[ClutchFans] The Rockets should trade Jae’Sean Tate

If Tate and the Nets pick can move us up 5 spots I’m all for it

 

He isn’t a 5 or true 4 so why would he be great at guarding bigger guys? But even with 4s he has done a goof job. He has done a great job particularly on longer taller players like Ingram and Siakim. Why do many people expect him to be able to guard anyone? He has physical limitations not his fault. And Does Elite defender to you mean the ability to guard all positions on the court? I don’t know one defender in the NBA that could do that besides maybe Draymond. Mobley perhaps? Marcus smart is an elite defender but does it mean he can guard Gobert?

And you and those arguing against him keep mentioning offense. Yet he is one of the best finishers in the paint. He has some handles and can dribble drive. He can post. And his 3 pt shot can improve as i have mentioned several players have improved their shot in NBA history. Take Jae crowder who isnt as good a defender as Tate and less offensively gifted yet he is a journeyman starter and valuable player because he is considered a “winning” type of player much like Tate.

Crowder is better in 3 pt shooting but he had to develop this shot after 3-4 years or so in the league. So it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Tate can develop a shot to stretch defenses and add to his value. I believe you are undervaluing him.

 

I agree that Tate has a lot of value. But I still don’t understand why Rockets need to trade him. Rockets will have bird rights to Tate. Tate is only making less than 2 mil. He isn’t commanding Terry Rozier or john Collons money. He isn’t in the market for a max contract. He would be signed for a little less than those guys maybe at 10-15 mil/yr on bird rights since he would be with the club for 3 years in 2023. His shot could drastically improve to 35% plus range. He could improve his overall game. Clutch didn’t touch on the financial part to it and I would like to know why he would be such a liability on bird rights? Im no GM but very curious as to why no one has brought this up. And again why do you believe is KJ better than Tate?

 

Baffled. I can see teams wanted to trade for him this year to make a playoff/championship push and have him for another full year but why would a playoff caliber team trade for him in the offseason or before the deadline and if they will what value do people think they are actually getting back? He only makes little less than 2 mil so proportional salary wise the return wouldn’t be anything significant. A contending team would have to then probably request him to be packaged with Wood for proportional salary probably expiring contracts plus draft picks? Not likely they Would package a key rotational player. But I don’t get why there’s a rush for the Rockets to make a decision especially if he is on bird rights? https://hoopshype.com/player/jaesean-tate/

 

Build around Tate and a championship will follow.












































































































JK

 

I want Tate long-term. Period.

 

Yeah valuable guy to have on ur side. So many on here have already dismissed him saying he “plateaued” or too “old” or not an elite defender. Really inaccurate and myopic. They are undervaluing his talent reducing him to “hustle” guy. I’m not sure what a hustle guy is and it takes just as much focus and attention to detail and a great deal of effort into defending as much as offense. And Tate has skills beyond just defending. It’s interesting to me how people are giving guys like KPJ or KMJ a pass citing youth and the belief that they will grow while already casting Tate away.

 

We can agree to disagree. Bottom line for me is Tate a starting Forward on a contending team? In my opinion, he is not because he is too short and has a poor outside shot. If he is not a starter and you can use him to get a future starter you do it. If not, I’m alright keeping him for what he is, a useful role player off the bench. I don’t believe KJM is a starter on a contender either. Tate has become a foul machine on defense, but he has been asked to guard out of position all year. I think he is a good defender, but I’m not putting him in the elite defender category and he does not have the length to be a good defensive rebounder and that has shown up in games.

 

I like Tate. He has heart and grit. Tough nosed. He's just not a good enough shooter and his size tends to be a problem at times. All the heart in the world cant make up for the difference in 4-5 inches sometimes - his D isnt stellar and bigger defenders give him some issues. He has some Chuck Hayes in him that he can plant and use some of his mass to hang in there, but we needs a bigger, BETTER SHOOTING 3 to unlock the offense & defense. Tate would be an ideal super energy reserve.

 

Most everyone likes Tate for one reason or another even if they want to trade him. I see the choice as simple. Tate is a glue guy and you can always find glue guys every year if you look hard enough. The current state of the Rockets are miles away from needing glue guys to win games so if Tate can be flipped for better draft capital it is a no brainer. He isn't in the must be traded category so Stone should wait for a really solid offer. He is on the wrong side of 25 for this roster. Get 2 seconds from a super contender or a first from anyone that will part with one and see if you can get lucky and find a hidden gem.

