (33.5%) is on par with the rest of our meager lineup. He'd fit write in. He's certainly as good as what our restricted FA, Tari, has been doing (except Smart won't make all those super-weird decisions that Tari seems to make). Smart won't get pushed around, and his personality can stand up to Durant (which we need).
If the 3-year deal has team options for years 2 & 3, then that's a decent deal and keeps the onus on Smart to produce. If it's only a team option for year 3, then we can still live with that. If they guarantee all three years or make them player options, I won't like it. We need flexibility and risk mgmt applied to old guys, at $7M he's getting a nice salary bump from LAL days.
Doesn’t matter, we’re wasting our time. Sell the farm, rebuild, we not beating Knicks, Heat, Spurs, Thunder and soon GSW w/ LeBron.
The Rockets will likely get less free wins like every team. That said, Thunder, Spurs, and Lakers annihilated weak teams. Rockets, Nuggets, Wolves, Suns, TrailBlazers, and Warriors did great against the weak teams. It was the Suns, Trailblazers, and Warriors that actually struggled winning games against teams trying to win. Memphis and the Jazz likely being much better (even without the changing of the lottery rules) will likely have a much more significant impact on the Rockets seeding than the weaker teams no longer tanking or what the Rockets do with the small exceptions they have.
Ujoka has fcked this franchise harder than he fcked that Celtics staffer @Bobbythegreat @LosPollosHermanos The best $184 million could buy (and that’s not even counting his 6y/$66M coaching deal!) Got dat dawg! I said we wuznt tuff enuff! Dat fizzlecality, dat tuffness, dat rebounding!
I’ve never seen a more compelling collage to push me to root against this team how far this franchise has fallen
We got killed by Smart's surprising 3pt shooting in the playoffs and Ime was like, "Why is this great shooter with PHYSICALITY not on my team?" The rest is history.
The only reason u bring in Smart is if u expect that FVV will be a non-factor or as insurance on his health going forward - whether it be due to injury recovery or trading him as an expiring... Everyone rages about our inept offense - but we didnt have an actual pg... thats the catalyst that makes the engine run.... and we still finished 8th in ortg at 117.5... obviously thats based on early season success which fell off dramatically (wo Adams 2nd chance point opportunities)... but if we just had a decent pg i believe everything would gel a helluva lot better - heck, just not expecting KD to be the facilitator is a huge step up... Imo, u have to continue to try to mold Reed into a pg - its his only path to significant playing time... so id slot him as the bu pg and deal w some growing pains... I'd expect Thornton to be the 3rd string pg... he is a rookie - but dude is 23 this year and we moved up to get him... I hope we are done trying to force Amen into the pg role... we need to lean into his attributes around the basket - and hope he develops at least a mid-range shot... Ime was without his FVV security blanket and Smart is blanket #2... I know many folks dont like our grind it out, defensive, rebounding-focused system and would rather run n gun and rain 3s... but that aint what we're doing... make yer peace with it. lol
Then he reverted back to Marcus Smart “…in 2026 playoffs after Smart surprisingly shot 46.4%FG/44.8% 3ptFG & .580 eFG% vs #Rockets, he shot vs Thunder 30.2% FG/19.0% 3ptFG & 34.9 eFG%”
If only Smart could play against teams coached by Ime Udoka every game, he'd be almost as good as Ime Udoka thinks he is.
Smart got away with a lot of fouling because he played for the Lakers. That much is a fact. He was uncharacteristically healthy last season. And I'm pretty sure his shot benefited from the magnet ball, too. But I get that that's crazy talk. It will be a bad sign if the Lakers don't attempt to keep him. Pretty sure this is going to be DFS 2.0.
People are talking about how Smart will replace Brooks and give them back that defensive identity. My question is who cares? The outcome was still same when they had an elite defense with Brooks and last season. Once the real game (playoffs) started the Rockets lost to an inferior team because their offense was terrible. Doubling down on more terrible offensive players isn't going to change the outcome of getting bounced in round 1 because the offense is incapable of putting up points when teams actually gameplan. Just play the young dudes at this point and hope Reed, Smith and Amen can improve
