What many forget about the year we got Harden was we were predicted to be the worst team in the West. We had traded off our valuable assets and were set to start the season with Lin and Asik as our guys. We had begun the tank. We just got unbelievably lucky that before the first tank season even started we landed Harden. https://www.businessinsider.com/houston-rockets-tanking-2014-3
It is the finest performance in recent years, but the last championship loss was three seasons ago and victory four seasons past. They have lost a significant piece in Durant. Klay Thompson and Stephon Curry are terrific players on the downside of their careers.
This. The Rockets had a good draft and off season..... but they are teenagers, a 21 year old enigma and a 26 year old that has injury issues and will likely be dealt...... and then there are middling guys like Wall and Gordon. This Rockets team will be lucky to win 30 games... and we could win 20 games if Wood is injured.
I think it all depends on how things go. There is no set time. I would say in general it’s 3 to 5 years, but it’s something you are constantly assessing. If KPJ takes another step forward, I could see this team being better than expected. They aren’t all rookies. There are still good players on the team. Wall, Gordon, Wood, KPJ, Tate, Theis, etc are all good players. I don’t think they’ll be nearly as bad next season. Last season had a bunch of turmoil and injuries. I don’t think the team was nearly as bad as their overall record.
Showcase Wall, EGO, and Wood for the first half the season and try and trade them at the deadline. Let's not kid ourselves over trying to retool as a primary strategy. We have next season and the one after to acquire as many picks/young assets as possible before we will be more incentivized (from the WB/CP3 trade) to start competing by the 2023 season.
Wasnt the whole point of the pre harden era to stay as competitive as possible and then pounce on a young free agent? We always intended to “get lucky.” Coincidentally, contending via draft is also “lucky.” Plenty of high high picks bust. I guess I look at it this way. I may not live 2 years. Hell I may not live through this season. I want to maximize my pleasure or Rockets basketball because it’s the only thing that brings me joy. Deliberately putting off continual joy for the tiny CHANCE of being really happy for a moment, that isn’t for me. Contending for years was a lot of fun. But so was fighting and being an underdog. It builds chemistry. It builds the bond between the fans and the team. if the team is capable of winning, they should win. IMO
I think we are borderline play-in team to play-in team . if we are stank bad it will be because of injuries or trade . I don’t think we intentionally tank. I do think Wall will be better this year , if , of course his coin flip for health is good. He showed very good athleticism last year and needed to knock off lots of rust . Tate has an up arrow for me . His knowledge was already advanced and now he has ~ 60 games of experience and adjusting to the pace . If his 3 ball improves then he’s a nice piece . wood is a ? , but his upside is high . Especially if we have some playmakers for him in the pick and roll , and can get him the ball in spots he likes . gordon is also a guy who has been an impact player . How much does he bring ? How much fun does he have ? the 4 first rounders do look promising . Their mentality is good . Yes , even JC and Garuba. kmj should be going up as well . He looks to have honed his 3 and has an obvious ability to finish lobs as well . Kpj I haven’t seen . Incomplete for me . Theoretically can improve quite a bit . theis edit* theis seems good in highlights . He’s solid depth in the vein of omer Asik . Does he speak Turkish ? That would help . nwaba is excellent if healthy . That guy is Corey brewer with talent . I like Silas . I like weaver . We need to get a better coach than hornacek maybe . Idk how I feel about desanga diop either , I mean his name is cool . this is year 1 of a culture reset . No more intentional losing .... unless we get injured . In which case , **** it .
Wrong. James Harden was the 3rd pick in the draft, if OKC didnt tank they wouldnt have him in the first place. When Rox traded for Harden their main pieces were Jeremy Lamb (12th pick), 2 frp (one of which was guaranteed lotto) and Kevin Martin. 12th pick was a lotto pick, a non tanking team wouldnt get a 12th pick they'd get 18th or some BS. All Rox got for not tanking were cosecutive frist round losses at the hands of the 1st seed in the playoffs.
