We talk about our CORE and our COACHING I think it is hard to judge a coach .. . if he simply lacks the horses to run Question: Based on pure talent alone. Not history but maybe projected future. Where do you rank the Rockets in teams of Talent? Are we the LEAST Talented team in the NBA? Top 5? Rocket River
If it is future talent - no. Veteran talent - bad but not abysmal. The team did lose several close games before they won the OT games.
In terms of projected future, like promising players under 25, the Rockets are in a decent spot. Still unknowns, and the record is terrible, but there have been definite flashes of star talent. A lot of it hinges on Jalen Green. Versus a team like the Lakers. A win now roster fighting for the play-in, where their best young players are..Reaves? THT? Monk on a 1-year contract? So glad we don't have to hear about THT anymore. Wizards have a lot of youth but nobody that screams future all-star. Beal peaces out, it could get even uglier.
I think we have to compare ourselves to teams at a similar stage of rebuilding like OKC and Detroit and despite the W/L's this season, I think we're in a much better situation as far as talent goes. We definitely need a BIG. A rim protector who can get 10+ boards every night and set good screens. Just like what Adams is for Memphis. A good selection in the next draft, and a better coach in 1-2 seasons and we'll be back competing.
I think we are still near the bottom, but we are also in the first full season of our rebuild. OKC, DET, and ORL have been at it longer.
For a team that is on their first full year of a rebuild I'd say we're off to a great start. The best way to win a championship is find generational talent (ex: lebron, Jordan, etc). That doesn't come around often. So, the next best way is to find 2 top 20 players. The closer the players are to being top 5, the less "fit" is important. We have 1 player who could work his way into top 20 and another that could work his way to top 50. So, we still need another piece or two for us to have a championship core. Hopefully next years draft gets us another guy who has top 20 potential. We'll also likely add another lotto pick the year after. We also will have cap flexibility at the end of next season. That doesn't mean we sign someone to a bunch of money, but we can remain players in free agency. We also have a boat load of picks (a lot that we don't control) so we will start thinking about play in most likely starting the 2023 season. Well likely need to consolidate some of our young prospects into one better prospect/player, but that's hard to do, but possible. Not sure where that ranks amongst all the young teams, but for year 1 of a rebuild (after 1 year of a year down) we're doing well
We might need to build up some talent to be in a position to trade for some disgruntled top talent Rocket River
Exactly which is why we need more games like last night where Jaygup, Sengun, and Kmart get heavy minutes. Tanking teams need to dump the vets (Gordon, Schroder) and let the young guys get experience, pad stats, and lose. Then you can package up an empty stat guy that looks good on paper like Wood, with guys like Tate and the aforementioned for a disgruntled star.
I like where we are relative to the other tanking teams. Detroit Orlando Indiana OKC Houston Detroit, Orlando and Indiana all have high end prospects and an assortment of high upside guys like we do, but do not have the stockpile of picks. Only OKC can match us prospect for prospect and pick for pick. Even there, I believe we are ahead, mostly because Green > Giddey
For me, I have to make a distinction between potential and utilized talent. I think after one more good draft, our potential talent will be up there with other teams. But our utilized talent is very low. By utilized, I mean not only player development, but the interconnection of the players that play together. Chemistry. Cohesion.
