How about not having the unrealistic expectations that we only have this off-season to solve the “point guard” question?
We've actually had 2 whole seasons to solve it and the result has been the worst HC offense team in the league both times Im getting old, I'd like for the Rockets to win a few games this decade, so yes it's somewhat urgent unless you think there's a better opportunity likely to arise than Harden.
…. We were solving how to put ourselves in the best position to get top picks. Sucks bro, but that’s a you problem.
Heard on a podcast from the heat insider the heat are going to go after him on the offseason. Not sure how they can afford him unless it’s a sign and trade
Which could have been replicated with providing our young team an actual pg in tyty. Instead we wasted 2 years pgless.
We gave KPJ and Green a long leash to run the team when they had the ball. They went with Nix over Tyty. And the rockets are in a position to get max odds for a top pick. We are trying to be better now but it doesn’t mean we have to commit a max to a “pg” this off season no matter what.
The Rockets, who were projected to win 25 games last year by odds makers, managed to win 22 and it took a late surge against g league opponents just to get to that. The floor for the current roster is 22. Maybe it's arguably lower if the worst case scenarios happen. And why are you assuming that Udoka is just adding wins by his very presence - like the Celtics fired him and got 6 games better, for example. It's about the talent, or lack thereof. Anyway other than James E Harden, what available real starting point guard and bench player gets you above 30 wins?
Going Nix over TyTy and Jaygup was absolutely criminal and Silas deserved to be fired for that decision alone. Giving heavy minutes to GM and Ego was also terrible as well.
Those guys are terrible too, regardless if Nix was Stone's "lottery pick" level asset. There's no lineup combination of the Rockets roster last year that was going to be remotely successful. We saw enough to prove that.
I don’t care about successful; we were tanking and needing to take that chance to focus on developing our young players. There is zero doubt playing Jaygup and TyTy would result in losses, it’s the game time experience finding and their weapons in face of competitive NBA D that I wanted them to soak in.
Josh Christopher has played 2000+ NBA minutes and he's pretty much the same player None of this stuff - arguing which scrub should marginally play more on bad teams - really makes a difference to them or to the team Imo
I feel like JC has unlocked talent. Agreed he’s not part of the core and ripe for trading, but he works hard and at least tries on defense. He can get to the rim pretty easily but he can’t shoot well from long range. If JC develops a 3pt shot and learn how to play better defense, his game could go to a whole new level. But agreed he’s not a top 5 prospect for us. I really think we hurt his development not playing him at all the first half of this past season.
Green is 21 years old, Sengun is 20, and Jabari is 19. Harden is 33. His return as the franchise player in championship or bust move would be terrible. Our players are too young and need so much development. Harden's return in a facilitator role, making the game easier for our prospects, and getting them valuable play in/playoff experience would be great. That's the role he plays now in Philly. He's third on the team in shot attempts, he isn't iso'ing and foul baiting he's looking to pass. Maxey's scoring output and efficiency increased immediately after Harden joined rather than taking a backseat. Isn't that what we want for our guys? Harden's possible contract will expire when our players will already be in their second contracts, so we shouldn't have any cap space at that point anyway. Also, OKC has our picks so tanking is no longer an option. Biding our time, signing role players to short term deals to see what shakes loose does nothing for us. Green and Sengun are already extension eligible next year. Our cap space spending plan has to be executed by summer 2024. Wait and see is not a plan, it's indecisiveness.
Harden has played 188 games out 246 since being traded or 76% and that's the guy too many of y'all just want to hand a blank check to? We don't really know what we have as I don't really put much stock into end of season play so wait and see seems like a prudent plan over handing out a blank check. Seems like a lot of y'all's plans are desperate. OKC is a sunk cost at this point, doesn't mean we need to go all in or not try to take a step forward. Totally disagree that making minor moves does nothing for us. I prefer "indecisiveness" over "desperation".
It’s not desperation, but rather using one’s brain. There is no point in tanking until after 2026 and meanwhile, the lack of playmaking was a huge part of holding back young player development along with lack of coaching and structure. Harden is by far away the best playmaker out there. Maxey’s game skyrocketed after Harden joined and had said as much himself. The experience Green and Bari will get learning from how Harden sees and approaches the game will be huge for them.
We don't know what we have means we don't know if our players are future superstars, but we already have a decent idea of what we need to spend. You might not put stock into end of season play but our sophomores, Green and Sengun, aren't busts and can count on large second contracts. If possible, extending them before the start of the 24-25 season might be a good idea. Harden cannot destroy our future cap space because we won't have it a couple of years anyway. The only way to preserve cap space for 2025 would be to not extend Green or Sengun and instead give them qualifying offers at the end of their 4th season, but that shows a huge lack of commitment to them and has backfired for other teams. The benefits of Harden far outweigh the risks. If anything, our draft obligations to OKC makes him less risky, not more, because he cannot destroy our tank. We don't have a tank option through 2026. This is similar to PHX bringing in 35 year old CP3 to play with Booker and Ayton. Phoenix was 34-39 prior to CP3. They couldn't reasonably expect him to bring them a championship, the idea was just to make themselves competitive, but he almost did. CP3's legs could have fallen off and they'd simply be right back where they started. Btw, CP3 has played 193 games out of a possible 246 for Phoenix, or 78%, and I consider his tenure a huge success. Harden drastically improves our team in the short term. We have a small window of massive cap space and no other free agents of his caliber. If there was a prime superstar on the market aged 25-30, I'd be all for that instead. If there is a bigger benefit to minor moves, please explain. Hell, even if a superstar shook loose I'd bet on Harden being a better trade asset than role players on overpaid, short-term deals. It sounds more like you are scared of Harden getting old than anything else, rather than comparing the risks and rewards.
