I was responding to the Iko article saying we might target perimeter shooting under 25 Thanks for the input though
Remaining trade / free agent acquisition targets (I don't think we use whole MLE if we use it all) Current Roster PG KPJ - DJA - Thomas - Wall (injured :wink: ) SG Green (2) - Brooks - Christopher (24) SF Tate - Gordon - Nwaba PF Wood - KMJ - House C Theis - Alperen Sengun (16) - Garuba (23) 2-way: Hurt + ??? So we have like no space on our roster... currently. Obviously, most Rox fans want to move on from Wall, House, & Gordon. I think we could trade House for some serviceable players. Or if he is cut, sign a replacement. Trade Targets Myles Turner (IND) I will never let the dream die! Brandon Clarke (MEM) Jordan Nwora (MIL) Mo Bamba (ORL) probably not traded until evaluated for "fit" with new coaching staff's plan Oshae Brissett (IND) Alize Johnson (BRK) Paul Reed (PHI) Free Agent Targets Willie Hernangomez (NOP) UFA I think he would prefer a playoff bound team Josh Hart (NOP) UFA I think he would prefer a playoff bound team Isaiah Hartenstein (CLE) UFA Bring back Harty... but only a cheap deal Isaac Bonga (WSH) UFA Keta Bates-Diop (SAS) 2way Louis King (SAC) UFA So with that being said, I would love this trade (right now) 3 team trade: CLE - HOU - IND CLE: Danuel House (HOU) fits into a TE and helps strengthen their bench IND: protected 2022 HOU SRP (31 - 45 protected) Pacers get some breathing room from the LT line HOU: Oshae Brisett (IND) can shoot the three; has decent size (TWSS); can be a defensive disrupter if House is cut instead, we could use part of MLE to sign a player like Bonga who showed promise as a strong defensive presence as a rookie and can play PG, SG, & SF. If he works on his 3ball (coach Lucas!), might turn out to be a steal. That would round out the Rockets lineup... until around the trade deadline
Zach Harper’s Rockets offseason report: Overall grade, roster breakdown, goals for 2021-22 https://theathletic.com/2767014/202...all-grade-roster-breakdown-goals-for-2021-22/ Overall offseason grade: A Team status: Rebuilding franchise What happened last season? The nuclear option hit pretty quickly for the Rockets. Mike D’Antoni left after a “going through the motions” attempt at a contract extension. Daryl Morey stepped down to run the Philadelphia 76ers. Russell Westbrook asked for a trade and received it for John Wall and a draft pick. At that point, James Harden wanted out — preferably to go play with his friends in Brooklyn. The Rockets were going to hold strong and find comfort in making things uncomfortable through all of the trade rumors — that is, until they got a deal they were comfortable taking for their franchise player. Harden found his way to the Nets, and the Rockets soon after found their way deep into a rebuild. Despite bright spot individual seasons from guys such as Christian Wood (their big offseason acquisition), Kevin Porter Jr. (young guy they grabbed from Cleveland) and fringe guys such as Jae’Sean Tate, Kenyon Martin Jr. and a brief stint from Armoni Brooks, the Rockets were mostly piling up losses and hoping for lottery-night luck. They were able to use an unsuccessful season to hopefully build out a successful reclamation project. And after ending up with the second pick in the draft and four first-round picks, they’re already restocking the cupboard for Stephen Silas to coach up. Positional changes We may have some quibbles over which players belong in specific groups, but I’m just going with my overall impressions of where they belonged and where they probably will belong next season. Not ordered by expected depth