I'm not going to rank teams, OP, but rather talk a little about what we got in the draft and their impact. Looking at the four 1st round picks Stone managed to acquire last summer, and based just on them, I feel pretty good about our future. Green had more of a struggle adjusting to the league than I think some of us expected, with much of the disappointment being rooted in the "meme" that he'd gotten a bigger "head start" playing with the Ignite in the G-League "where men are men, blah blah, to infinity and beyond" in comparison to the year most lottery picks had in college. I think the value of that year was more than a little bit exploded as far as it's impact on Jalen. The adjustment he's had to make, if interrupted by injury at an inopportune time, turned out to be similar to what the "year of college" guys have gone through, in my opinion. The draft class in general, in my opinion (not talking about overall level of talent), was no more, no less than most draft classes. Some high picks getting off to a slow start and then rounding into form (our Jalen Green, who's now playing much more like the 2nd pick the draft), some starting off strong and then coming down to earth, some big surprises, some big disappointments, and then there's Mobley, who @Clutch wanted badly. Clutch is a smart guy. ;-) I'll mention Jalen Green here, but talk more about our Alperen Sengun, who was the MVP of the Turkish League at 18 with a 30.3 PER, and has been a surprise on several levels. Some sports "talking heads" projected him as a top 5 pick. The Athletic's John Hollinger had him as the 4th best player in the 2021 draft. Several had him somewhere in the teens, with at least one having Alperen as the 24th pick. We got him in a steal of a trade with OKC, a strong move by Stone, and he hasn't been a disappointment, at least to me. Like Green, I see him as a future star of the Rockets, an All Star, eventually, if the basketball gods give him a break with the "i" word (I can be superstitious when it comes to the NBA). Again, like Green, his development was on display in last night's epic overtime win against the Lakers and LeBron James. Sengun finally got a big 40 minutes on the court and was ready. Going head to head against James, who was playing center, Sengun finished with 21 points, 14 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, while limiting his fouls to 4 and his turnovers to 3. He befuddled James (and not just James) at times with an array of moves inside and had moments of strong defense. A real difference maker at 19. Meanwhile, Jalen was shooting 62% from the field, going 13-21, including 4 of 7 from three. He showed us a sweet midrange jumper I hope we see more of, and his own array of moves on drives to the basket. Green had his own moments of defense during the game while on his way to 32 points. He looked confident and far more aware of what he wants to do on the court. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the Lakers game was a revelation. Green has been the object of much criticism during the season. To be fair to the critics, a lot is expected from the 2nd pick of the draft. Last night, Jalen Green played the role to a T. Our biggest surprise of the 4? Josh Christopher, the 24th pick and the last of our little group to be selected. Heck, I didn't know what to expect from the guy. I didn't know who we'd get at 24, but crossed my fingers and hoped for someone useful. What we got far exceeded my low expectations. @Williamson has to be ecstatic. Josh looks like he could be a future "6th Man of the Year." Listed at 6'5" and 215lbs, he has size, he has some handle, he can pass, play defense - in other words, he's a hell of a lot more than simply "the friend of Jalen Green." Shooting 60% last night on his way to 21 points and 6 boards in a bit over 22 minutes, Josh made a statement of his own. The kid has a bright future with the Rockets and he's likely going to force the team to make some hard decisions about the makeup of the team in the not so distant future, in my opinion. The one player of the four that I was, and still am, very high on that Stone picked is Usman Garuba. I'm still feel the same way about the guy's future with the Rockets, but will reserve saying much more than that until he's been given more than spot minutes during 15 games this season. To pronounce "judgement" on Garuba now, as some have, given the miniscule chance he's had with the team is patently absurd, in my opinion.
So .. . on a talent level compared to the rest of the league Do you feel we are at the bottom . . .middle of the pack . . . or higher than our record shows? Rocket River
I think our record reflects where we are as a team, at or near the bottom, but we have young talent we're developing that should begin to change that next season. What we do during the off-season, in the next draft (obviously where we draft is huge and we won't know that for quite a while), how well Stone does his job, what ownership allows him to do, if the coaching staff undergoes any changes - all that impacts how good a team we'll be next season. As just a guess, I think we'll improve enough to make the play-in (which I find a weird development, but it's here). I guess that would put us in the upper echelon of the "middle of the pack." If we score big in the draft, fingers crossed, and if Stone pulls off something by moving Gordon and Wood that improves the team, like if we get an honest to god top flight young point guard, moving KPJ to a different position as a 3/wing, we could actually make a bit of noise late next season, in my opinion. That's if our young talent continues to develop, and I think they will. A lot of if's, and all my opinion. That's all you're getting out of me. ;-)
