So wait -- we traded two MVPs for a hodgepodge of lower 1st rounders?

It was a bad trade when we made it. Russ was a terrible basketball fit with our roster at the time (and really just about any roster) if you are trying to compete for a championship. There was skepticism when CP3 came about his game fitting with James, but it was more whether they were willing to do it rather than trying to fit an extremely flawed player into our roster

I'm not holding CP3 having a big bounce back year and having substantially more trade value than Russ solely on his own one year later against analysis of the trade since you could say that was somewhat unforeseeable (though he apparently started his new diet and conditioning program before we made that trade). I don't think I would have even swapped CP3 for Russ straight up, but if the trade had been something like CP3 and lottery protected picks in 2022 and 2024 that would have been defensible. The amount of draft capital we had to give up was not though.

 

Those picks are totally unprotected .... and they reach out to well beyond any Harden / Durant window who will be 37 and 38 by the time the last picks roll around.

Odds strongly favor the Rockets getting an early pick or two out of the bundle.

Hell , they could both be gone after next season .... I don't know if any of you have watched Durant much since his long layoff but he's not the same guy , he's still a long tall shooter but the explosiveness isn't there. There's a lot of compensation for the weakness in that leg too ..... and those often lead to new injuries.
That could turn into the James and 4 scrubs from the YMCA show sooner than later .... Kyrie is already lost in space.

 

Fert Dirt

 

You forgot the jellybeans

But it was only one MVP

 

another excuse for moar tank gifs!!

 

Spoiler

 

Durant is 32 years old and will be playing for awhile so those picks will be trash, which is why the trade was trash

 

Not having to pay nearly $100M for the next 3 years to a disgruntled Harden whom clearly didn’t want to be here and Westbrick is a major win. You can (Insert Tilman is cheap joke here) but those contracts were an albatross given the circumstances (Harden) and ability (Westbrick) and they only become worse as their yearly amount rises along with their age. This is the perfect time to be tanking especially if Wall can’t get right.

 

In two years Harden, Kyrie and Durant will be unplayable on the floor defensively and those picks AND swaps will be extremely valuable - yes, at least good enough to combine for a franchise player.

Now if you’re hoping for a perennial MVP candidate like Harden, lol! That’s over dude, they pissed it away and we can’t guarantee that even with a #1 overall pick.

 

The CP3 extension really feels like the worst of these moves to me. Without that there is no trade for Westbrook or Wall and maybe in some scenarios Harden is still around. The desire to run it back was understandable, but where the Rockets are today starts with that.

They were never going to get equal value to Harden in any trade and having Westbrook instead of Paul wouldn't have changed much or kept Harden in Houston. It probably be more fun watching the same roster with Paul instead of Wall right now though.

 

By far a way better point guard than Russ

 

It was an amazing trade if your primary goal was to not have to pay James Harden and to not have to pay anyone to replace him for more than a year tops

Tilman got exactly what he wanted. Pushed the high-priced GM and high-priced coach out of the organization. Pushed the high-priced stars out. Now he can cheap out and run the team into the ground and sell it to the fans as "tanking for a high pick" and "look at all these great draft picks we got!"

I think Imma go root for the Nuggets. Except then I'd have to watch the freakin' NBA again and I'm just done with this league

 

I like how OP derides "Morey the Moron" without even the slightest nod to who brought the MVPs here.

 

The same guy who drafted Carl Landry.

 

OMG! AMAZING POINT! You so smarhtttttt. No wonder Tilman has yall buying blue oilers jerseys. Sheep. Easy to herd.

 

My theory: Stone was against the Paul-for-Westbrook trade, told Fertitta he was trading away too many picks, and then, as GM candidate or incoming GM, told Fertitta it was time to restock the pick supply.

In his press conference the other day, Stone described picks essentially as currency.

 

The picks and swaps beyond 2022 are valuable, but unknown commodities.

They could be picks in the late 20's or early lottery picks. Odds are, they'll probably be somewhere in between.

In other words, the rockets might have traded a 31 year old perennial all nba, mvp candidate level player for a handful of scratcher tickets... the rewards could be terribly disappointing, meh or great.

It's all up to chance and rockets fans probably won't get to enjoy the rewards or feel the disappointment for at least 2 or 3 or 4 or 5+ years. That's quite awhile to wait, especially when the cost was a top 5-7 player.

Guess the question for the rockets ultimately is...

 

Ok. What about Terrance Williams? Bringing back Greg Smith 75 times? Was that Tilman's fault too?

 

The same guy who passed up on Kawhi?