Yes I admit it, you got me. Now that we can get past that, be realistic about the team we have. I'm usually not the one that wants to play debbie downer, but man this team is looking pretty rough and you are waaaaaay too optimistic about our depth. If you would of compared it to Denver, I would of been with you, but comparing it to the reigning WCF champs? Come on now, take the homer glasses off. You are in a safe space.
We had our own major injuries…. Lakers had real vets as depth and we did not. At the very least, getting Smart and Bog gives us some real depth.
He does help those guys. He can take some of Amen’s POA responsibilities on the other teams best players allowing Amen to play more help and get in rebounding position. Similar to Dillon. He’s got grab and go handle and passing. He’s an aggressive defender to help get us in more transition opportunities. He helps Reed with the defensive communication, speed, and another body to preswitch him out of dangerous spots defensively. 3 fast defenders SG/SF/PF and talking a lot is a tried and tested way to hide the small PG. Playing faster helps Reed too. He helps Sengun with another guy that can handle late in the game against pressure. He may surprise up with some passing to get Sengun the ball in deeper position.
I'm fine with it. He doesn't move the needle one way or the other, but the contract is harmless. Meh. Whatever...
These are depth moves. We saw how helpless we were with FVV out last season. TBD what we do about the main PG role.
Can you define what you mean by pretty rough? You think Rockets will be a play in team or what? Why is saying Rockets can match up to Spurs such a homer take? We were injured last year and lost the head to head 3-1. But the year before it was reversed we won 3-1. If we just keep basing it on the previous year performance Spurs would never have beaten the Rockets last year in their H2H. If you wanna be realistic we won 52 games last year and now adding around 5 major players while losing just the replaceable one like Jsean Tate and Aaron Brooks. They should be better than last year REALISTICALLY.
The Rockets are required to field at least 14 players on the active roster. Hard to find guys that can shoot well enough to plays with Amen and/or Sengun, but defend well enough to play with Reed and/or Sengun with the TP-MLE and minimums. Personally, I would probably not have used the TP-MLE in the offseason. Using the TP-MLE, I would have prefered Kennard, knowing he probably can't be played much with Reed and Sengun. Though, I would have basically same issue with Kennard as Smart.
We saw all last season that Ime did not want to start Reed, even though they were 17-4 with him. He probably starts Smart at PG if Fred can't go.
I worry about the shooting but he's probably one of the Smart-est players we'll have and that matters on and off the court. Laker fans are beyond pissed because the dude is just an overall positive to a 'team' even if he doesn't play well there might be some benefit to having him that isn't clearly evident. Not that its going to make us a contender, that at this point will only happen if our guys take a serious leap into superstardom, that's pretty much it. The way I see it is, if our veterans actually stay healthy this season then this is a pretty good team. A big issue with last season is that when playoff came, Adams, FVV, and KD were not playing. Again, NO, this does not mean I think they would have gotten past OKC in round 2, but they would not have looked as bad as they did obviously.
Smart is big enough and strong enough to guard 2 guards and some wings. He and Reed could play together. I just don't see how this team climbs the ladder unless Thompson, Sengun or both become better shooters
Smart is a good player on a good contract. Very defensively tilted. Even if your only goal is improving this group this year (which I strongly disagree with), it is absurd to believe that what we need is defensive improvement. We were an elite defense last year, regular season and playoffs. We were a putrid halfcourt offense. Fundamentally broken in the most basic sense. I am as RAPM-pilled as anyone, but Ime/Stone(?) are pathological in their philosophy that the path to winning more, in all situations, is strictly getting tougher defensively and rebounding more. I'm kinda resigned to it at this point. We are not an organization that believes in offense, and that is not going to change under this leadership. This is a "walk the plank" the year for coach and GM, and they're going to go out on their shields doing it their way. I respect it to a certain extent. A different version of the Rockets comes with the next administration.
There is so much wrong analysis in the Chron article ... some of which were direct quotes from GM Stone. Reed Sheppard did not play the PG in high school or in college (he did not even start in college) or in his first year as a pro. Sheppard did play PG in his second year as a pro and to quote Astros ex-GM Gerry Hunsicker "that was no glass of merlot". Sheppard's defense struggled to be average at times but his ball handling skills were his Achilles Heel and got fully exploited in the playoffs. It is hard to be a starting playoff PG and lack ball handling skills. Sheppard appears to be two years away from being two years away fro being an average NBA PG. Amen Thompson is even further behind Sheppard in PG skills. Amen's handle is even looser than Reed's and he struggles to score at the second and third levels. Going into the next season, here are the guards on the Rockets roster: FVV Reed Sheppard JD Davidson Bruce Thornton Marcus Smart FVV at best may be on restricted minutes next season ... or ... at worst unplayable. Reed Sheppard is at best a backup combo guard, who see limited crunch time minutes against quality opponents. JD Davidson? I am not even sure he break camp with the Rockets. Bruce Thornton may the only PG on the roster who will be healthy and can play starter minutes. The question is how well can he play. Marcus Smart atp may be a backup SG who can also play some PG. Durant is not a guard. Durant is not a guard. Durant is not a guard. ... Ime playing Durant as a SG is whole other matter. That is four or maybe five guards on the Rockets roster. If Sheppard balls out as a PG in training camp and the start of the season, Sheppard will not have any obstacles to getting starter minutes at the PG. This is extremely unlikely. Bruce Thornton being able to play starter minutes at the PG is much more likely. The Rockets guard sitch needed a hard reset this offseason. If FVV is not healthy, the Rockets will only be marginally better next season at guard. Perhaps Stones can bring in more guard help via a trade or a Tari sign-and-trade. If not, Stone needs to be fired.
I think they could still move FVV as an expiring given his health questions. I see plenty of pgs with similar salaries that could work with the right asset attached. I could see a scenario Toronto takes him and a future #1 for Quickly given the assets they gave up for Kawhi and the vibes of bringing him and Kawhi back. Derrick White, Dejonte Murray, and Jrue Holiday could all possibly be had with the right asset attached.
This is an excellent post. Makes the point that the Rockets have the flexibility to sign Tari to a reasonable contract and keep working trades to move on from DFS, Capela, FVV, KD, Sengun and whomever... I don't hate the Marcus Smart signing as much as the pile of crap signings that happened last offseason. The FVV and DFS contracts can be moved once they show/don't show they are recovered from injuries. Signing Marcus Smart adds optionality at a reasonable cost. Last offseason was a dumpster fire in retrospect.