chart. Changes to Houston's Lead Guards Lead Guards | 2020-21 Players | 2021-22 Players 1 | John Wall | John Wall 2 | D.J. Augustin | D.J. Augustin 3 | Avery Bradley | Khyri Thomas 4 | Khyri Thomas | — (Lead guards are just considered the main initiators from the backcourt position.) Transactions: Declined team option on Avery Bradley, making him an unrestricted free agent. Did Rockets improve here? No, at least not from a player change or talent standpoint. Bradley technically was a lead-guard type, although losing him doesn’t change anything. They’ll hope Wall can look even healthier and more explosive, which could then make him sexier as a trade option. Nothing really changes for Houston here. Changes to Houston's Wings Wings | 2020-21 Players | 2021-22 Players 1 | Eric Gordon | Jalen Green 2 | Kevin Porter Jr. | Eric Gordon 3 | Jae'Sean Tate | Kevin Porter Jr. 4 | Sterling Brown | Josh Christopher 5 | Kenyon Martin Jr. | Kenyon Martin Jr. 6 | Danuel House | Jae'Sean Tate 7 | David Nwaba | Danuel House 8 | Armoni Brooks | David Nwaba 9 | Dante Exum | — 10 | Anthony Lamb | — (Wings will do some playmaking, but they’re mostly there to get their job done from the perimeter in various scoring or 3-and-D roles.) Transactions: Drafted Jalen Green with the second pick | Drafted Josh Christopher with the 24th pick | Re-signed David Nwaba (three years, $15 million) Pending: Armoni Brooks and Anthony Lamb are restricted free agents. Did Rockets improve here? Yes, 100 percent. Green is a star in the making. He’s one of the smoothest scorers we’ve seen get drafted and looks ready to do his thing right away. Christopher looks like a steal of a pick in the bottom 10 of the first round. Losing a veteran wing like Sterling Brown hurts a little, but not in a way that isn’t overshadowed by the young wings they’ve brought aboard. They also re-signed Nwaba on a nice deal to keep him there for three more years. Changes to Houston's Forwards Forward | 2020-21 Players | 2021-22 Players 1 | DJ Wilson | Usman Garuba 2 | — | Matthew Hunt (Bigger guys who aren’t quite wings across the board, but they’re not consistently playing big enough to get the full-time “big” distinction.) Transactions: Declined qualifying offer to D.J. Wilson, making him an unrestricted free agent | Drafted Usman Garuba with 23rd pick | Signed Matthew Hurt to two-way deal Did Rockets improve here? Yes, they did. This was a rebuilding team primarily made of wings and a couple of big men, so the forward position with just Wilson wasn’t going to be difficult to improve. Drafting Garuba was a great value pick, though. He’ll have some initial ups and downs trying to figure out how to play defense at the NBA level, but he’s shown his capabilities around the world. Changes to Houston's Bigs Bigs | 2020-21 Players | 2021-22 Players 1 | Christian Wood | Christian Wood 2 | Kelly Olynyk | Daniel Theis 3 | — | Alperen Sengun (The big fellas; it’s pretty self-explanatory.) Transactions: Sign-and-trade for Daniel Theis (four years, $36 million) | Drafted Alperen Sengun with 16th pick Did Rockets improve here? Definitely. Wood remains their primary big man, but the depth they were able to acquire helps them. Kelly Olynyk had a nice run after being traded to Houston, but he was never going to re-sign, so they replaced him with a valuable backup big man who could turn into a nice trade chip down the road. Drafting Sengun gets them a projected lottery talent and a nice project for the interior. There are still questions about whether he can be your sole big man on the floor long-term, but the skill set is intriguing, and he should develop nicely.
