eventually yes, of course. if you're trading a top 7 pick for a player, that player will likely be paid more than a rookie scale, likely more than the rookie max extension too. so I'd rather control costs for 8 years.
I mean this is always the problem with rebuilds. At some point the fanbase tires and you have no choice but to try to prove you are working on building towards something rather than what we are actually doing which is drafting "highest ceiling available" and hoping somehow a player emerges as a North Star before your fan base turns on you. OKC is a good example of this - they really haven't "hit it out of the park" in their most recent rebuild but SGA(acquired via trade) has developed enough that they at least appear to have something to build on which buys them a little more time. Coaches and particularly GMs are the first victims when they don't go as planned(bad drafts, bad trades, etc) but I think you can look at Hinkie's "Trust the Process" as a reason why the Sixers have a chance at a title this year - Embid turned into an MVP and the mishmash of talent and picks they collected were ultimately turned into a real NBA roster over time. I think there is an opportunity for Houston to turn it around quickly but I agree that spending money this year isn't necessarily in their best interest given the lack of available talent and even smaller pool of players who wants to join a team with little to no winning infrastructure in place. I'm going to guess Houston's braintrust thinks spending this year - even OVER spending this year, will equate to a more reasonable trading asset once the new CBA kicks in. I don't totally disagree with that but the good and smart players all structured their contracts to make sure they would enter the market in the new CBA. The people left over this year are either the wildcards(Kyrie), the last big contract guys(Harden, Westbrook, Middleton, etc) or the good but not essential guys who didn't have enough pull in previous contract negotiations to guide their contract outcomes to align to the new CBA. The problem is, this young team needs to set a culture and the guys we would be choosing between aren't necessarily guys who could do that so we are in the market this summer of selling the appearance of a culture shift while still quietly hoping Victor/Scoot or someone else like a new coach actually IS the culture shift...and outside of drafting that shift, I think the odds are relatively low that we hire that coach or sign that guy.
35 wins next year sounds about right (of course depending on what happens between now and October). I'd say 30 wins on the low side and 40 on the high. The core as it exists was talented enough for 25 or so, and adding FAs and new coaching should get us another 10 wins in our first post-tank year of this century. Being more optimistic is setting yourself up to be disappointed (again, for many of you).
LaMelo Ball huh? Someone I have wanted for a while. If you bring in Ball one of KPJ or Green has to go - would you keep the better and cheaper player in KPJ or the one with potentially higher upside in Green? I guess if Charlotte asked for Green would ya? Reply in the thread I started months ago about this very subject.....savant thy name is DD The rest is good stuff, but all stuff we have heard about the culture and coaches.....clearly Stone is trying to salvage his reputation - and the meddling in practice reporting is ridiculous on so many levels. 1. Silas being too weak to stand up and say - get out. 2. Stone feeling Silas was doing such a **** job that he actually felt it necessary to step in? There is just no winner in that **** show that Stone created. Stone is on the hotseat, and frankly the jury is way out on him. DD
Wouldn't be surprised if Sengun next season, under a good coach and playing with a real playmaker, is around 20/10/6. Jabari might be in roughly that vicinity as well in a couple more years. We don't need to trade a top 5 pick for a B-tier guy like Siakam who might have already peaked. Just use it to pick the BPA and develop the guys we have. For a young guy under age 25 who either strongly projects to become a superstar (I consider LaMelo one of those guys), or already is one, I would trade a top 5 pick in this class. Nothing short of that IMO.
So confused why KPJ is locked in to be here next year, everybody should be available on the ROX except Green. I’d listen to offers for anyone else.
KPJ has a very tradeable contract, he only has 1 year guaranteed on a below market contract, guys that are 19-6-6 are paid more than 20m a year on average and he is only guaranteed like 16m and you can opt out. I think everyone on the block is available. DD
The injury concerns are too great IMO. From a talent standpoint, it's a no brainer, but I'm just not sure Ball will ever be healthy.
Remember, Curry also had ankle issues early in his career. I'm a lot less concerned about it than I would be if it was a knee thing.
I don't think anyone is a "lock", but teams tend to keep their best players especially when they are all under 25. If the right deal was offered, I think they'd move on from anyone, but barring a something crazy, you have to expect Green, KPJ, Smith, and Tari to all be back. Sengun is a possible exception to that because despite performing better than anyone else on the Rockets, there's fit concerns.
That's true. The upside is certainly there, but I'm typically fairly risk averse. If you flip Green for Ball and Ball stays healthy, you are a hero and everyone loves you.....if you make that deal and Ball keeps only playing 30 or 40 games a season and you just got fired and destroyed your career. Steph had one really bad injury plagued season, Ball has already had 2 of them in 3 years.
Isn't he a bit too similar to Jalen Green? I think Jalen Green will end up better than him. I'd prefer someone like Tyus Jones. But hey, if they take KPJ and Nix for him...yes.
Young is a true point guard--averaging over 10 assists a game this season. I think he would be just fine alongside Green.
Trae has the playmaking jobs but Green will definitely be a more efficient scorer in his prime compared to Trae due to his physical and athletic gifts relative to Trae. He also will more than likely be auch better defender. Trae might be a better heliocentric type player but he's a worse player than Green when it comes to plug and play.
Defense though. Like you really are banking on Green becoming a really good defender. I mean it's possible due to his physical gifts and work ethic but it's a tall ask. There will never be a world where Trae will be a good defender unlike with Green where one can see it being a possibility.
That's fair. We would really, really need a good switchable defensive small forward too. For what it's worth, I do believe Green will be a good defender if we can sign a coach/coaching staff to teach him right. With Trae, we also wouldn't have much cap room left. It's not a perfect fit, but I think it's a decent one, and he's definitely good enough to be worth a blue chip asset in a potential deal.
