I hope he gets the chance this year to be "the man" on a fringe playoff team in the East and the Rockets get either cap relief or something of ANY value for him in trade. He's gotta be about the worst contract in the NBA, so I'm not holding my breath.
Fine trade him to the bulls so he can reunite with billy donovan. Russ westbrook for lavine and porter or Wall and Rui. I'm over it at this point. Westbrook has the best chance at winning a ring with Harden if he doesn't see it then he obviously doesn't care enough.
This is a bold prediction here by brabra. If Russ really doesn't show up for training camp, we need to crown this man. If Russ shows up, though, I feel like this is a bad look for him coming off the Wood and Cousins predictions.
I don’t think it tells us anything even if he shows up. He could simply change his mind. Things are “fluid” you know..
I think Russ comes. He’s a professional. He’s been that way his entire career no way he doesn’t show up
It's based on the fact that he is posting videos on Instagram that have hills in the background. Definitely not Houston. Training camp starts tomorrow and Russ is not here. Unless protocol is different than what we see publicized, players have to be here five days prior to joining the team as a quasi quarantine. so he will not be available for the workouts this week. I'm guessing he comes tomorrow and is ready for the group practices on Sunday. That means he has delayed our full team practices by not being here early. It's a bad look.
Watching Otto Porter inconsistency and inability to stay on the court would be annoying to us fans. He hasn't been fully healthy since 2017-18, even though he turned it up right before the stoppage. He's also a UFA next year so I guess we would get a good year... I'd assume. Aaron Gordon would be interesting but idk how he fits this team. Sato still fairly young and could blossom with quality stars around him. I don't know how this trade makes us better.
OPJ would be Rockets Duncan Robinson, he is elite from 3. OPJ is also younger, longer and more versatile than Duncan (better ball handler, better passer) plus a much better defender. Health is a concern but not a big one, he is 100% healthy now which is more than I can say for Cousins. AG is another big defender when Rockets play Lakers with Lebron/AD/Morris. AG is not only endless energy player but also another lob threat/roller option for Harden. AG is the souped up version of Jeff Green. Satoransky is 6'7 backup PG. This trade makes the Rockets younger, more athletic, deeper and LONGER. Not to mention much improved defensively. And best of all, AG, Porter, Satoransky, Harrison are all secondary ball handlers - doubling Harden when all 5 starters can create is recipe for disaster.
Rockets had a +4.4 net rating with Westbrook off the court last season...that was much better than our overall net rating of just +2.7 I’d be really happy with a Westbrook for role players that could be decent starters type of trade we could go back to a 16-17 type of team with better defense and a much better Harden as well as a coach in Silas I’m really excited about that 16-17 was nowhere near the level of the KD Warriors that year, but they were very competitive against the Spurs and would’ve been very competitive against Lebron and the Cavs as well in a playoff series...every other team they were clearly better than we wouldn’t have to worry about trying to overcome the huge flaws of a low BBIQ player who commands 30+% usage and over 20 shot attempts, but can’t shoot...it would be like an anchor removed from the offense, and it’s like Russ is even all that good defensively either
I also am wondering if he is also one of the players that think the NBA season starting too soon. They just got done and with Covid numbers rising he might be thinking of what's best for him and his family. I'm assuming his kids are home these days without school and once the season starts he probably will have to quarantine after away games just for the safety of his family.
It seems like only a few players will do individual sessions today? Not the full team? If that's the case, it isn't a big deal. I'm going to guess Russ will be there by Friday and something got crossed in the wires in that @BraBra post. I want the new additions to be there, mostly.