Did the team get better? Overall, the Rockets absolutely got better from the end of the season to now. They improved nearly all four player role categories here, with lead guards being the only stagnant position. They’re still going to look to move Wall and Eric Gordon if they can at some point. We’ll probably see Green thrown into a lot of playmaking opportunities under Silas. We know Green and Porter will be asked to initiate offense quite a bit. Houston is doing a great job of stocking up on potential to develop. What does that mean for next season? This is still a rebuilding squad, and it probably will be for a couple more years. Even with all of the new, enticing talent on the roster, it’s important to remember young teams generally don’t win games — and the Rockets probably won’t turn that corner just yet. They’re not going full Sam Hinkie or Sam Presti Process, but it’s important to not skip steps in rebuilding. The Rockets can add another blue-chip prospect or two, at least, over the next two years. At that point, they can have a cascade of developed talent taking the reins and developing talent behind them figuring out how to follow in their footsteps. Last season, Rafael Stone said to check back in almost a decade to see how the Harden trade went for the Rockets. After this jump-start to the rebuilding process, he probably won’t want us to wait that long for assessing the job he’s done. Three quick questions with Kelly Iko, Rockets beat writer 1. Was 2021 the best draft the Rockets have had outside of Hakeem Olajuwon? I’m not sure about the best — Yao Ming, Calvin Murphy and Elvin Hayes have something to say about that — but it’s potentially the most intriguing. Anytime you take FOUR rookies in one draft, the possibilities are endless. Everything, of course, starts with Jalen Green and his star potential, but don’t sleep on Alperen Sengun either. I think we could be looking at both of these guys in three years as key contributors on an exciting Rockets team. As far as Josh Christopher and Usman Garuba, both are players to watch, but development will be key. There might be a minutes crunch to start the season because of the logjams where they currently play (even though Houston plays positionless ball), so a G League stint shouldn’t be out of the question. The summer league was an excellent showcase for the talents all four rookies can bring to the NBA; the next step is seasoning. 2. How involved will John Wall be this season? As involved as he wants to be. I don’t think Wall is quite ready for the Udonis Haslem mentor role yet and still wants to prove to the league that he can hang with the best. Also, at nearly $90 million left on his deal, finding a trade for him isn’t the easiest course of action, nor is there a pressing need to right now. Houston is trying to develop its young talent, and Green and Porter could do much much worse than learning from one of the game’s brightest minds and exciting playmakers. The biggest question, honestly, will be the injuries. It’s been an uphill battle for Wall over the last couple of years to stay healthy, and while he’s said to be looking great behind closed doors, it’s unclear just how much load he can handle to start the season. If I’m Houston, I have to think about the would-be load management plan for Chris Paul prior to being traded for Russell Westbrook and see if Wall can take that on. 3. What will it take to trade for Eric Gordon? Similar to the Wall conundrum, I don’t really see the benefit to sending Gordon away, especially as nothing materialized on draft night. Houston needs a good mix of young players and veterans, and there aren’t many more consummate pros out there than Gordon. To trade him, it will likely come down to one of those mid-major contenders needing a bump to get into the next tier of teams. The Indiana links made sense from that standpoint. The Rockets can essentially go down two paths with a Gordon trade. There’s sending him to any odd team, which would likely require attaching some draft compensation to his $60 million deal ($20 million in 2023 is non-guaranteed). Then there’s the contender route, which would involve Houston asking for a young player or two in return, probably getting in a three-way framework because of cap constraints on competitive teams. Team status goal by end of 2021-22: Rebuilding franchise
I keep seeing, "rebuild process" Don't take any shortcut? Most rebuild processes deal with a team getting one top draft pick per year ____________________________________________________________________ Rockets scored Jalen Green, Sengun, Garuba which are all seen by most as top 10 quality picks Porter jr gets unleashed this season.....would have gone #1 if he was in this past draft. That's about 4 top 10 quality players in one draft. Add a young Josh Christopher to the mix. Tate, Kenyon and Khyrie up and coming. _____________________________________ Rockets rebuild process was expedited exponentially in one draft vs other teams draft picks stung out over multiple seasons. Just my observation
What do you find asinine about that statement? Porter was easily the best player in the G-league. Better than our number 2 pick Green. The only asinine thing is jagoffs like you thinking they know something about basketball and talking out their backside. Know your role
Everything Would Detroit have traded #1 for KPJ? No If KPJ was magically born 2 years later, went to this draft instead with his same college performance etc, probably isn’t even a 1st round pick (he was picked 30th in a weaker draft). If we shopped KPJ on draft night, best return we would have gotten is a mid late 1st. Dude has off court issues that got him traded for a fake 2nd last season. He’s shown potential but is far from a sure thing, if he doesn’t improve his shooting and defense he’s not a starting level player. I don’t know what kind of mind voodoo games you guys are doing to yourselves to declare KPJ would be the #1 pick in every draft, he’s going to be a 3rd year player, you can’t compare him to college kids. What pick would Wood be in the draft?... he wouldn’t be any he’s been in the league over 5 years now.