 

But what I don’t get is the rush or need to move him. As i have said Rockets would have bird rights and they have another year to assess him. And yes his game could improve as many players in the NBA including Jerami Grant, Crowder, and Ariza have improved their 3 pt shooting since their rookie year. And any deal would net what? A low draft pick from a contender? I would imagine he would be packaged with Wood. But again what’s the impetus or rush to do this when you likely wouldn’t get a return while losing a good and cheap 2 way player on bird rights. There’s bigger priorities such as moving Wood or Gordon. Especially Wood who Rockets likely won’t re-sign and looking to get some assets and expiring contracts in return.

 

I agree no rush, but if an opportunity arises you jump on it. Also, his trade value is higher because he is still under contract and those same bird rights transfer with him giving the other team a chance to see for themselves if they want to pay him when he is due. Who knows if anybody is all that interested. They weren’t for Wood or he would already be gone. Gordon too, for that matter. I think a lot of us believe Tate has more trade value than the other two and that is why he is being mentioned.

 

Tate is good now relative to his contract. The Rockets are not. The Rockets will not be good prior to needing to use Bird rights to keep him. Trading Tate does not prevent the Rockets from spending money that they would spend on Tate in the future on someone of equal value.

Trading a player while they are more valuable than their contract brings back more value in a trade. Every game he plays for the Rockets, he is burning away prime value that the Rockets could have traded to the future without also hindering their ability to also use money to acquire a similarly talented player.

 

Very well put.

 

He is a weird player imo, I’m torn in between he would be good for a playoff team for 15/20 minutes but his lack off a 3PT shot for his size is a massive issue.

I would trade him 100%. Late first rounder would be possibly over for him aswell.

 

Not sure there is any rush honestly. Fan sentiment doesnt mirror what the managers for the team may feel. He may fit the bill for another year as a cheap positive upside player. My opinion is that he probably wont have a higher value than right now. Coming off his game winner in the freshman/sophomore game I think you could build a little hype for him. I think we need to be honest that a 6'4 forward that isnt an elite shooter isnt going to move the needle much for a championship team and how much he's able to improve his skill set is still a question mark.

 

On offense, Martin is a much better fit with the Rockets current array of ball dominant players like Green, Porter & Sengun, and whoever comes in in the draft who is also going to need touches.

Martin has 79% of his FG's assisted by other players. Tate is only 56% because he likes to do a lot of driving.

Martin is a 35.8% shooter from 3 on catch & shoot - that is not great, but that is better than Tate's 30.5%.

Martin is also a 37% shooter on unguarded 3's. Again, Tate is 32% on the same shot.

I also think his weakside shot blocking help is probably more valuable to the Rockets than Tate's defense, though the Rockets suck so bad it's hard to say.

And like @Clutch mentioned, Martin is all of these things despite being just college upperclassmen age. There's a long runway for him to improve - if he gets those numbers up to 40% he becomes a deadly 3&D wing, and obviously he is dynamic in transition along with Green and Porter due to his ability to finish above the rim.

Tate, at 27 doesn't have that ceiling. He is absolutely going to be the guy that playoff teams rotate off of - think Bruce Brown but older and not as good of a shooter (this year). Sure his shot *could* improve, but he's got way less time to do it. And until then he's basically contributing an extra defender to Jalen Green.

Again, put Tate on a talented team a la Bruce Brown with dominant offensive creators and he has value - more value than he has to the Rockets - which is why it makes sense to move on from him espeically with a younger, better fitting replacement in Martin ready to take his role. Rockets should take advantage of the fact that he's more valuable to others.

 

Agree with basically everything you said, except I'm much more pro-Tate for defense.

 

Perfectly explained, for where the Rockets are moves need to be made to maximise the potential the current roster and also the future players who are picked up.

Sengun > CWOOD
KMJ > Tate
JC > EG

Whether or not they fulfil their potential is up to the player BUT management needs to put the youngsters in the best situation to fulfil that also.

All 3 have shown they can play or have made strides to improve their game. The longer the other 3 are on the roster the more prolonged the process of the rebuild.

I would be shocked if all 3 aren’t moved by deadline next season and hopefully at least two are gone in the off-season. I would trade Wood & Gordon first but we have to maximise Tates worth before his extension.

 

As I said before shooting is a skillset that can improve as evidenced by the players I mentioned. Unless you think he has plateaued? If so why do you think he has when he has only been in the NBA for 2 years? According to reports he is viewed as a winning player and also according to the Rockets.

https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/20...view-jaesean-tate-as-a-keeper-moving-forward/

https://hoopshype.com/player/jaesean-tate/