Almost most of the rotten apples are gone. Morey is gone, Harden is gone... GREAT young core is in. Silas has last chance next few months. Stone is great talent evaluator I know he sees things correctly. I expect us in playoffs in 2 years
His 2009 draft status and the Thunder’s avenue for acquiring him are irrelevant to the Rockets’. The Rockets got him. They didn’t tank and they got him. As for the assets used, there are other ways to acquire a 12th pick. As we did for the other two frps. 1 of the 4 picks used to acquire were our own.
The playoffs are realistically 3-4 years away if the rebuild is pulled off correctly. We get tunnel vision about the young talent on our team but tend to forget how good the talent is on other squads. Plus our most talented guys can't even buy a beer yet, we are very green
That’s fair. But there’s also some veteran talent on the team. Wall, Ego, Wood, House, Theis arent duds.
Sure there are other ways to acquire a 12th pick without tanking, like depending on some dumb team to trade you Kyle Lowry for Rafer Alston. How often does that happen though? And how often do a couple of 12th picks result in a future MVP like Harden? Majority of all stars come from top 10 in the lotto, which you can only get via tanking and being bad. As for the Rox, their grand non tanking plan stopped at getting Harden. The Harden era was a failure and didnt result in a ring, mainly because the Rox didnt tank and so werent able to surround Harden with other stars needed to win. Not tanking didnt work out well for the Rox. Tanking for Hakeem however did work, to the tune of 2 rings. That is really the bottom line.
I'm keen to play the young ones. Trade Gordon House Nwaba Theis at the very least bring them off the bench. Wall too but I think he's untradeable. Probably get a high draft pick again. Go into 2022/23 season with this rotation looking to make top 6. PorterJr. Wall. Green. Christopher 2022DP. Tate Wood. MartinJr Sengun. Garuba Then use all our draft assets accumulated in the Harden trade to get a star to take the place of any of those starting 5 that don't pan out. Then hopefully make a run in 23/24. The bench can be filled out with some 3&D players.
Start KPJ/Green/Tate/KMJ/Wood. Sengun major NBA minutes. Josh and Usman major G League min to start year. Trade Wood at the deadline for the best draft pick(s) I can get or maybe a young player. Let Gordon play through the ASB hoping he regains enough value to get a FRP from a contender. **** can House for a SRP as soon as possible. Wall is either going to accept a 6th man role or I am banishing him. Trust Augustin/Gordon to mentor Green and KPJ in the backcourt in regards to playing the right way. Fire Silas after this year. We all know the truth, he isn't it. I don't think he will do any damage this year. Tank 2022. BPA doesn't have to be frontcourt. Tank 2023 with an eye on Wenbayama. Should our pick in 2023 be middle lotto or whatever, I could see us using it and future assets to trade for a disgruntled star who wants to join our young core. Aim for playoffs or even a first round series victory in 2024.
House is a dud, the other 3 have had injury problems. I do agree that with near perfect health, complete buy in, and young players taking huge leaps forward that the team could squeeze into a playin game. I will be happy if that happens but not betting on it. The West is always stacked.
The Rockets get to keep their own pick for 2 more seasons, after that they lose the 2024 FRP to OKC entirely (top 4 protected), 2025 FRP to a top 10 protected swap, and 2026 FRP as another FRP loss to OKC entirely (top 4 protected). Based on this, the Rockets need to absolutely maximize their next two seasons by tanking and securing more top tier talents. On paper, the Rockets have made a very good start. They should accumulate more young assets for 2 more years, and aim to unload the last generation of players (House, Wall and Gordon) during this time period. Then on year 4, when they lose control of their own pick, is also when they should aim to start competing. Assuming they drafted well, and are able to compete for the playoffs, the Rockets won't be hamstrung by the loss of the 2024-2026 picks to OKC because the value of these picks would likely not be significantly worse than the Nets picks that the Rockets will now have control over from the Harden trade. Timeline wise, 3 years rebuilding effort is what OKC had. They picked up Durant, Westbrook and Harden in 3 consecutive years, and then leapfrogged from a 29 win team to a 50 win team. Sixers are similar taking around 3-4 years to leapfrog from a 28 win team to a 50+ win team.