HEY, APACHE, what did the five fingers....say to the face? SLAP! IS APACHE GONNA HAVE TO CHOKE A B***? Hey, dudes: Take It easy, take it easy Don't let the sound of your own wheels Drive you crazy Lighten up while you still can Don't even try to understand Just find a place to make your stand And take it easy
He's closer to Davion Mitchell's age than Jalen Green's age. That hurts you in the draft. I don't believe he'd be 30th again, but likely a mid to late lotto pick. And that's assuming that teams are willing to put the off court stuff in the rear view already. I am not so sure that they are. Personally, while I am very optimistic about the kid, I haven't forgotten that he is a very troubled kid that has a lot to work through. Hopefully he makes it. I wouldn't hardly consider it a done deal as of yet though. I also haven't heard a whole lot of talk of Garuba as a top 10 pick. I've only heard of Sengun talked about in that range. And I have seen some people mentioning that Josh Christopher was ranked 11 in his high school class. I do generally agree with you that the Rockets have expedited their rebuild, but the idea that they could possibly be done is just silly to me. Again, I'll be shocked if they exceed 25 wins this year. That's an 8 win improvement over their previous season which, win percentage wise, is pretty considerable.
Age, Chris Weinke turning 28 y/o hurt him coming out of college to the NFL. 21 years old is nothing for NBA
There hasn't been a non-freshman taken #1 in the last 12 years In no world does do the Pistons trade Cade for KPJ, nor does Houston take KPJ over Jalen Green. KPJ has great potential, but he's going into his 3rd season, he hasn't had a season where he has shot efficiently or played acceptable defense yet, he has demonstrated off-court issues that plagued both before the NBA and in the NBA. He was traded for a fake 2nd by a team in the same exact rebuild position as us last season due to his off-court troubles. I'd personally be shocked if any team would have been willing to trade anything higher than a pick in the 20's for him on draft night.
Pop quiz hot shot, name a younger player in NBA history to score 50 points in an NBA game? That's right nobody.....Kevin Porter is the youngest to ever score 50 points in a game. That means him and him only. Drop the mic....(thud). Just leave it there....don't pick....just don't.....just, not MJ, Kobe, Magic didn't, and I doubt Cade or Green do it this year. People making it sound like that is easy. Don't know what they are talking about. See LaMelo Ball get 72 points in a highschool game while snow birding and they think it's easy in the NBA. On another note: let's pick a team and look at their draft picks over the years: Denver at random: 21 Hyland 1st Rd 26th pk 20 Zeke Nnaji 1st Rd 22nd pk 18 MPjr 1st Rd 14th pk 17 Donavan Mitchell 1st Rd 13th pk (to Utah) 16 Jumal Murray 1st Rd 7th pick Rockets did this and better in one draft (debatable) Let's not do shortcut? Can we put that toothpaste back on the tube? I'm suppose to hope for a multi year rebuild? Why? Shortcut my behind....we just doing this. Those too weak, we leaving you behind.
KPJ is our PG, period. Calling him a wing is way off. If Wall was not on this team he will be a near 10 assist guy this year. Of course, Wall screws that. KPJ needs to be the lead facilitator on this team. Having him play off ball with Wall will stunt his growth. Silas needs to bone up and play Wall as 6 man of the year.
Kevin Porter Jr. wouldn't have gone #1 in this draft. Kevin Porter is 21 years old and already has a year of college and two NBA seasons under his belt. Guys like Green, Cunningham and Kuminga are almost two years younger with a lot less experience. Kevin Porter Jr also has some serious red flags. Having said that, Porter is a very gifted player. He does have the upside to be a very good player.... but he is a long way away. He is inefficient and a poor defender at this point.
