Amen - Smart - KD - Jabari - Sengun Expecting FVV not to be healed and clearly Jabari won’t be benched, so if he is healthy, Smart goes to the bench.
Is that what you think it should be, or are you just predicting what Ime will go with? What would you prefer?
if this is truly our offseason after that embarrassment of a postseason we just had, Stone has to go Marcus Smart, washed Bogdan, and re-signing Tari…
I think I looked forward to the Silas seasons more than I'm looking forward to this one. At least those seasons had hope.
Moving DFS to open up maneuverability makes sense, but unless there’s another trade, it was nothing more than cost savings. Bringing in Marcus Smart is a fine move to help cover for injuries, but if FVV isn’t going to be ready for the season, or is completely cashed as a player, we are in the same boat we were last year. If this fails Stone has to go. The good news is that he hasn’t completely screwed up our cap situation. If you fire him, at least a new GM has something to work with. Don’t wait too long to pass judgement on Stone.
We need shooters and I rather bank on him than Smart or Tari, the former because I dont care about his antics and Tari is too stupid.
He’s not even a good 3 pt shooter anymore. He played 21 mins a game, scoring 7 pts a game on 34% from 3. He is washed. Smart sucks too, can’t shoot and has averaged 35 games a season that last 6 years. Our FO has done nothing right this off-season.
Lol Reed-Bogdonavich is the worst defensive backcourt in the NBA by far, and Sengun out there too? Bogdan looks about as washed as CP3, another scrub CF was pining for last season this team is cooked…totally fried
Houston's starting 5 last year was 2nd in scoring. It was the bench that was the issue and then non existent in the post season. If Bron's spawn outscores your entire bench that's never good.. I think they'll be in the same spot next year or number #1 with the starting unit. 20 from Amen(he will get to the FT line 2 more times) 22 From Alpi on his usual 15/16 attempts(all star numbers in every decade), 26 for Durant, 10 for Smart, 17 pts for Jabari on 13 FGAs. Three All Stars. The bench is the biggest factor. They have to be productive and trusted enough. Durant has no business playing 37 minutes. if they had a middle of the pack bench they would have been number 1 in scoring. Middle of the pack would be 35 pts from the bench. Penciling in Reed for 16 and Eason for 12...12 more between Adams and Bogdan for the first 30 games of the season, but then those numbers will have to be replaced after injuries =(. We all know Stone is going to take a nap on Feb 11th and wake up on the 13th miss the deadline again. Defensively they will be better with Smart in the line up.
My guess is they bring Fred off the bench to start the year, but other than that, rotation seems pretty obvious: PG: Smart, FVV SG: Amen, Reed SF:KD, Tari PF: Jabari C: Sengun, Adams Won't play initially, but could see minutes with injuries, etc: PG: Thornton SG: JD Davison SF: Bogs PF: Crawford C: Capela ..... -I suspect if we run a 10 man rotation, Bogs will be the guy to get those 10th man minutes. -I would expect Thornton, Crawford, and any 2-way players to spend significant time in RGV to start the year -Obv. I would expect some additional signings. Wouldn't be surprised if another vet min guy like uncle Jeff or JeSean Tate is added just to take up space, and give Ime some comfort. The jarring thing to me is just the shear lack of young talent outside of our core 5 prospects from the past 6 or 7 drafts. None of these 5 players have any motivation to perform or lose their spot in the rotation to young talent which is actually really bad for development. I'm a strong believer that iron sharpens iron, and I fear there is WAAAAYYYY too much reliant on Amen, Jabari, Tari, Reed, and Sengun. If you can't tell, I'm not super excited about this season, but hopefully Amen, or Reed take a huge leap this year, and save the season from extreme mediocrity.
I find it odd how so many of ya'll "Rockets fans" are such pessimists and call this team "washed". The Rockets are running back a squad that won 50+ games for 2 consecutive seasons. They are poised to win 50 games again, which again makes them a top 4 team in the west. (What happens in the playoffs is another matter.) Which Western team is going to leapfrog Houston? If the Rockets... 1. get lucky and avoid key injuries 2. the players don't underperform (again) 3. they get some luck with matchups ...then the Rockets are talented enough to make serious noise. I guess I'm an eternal Rockets optimist. Always have been. Always will be. EDIT: I just saw the other thread that currently says 63% of ya'll agree with my above take. My faith in humanity is restored and a few of ya'll vocal minority seem to be driving a minority narrative.
