If we don't draft a PG and don't land Harden, who do you want playing point guard next season?

welp... i'm done with this tank business... so - go all in.

assuming we dont get a pg in the draft...

overpay for Van Fleet...

or put together a package and go get an upper tier pg...

 

KPJ isn't a pg. His game style is Luka but with way less talent. That means he only passes off when it directly leads to an assist and if it doesn't he's pounding the ball on the hardwood.

News flash, on a team with a near consensus 3 players that are more important to long term development for this team(Green, Sengun and Bari), having a pg project is the dumbest idea ant GM has ever thought of.

When you have 3 important pieces that are part of your long term core that needs development, that is the worst time to try a pg project. That is the time you find a vet competent pg. Replace Ricky Rubio with KPJ for the past two seasons even though KPJ is a better scorer than Rubio and this team is significantly better off with better gains in improvement from guys like Green and Jabari which should be the main goal for this franchise for the past couple of seasons.

 

u do stick to yer guns... Bless yer heart! lol

 

Wishlist:
1st: Scoot Henderson
2nd: FVV


This is also my list even if Harden is willing to come here on a max deal. Yes, I recognize he's the best player available and yes I realize he's playing at an all star level for the most part this season. Yes I also realize he's the greatest Rocket since Dream and took scrubs to the playoffs. Yes I also realize he'd help Jabari's and Green's stats next year or two.

For Tyus Jones we'd have to trade for him so I'd have to think about other point gaurds on other teams that could be traded for before I add people ahead or behind Tyus, but I do like him.

Definitely don't want KPJ running point another game, however that doesn't mean I don't think he couldn't do well in other situations.

 

KPJ isn't a pg. His game style is Luka but with way less talent. That means he only passes off when it directly leads to an assist and if it doesn't he's pounding the ball on the hardwood.

News flash, on a team with a near consensus 3 players that are more important to long term development for this team(Green, Sengun and Bari), having a pg project is the dumbest idea ant GM has ever thought of.

Even if we draft Scoot, we need to aquire a vet pg. Henderson even though has pg vision still will suffer from inexperience and the Rockets don't need a third season in a row of having a inexperienced pg manning the show with Green, Jabari and Sengun being hindered in the process.

 

FVV definitely has the better instincts of a natural PG but he brings the same problem that I have with KPJ. High-ish volume shooting with average to below average efficiency. He’s about to finish year 7 and he has yet to have 1 season with above league average efficiency. It’s hard to win with low efficiency, high volume guards. As we have seen up close and personal.

Even if FVV took a deal well below what I think he could get I wouldn’t be that excited.

 

if we draft Scoot... the #2 or 3 pick is starting - period.
If there's a vet available and we got room - cool... but ow i'm planning kpj for 6th man... and TyTy backing up...
now if kpj has issue... then he's getting packaged and traded for that vet pg...

 

I don't think most ppl argue that KPJ isn't a good shooter or doesn't produce decent stats. The argument is that he isn't a good PG, and he isn't. At least not yet. He is playing out of position.

 

If we landed Henderson, KPJ slides to the 3, the delusional "6th man" nonsense that has been going on all season is kind of hilarious. There's not a scenario where the best guard on the roster comes off the bench.

Personally I would like to see KPJ at the 3 if the team got a competent passing guard, KPJ is by far the best shooter on the team and if he had someone who could create shots for him instead of him always having to create for others AND himself, his efficiency would shoot through the roof.

I think there's 3 realistic options,

1. The Rockets land Wemby and Harden comes meaning KPJ moves to the 3
2. The Rockets draft Henderson and KPJ moves to the 3
3. The Rockets don't get a top 2 pick and the Rockets stick with the 2 combo guard experiment of KPJ and Green.

 

TYTY!

 

I would sign or acquire any PG worth more than the mid level, sign a lead offensive assistant from Denver or Sacramento or GS and pivot the offense entirely to move through Sengun till he gets it.

Probably take him a rough start and half a season to adjust but I think he can do it. Mix in a lot of PnR with Green, plus the 2-man game with Jabari.

That means obviously the 4 other players around Sengun ALL have to be threats from 3pt range. If no other players are added via free agency then the shots go to Sengun, Jabari and Green. The other two players on the floor should not REQUIRE shots/touches and they must be good defenders too.

