Rockets don't need a PG in exchange of Westbrook. They need a wing or a big. Whichever has the higher ceiling.
I dont blame them for doing this if they get a FRP. I mean if wall can hang around the rebuild, atleast he could groom some young players. Get a 1st for it. Harden is going to go, should atleast have a player like Wall being a top dog around.
Yeah, and that's easy to predict at this point, literally no team is in need of a pg, let alone one well over 30 and on a huge contract, even the Knicks just resigned Payton so, i don't really see that happening anymore, only options realistically available are probably those with teams with other disgruntled player/s on their roster, and Washington is a clear fit there.
I still think our priorities should be: 1) being competitive 1a) setting up for free agency next year we do NOT need to win it all this year. We need good MOMENTUM going into free agency. I consider the 2019-2020 season to be similar to Dwight’s last season here. We need a big reset to position ourselves as an up and coming franchise. To me, that means Westbrook needs to be gone, and maybe Gordon, but not in a way that hurts our performance, and definitely not that impedes our ability to be a player in free agency next year. a John Wall swap has too much risk, and I’m not convinced it makes us a championship team.
I don't like it as well, then again, it really depends on what we would eventually get back with Wall, a straight up swap doesn't make any sense for us (and i'm confident that's not what we're interested in, otherwise it would've already heppened), but if we get assets back that's another story. I know it's hard to accept, but the Rockets really need to start making moves that also/especially make sense for the team going forward, Wood is a good step in that direction imo so, i'm confident they know what to do.
Could do this to mitigate risk. https://tradenba.com/trade-machine NYK: John Wall, Ben McLemore, Admiral Schofield + Wiz FRP WAS: Russ Westbrook, Danuel House IND: Markelle Fultz, Julius Randle, Eric Gordon + Wiz FRP + Knicks FRP + Rockets pick swap ORL: Myles Turner, Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith, Doug McDermott + Rockets FRP HOU: Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon, Mo Bamba, Frank Ntilikina, Isaac Bonga Rockets get almost 10M in cap savings, sign Aron Baynes to MLE. 6'5 Harden/6'4 Ntilikina (22) 6'4 Oladipo (28)/6'4 Nwaba (28)/6'5 Brown (25) 6'8 AG (25)/6'5 Tucker 6'10 Wood (25)/6'8 Bongo (21) 6'10 Baynes/7'0 Bamba (22) If Harden still insists on being moved, then Simmons (w/Thybulle + picks) easily slides into this young complementary team.
IMO, every move should account for 2021 free agency. A Wall swap doesn’t do that unless he comes with the picks we would need to dump him. The Rockets BEST chance to keep Harden is to have the space, or be able to create the space necessary to be a player for Kawhi or PG next summer. If we can get one of them, he signs a max extension. That means moving one of Gordon or Westbrook now, and the other next summer.
Yes they do. They don't need a ridiculous pg in return but we need another ball handler that has the ability to distribute the ball. We're still trying to punish teams for doubling/ completely collapsing around him. Does he need to be of Westbrook Calibre? No. But he needs to be reliable to make smart decisions/can defend/ can hit the 3. Do we still need a wing and center? Yes but that's what we have eric gordon and danuel house's contract for.
Wood actually had his best net rating when Drummond was on the court. He is at his best as a spacer/roller on offense and weakside rim protector on defense. Wood cannot defend the big 5's for entire game, not at 220.
need to see what it would look like here. If Westbrook is here, you’re pretty much forced to play him as a 5. The real question is where would he be effective against the Lakers?
When Lakers play AD at the 4 and bring in a traditional 5. But Drummond is just another option, would rather see Wood play with Baynes. Both are stretch bigs, unlike Drummond.
I'd be totally fine with that, it makes sense, and it's not like i want to tank, it's just that at this point i'd rather keep my expectations low and think with the assumption that Harden won't be here in a year.
I agree. I really believe that anyone we *could* acquire via trade won’t be good enough to convince Harden to stay. Different story with Kawhi or PG13 it would also be good if Wood emerged as a star, and some of the recently acquired young talent emerged as legitimate NBA players. Then you can go to someone like Kawhi and say we’ve got Harden, Wood and a bunch of young talent on cheap contracts. An example would be: Harden House / Tate Wood *cap holds for Tucker (full bird) and Nwaba (early bird)
