Sixers felt Houston did not call them back for a counteroffer before Brooklyn deal

You can wait until the cows come home.

Simmons-Thybulle can take Rockets defense to elite status.

Oladipo-Exum-Kurucs are nowhere near the elite defenders that Simmons-Thybulle are.

Simmons is already a candidate for DPOY. This will be 2nd consecutive season he will be in the running.

And he is only 25 and this is only his 4th season.

Thybulle is 23, already has All NBA Defense ability.

 

Levert has a mass in his kidney. Id rather pay Dipo if we are keeping Levert.

Allen def preferable but the money Rox would get for trading him makes too much sense not to do.

 

Their defense couldnt prevent Pistons from spanking their ass though.

Thybulle isnt any better than Nwaba defensively Sixers just better at marketing their young guys. Thybulle isnt shutting down the superstars of other teams so why does he have all NBA defensive ability?

Simmons def a talent but with Embiid out he still scores 11 pts? A purely defensive specialist aint worth the Max (with additional 15% trade kicker) in my eyes.

 

Last time he was healthy Oladipo was first team all-defense. And when you are trying to replace the 3 time scoring champ on your team it is usually a good idea to get a guy that can actually hit a shot. As for health its not like Simmons did not have his share of major injuries already at 25.

He might not be here for too long anyway so to really judge this trade we need to wait and see, but after a season of Russ I do not think I have a stomach for Simmons airballs.

 

Thank you Mr Stone for not calling back. Simmons doesnt make the next step. look how awful philly without biid is. BS is a better role player and not a future FP.

 

I agree with a lot of your takes, but for the life of me can’t understand how you really would have preferred the Philly package knowing: A) Simmons isn’t an alpha, B) We’re in full rebuild mode, C) He didn’t want to be here, and D) If you listen to a prominent insider or two here, if we acquired him the intention was never to actually keep him.

This isn’t 2K21 and we’re all passionate armchair GM’s. I get it. But knowing the basic information, I just don’t understand how there’s any buyer’s remorse. Admittedly, I was tempted by Simmons for a while, too. But the more and more I watch him play — it’s just meh level territory.

On a max contract? Yikes. Imagine him as our best player moving forward in the post-Harden era. 9 FGA’s in a blowout loss to the lowly Pistons? That could be us right now. Treadmill territory, at best. Simmons is much more Draymond than he is LeBron, and DG was pulling in $16M the last time GS won a ring. I think we made the right call.

 

Philly did it in ONE off season.

76ers are sitting atop the East right now.

And per Philly media, 6ers were willing match Nets deal of 4 first rounders and swaps.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

 

I am happy with the Nets Trade.

Ben Simmons did not want to be in Houston and his Agency is Clutch Sports. He ain't staying in Houston Long Term. He is all about Hollywood.

 

This is really a ridiculous take. We got 4 picks and 4 swaps, that's worth way more than Ben freaking Simmons and his sensitive ego.

Nets are imminently hard capped, all of them in their 30's and bad at defense. In 2 years that team is f'ed and we will have two years of every pick they own.

In the meantime we will sign a big FA - EASILY as good as Simmons impact - followed by a top pick and we develop Wood into the 3rd star @ $16m. This is a far superior position to be in than having Ben Simmons pass the ball to a bunch of mediocre players who will be harassed by his defender constantly.

I'm shocked at how ignorant the average fan is about picks in this day and age, and it really highlights to be why some people don't understand how horrendous it is that Tilman dumps picks to save money.

Jesus.

 

Dipo is also angling for max next season and he will be 29. His max will be more than Simmons.

And Dipo is not winning any DPOY anytime soon.

And his last All Star was 2 seasons ago.

Dipo is a trade asset too, but Simmons has more value.

And Simmons is listed at 6'11. And he can defend at elite level 1-5.

It makes no difference now, what matters is what Rockets do going forward.

But we will look back at what we could have had if Simmons breaks out.

Oladipo is what he is at 29.

 

The new Rockets identity should be elite defense.

 

If everybody would trade for Harden, then why did Washington, GS, Toronto, and Utah all decline to? U always just make sh*t up.

 

You don’t give max money to a guy that can’t shoot. The sixers record is because of Embid.

 

If we had traded Harden to the 76ers, our picks would've been a lot worse because that 76ers team is a lot deeper than the Nets team who we gutted (on purpose).

We would've had less picks as well and knowing Morey, he probably would've put protections on them no matter what.

 

We are a top 10 defense right now. As soon as we traded Harden the defense got better.

 

Rafael Stone, Eli Witus and the Rockets Front Office really saved the Team in acquiring Talent.

Best Young Talent since Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry, Goran Dragic, Luis Scola around 2009

Christian Wood, JaeSean Tate, Mason Jones, Sterling Brown, Kevin Porter Jr.

Can't wait to see Kevin Porter Jr. playing Point Guard and Mason Jones playing off the bench maybe Starting together after the Trade Deadline.

 

Philly has had one of the easiest schedules to start the season. The wins against Boston were without Tatum. They ride or die with EMbiid.

where did you see philly offering 4 firsts and swaps? Genuinely curious because I haven’t seen that reported anywhere. If so we’re those picks unprotected. If philly offered 4 unprotected and Simmons I’m sure stone would’ve taken that deal in a heartbeat to flip Simmons for more unprotected but I don’t think that deal was on the table.

 

I think most people have no problem with Allen and Prince being traded. The issue is that we sold low on them. I gotta imagine if we waited to the trade deadline we coulda got better picks for those two players. Has to be some playoff team that needs a big. Boston for example can't keep playing Theis and Thompson. Prince could help Denver out significantly.

 

#1. This original post was an immediate reaction. The article insinuates that the Rockets asked for Simmons, Thybulle, Maxey and 3 FRP and that Morey would have matched it if they circled back. That trade is still preferable to me. Doesn't mean it was preferable to you or to the Rockets. I just disagree.

#2. The original post was before Oladipo went to his therapist. He was unhappy with being traded to the Rockets initially. He has obviously accepted his journey and hopefully it works out.

#3 The Rockets will not sign a free agent better than Ben Simmons in my view. He is a DPOY caliber player and I know he cannot be the #1 option on a team but just because his scoring isn't elite doesn't mean he isn't. The Rockets are not an attractive destination without a true superstar in place. Maybe they find one or develop one but right now, they don't have one.

#4 I still don't love the Brooklyn trade. It's relying on the Nets to be terrible. I know it happened with Boston. That doesn't mean it will happen again. There is just as good of a chance the Rockets never get a pick better than #15 than they get a top 10 pick out of this deal. The Rockets traded an all time great player for 7 lottery tickets and a try-out.

#5 I value picks. I don't like dumping them for fun. I also am aware that sometimes picks don't pan out. The trade is fully a gamble. Everything about the Rockets right now is a gamble. John Wall's health. Victor Oladipo wanting to be here. Christian Wood developing into an elite defender. Boogie Cousins. Everything is a gamble.

#6 I don't understand the need to resort to name calling. Ignorant? Please. We can all learn to be better to others so think about calling people names next time. I know the joy of calling other posters idiots can be intoxicating, but on the other side of the computer is a human.