Something like:

Sengun/Noel/Garuba
Jabari/KJ
Eason/Tate
Green/KPJorChristopher
Reaves/Rubio/Tyty

Would be happy to go into the season with that team while still having the ability to sign or acquire a max FA. This situation would be extremely appealing for them to walk into.

That team has great overall defensive depth and plenty of scoring if Jabari steps up a bit next season. Can make the playins without the FA even.

 

Hard to win with FVV? The guy did win a championship as the 2nd most used guard on the team.

Say what you want about FVV, and he’s my third choice as a PG for us next year, but he is absolutely a winning basketball player.

You say he’s low efficiency, which is true by TS%. But he is a monster in all the best advanced stats (the ones that mix on/off impact with box score stats).

Top 25 in RAPTOR 4 years in a row. 5th in the whole league in total RAPTOR this year. Top 30 in EPM the last 3 years. Top 25 in DPM this year.

Look at the other guys who are at that level. Every one of them is a really good player. FVV is a really good player too.

 

He has some good advanced stats and some bad ones. Mixed bag. The year they won the title he was 5th on the team in FGA per game with about 9 per game. He’s been up around 16 FGA per game the last few years on low efficiency and the team hasn’t been very good.

 

yes its hard to win with FVV. he came off the bench for that championship team. Kawhi, Siakim, Lowry were all clearly above him in usage. and ever since Kawhi has left, Toronto has done next to nothing. They've even struggled to even be a .500 team in the East. FVV isn't good enough to be a huge impact player as a primary guy. He's a solid player sure but that's about it and by the huge contract he's likely looking for this summer he definitely won't be worth it

 

Just realized the title said if we don't draft a PG. My bad

 

my thought on 6th man is it'd give kpj more touches for the minutes he's on the floor... 1 ball thing...
if he can get beyond the whole 'starting' vs 'bench' thing - really thats the role best suited to his skill set...
Personally, i'd like to see us running a more prototypical starting lineup w a distributing pg and defensive center... and then overlap Sengun and kpj and let them trade up possessions - and if someone has the hot hand... we may ride it down the stretch...

 

I don't necessarily want him to have more touches, I want better touches. He'd be a lot better if the Rockets had anyone competent to get him the ball and he didn't have to do it all himself. Green has started to come along in recent weeks and it was something I had hoped to see more of in the start of the season, but better late than never.

Right now KPJ is BY FAR the best shooter on the team, he's hitting 42+% of his catch and shoot 3's....but due to the poor playmaking abilities of his teammates, he gets less than 2 of them per game....meanwhile he creates many more of them for inferior shooters like Green, Smith, KJ Martin....even Tari gets more created for him. In a scenario where the Rockets got a competent passing guard, or Green developed into one, you want your best shooter on the court with the starters. If they could create those catch and shoot opportunities for KPJ, the entire team benefits from it.

Right now he is slotted in as the PG simply because no one else is competent, but he's always been a large, strong combo guard who is actually better off ball. Put Harden on this team and he'd have an absolute field day with a 3 point shooter like KPJ who also has the physical gifts he does.

 

When FVV is on the court the Raptors have been great every single year since their championship. The reason their team overall has been mid has nothing to do with him, it's because they've sucked when he's not playing.

Last 5 years, Raptors net rating, total minutes, and expected win pace when FVV is playing:

2018-19: +8.1, 1748 minutes, 60 win pace (with Kawhi)
2019-20: +5.0, 1928 minutes, 54 win pace
2020-21: +3.3, 1899 minutes, 49 win pace
2021-22: +4.3, 2458 minutes, 52 win pace
2022-23: +3.8, 2464 minutes, 50 win pace

I repeat, Fred Van Vleet is no superstar and I'd rather have Harden or Scoot Henderson, but FVV is a really good, winning, all-around basketball player and a much better option to be our starting PG next year than anything other than those two, even at $30M / yr. Especially compared to the other ways we'd spend our $65M in free agent money (which are ???).

 

no they have not been great. they just had a 27 win season with him and even this year have been under .500 all year long up until last night.

I don't even hate FVV. he's done very well for himself especially as an undrafted player. But he's someone you put next to an actual star or two. If someone is expecting him to be that first or 2nd guy, you're team isn't going to be that good. He in no way is worth an overpay for someone that is going to impact the game at the level of a true star

Would i pick him over KPj. of course. But at max no thanks.

 

Who is asking him to a first or second guy? We just need a vet pg man.