Inside Celtics’ Jaylen Brown trade decision, latest intel surrounding Kevin Durant rumors, LeBron James, Jalen Duren, NBA free agency https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-st...rant-jalen-duren-lebron-james-nba-free-agency TLDR; Celtics and Pistons were trying to work a 3 team trade involving the Rockets. Durant would've went to the Pistons, Sengun to the Celtics, and Brown to the Rockets, but the Rockets didn't want to give up Sengun so the talks never progressed. Also, reportedly Durant wants to play with Cade Cunningham.
My guess is that boston didn't want to trade enough picks to make this reasonable for the rockets. Sengun and durant for brown and 1 1st is obviously lunacy, but if it's 2 picks? 3 picks? Then it's probably worth looking at it from the rockets perspective.
The 3team trade is bullshit, but imagine to move Sengun for Brown + White / Pritchard with another young gun included? Well doesn’t matter, Smart, Brown, White and KD still here?! Yeah no thanks
By any measure, picking Alp at 16 was a great pick. While we are at it, picking Tari at 17 was also a great pick. C'mon, they deserve a lot of criticism but give them some credit where it is due. The only pick that most experts were surprised by was the Reed pick. All the other picks, they did about the best they could. You could argue Jalen Green was a miss but was it? The only other player available in that draft that turned out arguably better is Evan Mobley ...but if they drafted Mobley, they don't need Alp So from that draft, they got the best (offensive) center in that draft. They then swapped Green for KD, which was clearly an upgrade, at least for a few years. IMO, from the 2021 draft, the Rockets did about the best they could. You could argue that tanking didn't work out for the Rockets, and I agree. But that is a function that they didn't get the #1 pick so that isn't their fault.
Only guy that was arguably better than Jalen? lol. Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, Josh Giddey, Jalen Johnson, Alpi, Trey Murphy III.
Sengun was a good pick, never disputed that, I'm just stating he hasn't made the jump he should've by now. I can also put Thompson and Jabari in that mix more than him. When you draft Green, Smith, and Thompson where they did, someone needs to be all nba type franchise player. If that happens, the Van Vleet or even KD trade never happens. Thats why I don't understand the untradeable part. Mobley and Sengun would've been the perfect combination honestly. Mobile big guy who can cover ground , decent shot and a lob threat.
Huh? Literally nobody picked any of those guys ahead of Jalen at the time. The Rockets would have been roasted if they picked Josh Giddey at #2. So rejoining reality, the conversation was about Mobley and Green. There are always players picked lower that well exceed their draft selection but nobody ever faults the team. For example, the Rockets could have picked Giannis, Jokic, and Ginolbili. It's the draft. You win some and lose some. They didn't get Mobley but they did get Alp.
But it's not Stone's fault Green, Smith, and Thompson didn't pan out to be #1 players but arguing such is revisionist history. Who would you have selected at their respective picks that is now the #1 player on another team ...and was an obvious oversight? Stone's biggest weakness in the draft is lady luck wasn't on his side and the lottery balls didn't bounce his way. Stone doesn't deserves blame for making bad lottery selections. If anything, he's done a great job, especially on their 2nd picks. Now, many of his FA signings is where he deserves A LOT of criticism. Not trading for a PG last season was a massive mistake.
What jump was Sengun, as the 16th pick, was supposed to make? Mobley at 30% of the cap for 5 years is a drastic overpay and glad we didn't draft him.
Nah, go read the posts. There is a Mobley v Green thread. Jabari Smith draft was cool even though I pushed back against him being a top notch shooter. Amen is the only one lady luck was involved with me. It was Wemby and everyone else. Now, we need to see Thompson get a reliable jumper. His comp is Castle who came in the nba with some of the same shortcomings. The difference is Castle has become a better shooter in yr 2 and they're still waiting on Thompson
What jump was Kawhi supposed to make being the 13th pick? See how that works? What about that jumper? So you don't think that's restricting this team? He wants to be a hub and baby joker except he can't shoot. Joker and his shooting is what opens up the other things he like to do. This is yr 5 now?
I’m no insider but based on my read of why Brown was traded, Tilman was never going to bring him here. Let’s just say that Brown’s political views are almost the polar opposite of Tilman’s.
What are his views? media is acting like he’s some conspiracy brained lunatic like Jaden Ivey or disrupting the locker room like Kyrie I’ll never forget how they tried to cancel Kyrie over an Amazon link they’re trying hard to destroy Jalen Brown’s reputation and worth as a player
I read your post 4x and I don't understand what point you are making. The question I asked was why do people blame Stone for making bad draft selections? Which player would the Rockets have selected where they completely wiffed it and the outcomes of this team would have been dramatically different? Stone deserves a lot of heat but draft selections shouldn't be one of them, IMO. Overall, he's done great in the draft.
jalen #2 bust Sengun #16 huge win Garuba #23 not in nba Christopher #24 not in nba Bari #3 underwhelming Tari #16 huge win TyTy #24 almost out of the nba Amen #4 huge win Cam #20 bust Reed #3 not looking good mixed bag at best.
You answered the wrong question. I'm not asking did the draft produce good players. You are confusing decisions with results. You can make a great decision but that doesn't guarantee good results. ...and vice versa. So regarding Jalen, Bari, and Reed, who would you have picked those years that was still on the board that would have transformed this team into a #1/2 seed in the west right now? I don't view Jalen as a bust since the Rockets flipped that pick into KD who clearly outperformed Jalen this past season. If KD outperforms Jalen for 2 more seasons, then I'd call that trade a wash ...unless Jalen later flourishes into a HOF type of player ...which is doubtful. Cam also wasn't a bust at #20. That was a great pick! The issue was how they mismanaged him and the subsequent trade to dump him due to his unhappiness. By any measure, everyone agreed that at #20 was a great pick right up to the point where they were forced to unload him cause he was unhappy with his role. Regarding picks below the 20 range, you really holding Stone accountable for that? How many picks actually pan out in that range? I asked ChatGPT and it said ~60% of picks below 20 never sign a 2nd contact in NBA or turn out to play meaningful minutes in their career. Or said another way, one low pick every 2-3 years pans out is about average. The Rockets got Alp, Tari, Cam as lower picks so they are doing well finding impact players. Hopefully this year they've got another player.
Only on an Ime Udoka team could Reed coming off the year he had in his first real minutes be considered "not looking good" He was easily top 10 in players 21 or younger last year.
