You asked for my subjective preference. I think Alpi can possibly become as good as Jokic. I would consider Jokic the most valuable player in the NBA right now, easily. So, anyone can disagree with my perception of his ceiling, of course, but my preference is consistent - if I believe Alpi can become as good as the most valuable player in the NBA, I wouldn't want to trade him for anyone else.
the craziest thing is that i think you actually believe this. Agreed obviously on jokic, who's 3 year peak puts him in the top 5 all time, pretty much only jordan/lebron/shaq are in his class. He's already surpassed the duncan/kg/hakeem group that are in the 5-10 range generally
I think that's the problem with the #4 pick - the sure thing/NBA ready guys are going to be off the board at that point and while the draft has a lot of talent, outside of the top 2 or 3 everyone else has red flags. Sure Amen Thompson could be a future superstar but he didn't exactly blow off the doors of an AAU league playing with other teenagers and that shooting stroke is....not good. Yes, they could trade for a vet, but I think you are ultimately losing value trading out of that pick because the risk is factored into the asset value so do you really want to forfeit the chance of a game changer for let's say a Myles Turner? ...by the way - I agree to an extent. I think they should lean hard into Scoot and trade up to get him provided the trade request isn't absurd. The question in all these scenarios is how much are you getting/giving up to make that move? I could for instance see Houston maybe seeing if they can engage in a 3 way trade to get Bridges to Portland, get Houston the 3rd pick, and give the nets the 4th and 20th or maybe a little more flexibility in future drafts since we own most their future picks now but I would want Portland coughing up a lot more assets than Houston to make that work. Maybe we throw in a guy like Tate to Portland with this year's 4th and 20th to move up to grab Scoot provided he is available at 3 since I have seen more mocks then I was expecting thinking Brandon Miller goes to the Hornets.
Ok, well everyone else thought that when it came to award voting (our guys did not even place in ROY either year, meanwhile Mobley just collected 1st team all D) and of course, all the redrafts and rankings type content has them not very high compared to their peers, and you know the numbers, god the eye bleeding numbers... .. But sure our guys are secretly the 2nd or 3rd best in their classes - we just know it! And everyone else is wrong when they didn't give the #3 overall pick a single ROY vote (actually we stole the #1 pick, remember when we had to settle for Paolo? Lol). Sure, seems likely.
Come on, man, you know how these things work. It's a popularity contest, and it's based on narratives, and bad, unpopular teams always perform poorly on these kinds of rankings. The "Rockets are a hot mess" narrative went all over the league and journalists all latched onto the same storyline, and our young guys suffered for it. Furthermore, awards like the ones you mentioned are based on performance right now and they are not adjusted for age; Green and Smith (and Sengun for that matter) came into the league at very young ages. Serious analysts acknowledge that but they still can't vote for them for rookie of the year or all-whatever.
My minimum expectation is that Alpi peaks somewhere between Domantas Sabonis and Jokic. I believe it is not an unreasonable expectation to believe that he will surpass Sabonis soon. Why would we not build around that, especially since he is also very entertaining to watch, and makes players around him better? It's a mystery to me why there are still Rockets "fans" who are so easily willing to give this potential away for unproven players or even for run-of-the-mill centers like Nic Claxton.
I love how the "they're only 19 20 21 " defense applies even when comparing them to other guys in their draft class who are the same age or younger. Like i said, you can blame narrative or media conspiracy all you want, but the fact of the matter is that it requires you to be actually right and everybody else to be wrong. It happens but, you'd be dumb to bet on it. Occam's razor and all that
To me sabonis is basically worthless. If he was a FA, i would have no interest in him. In general, i value bigs who are not good defenders very little (i know you think alpi is good on defense, but imagine him in the playoffs). Jokic is a completely different animal, he’s basically magic as a passer and a borderline dirk level shooter, along with being a basketball genius in the mold of lebron.
I think there's some element of forum culture involved in some of this. Noticed as soon as I blocked Bobby my mood about KPJ improved. You try to stay objective but it's not always easy lol. There are some really annoying SoFs that rub people the wrong way by insulting other posters and being down on most/all other Rockets players. Personally I think mainly you're just really, really high on Alpi and that's fine with me even though I don't totally agree with you.
Did anyone really draft a star that we missed? None of these players are all stars yet - I don't think there is a team out there that KNOWS they got an all star in the last few drafts...plus the redrafts are often skewered towards team success and I'm sure you would agree Barnes(half of a championship team left) and Mobley(several vets and players who were entering their 3rd/4th year "bump") walked into far better team situations than what Green/Jabari walked into.
Trading young talent away before they bloom is a dumb idea. You hate losing, I’m with you, but that’s what happens when you trade away a superstar, you fall to a losing formula to get new talent and build a franchise around foundational players. Whats more important for this franchise right now is doing the best job on draft night, keeping a young and high potential core, and most importantly making sure that they develop asap. I don’t think trading away young talent to get veterans is going to all the sudden solve all the problems we have.
We should never trade a top 5 pick, even if he is a year away….Amen has ability he is just cannot shoot right now. We need to get a veteran point guard and have Amen as a backup point guard. Harden will come to Houston, if we can get a veteran SF like Khris Middleton, Cam Johnson or Brown from Boston. I think we are going after Khris Middleton. Jalen is going to average 25 point this year while shooting 45%(FG) and 36% at the 3 point line. Sengun is going to average 20 points a game and 10 rebounds a game this year and place more effort on defense Guys, Jalen and Sengun will develop a lot going into their third year…they are great players. Jabari and Tari will be learning and focus more on defense but look for a big jump in Jalen and Sengun’s games….KPJ is a 20 points a game player if he is not focusing on being a point guard. Harden is coming to Houston, he cannot win in the East. Warriors will lose some key players next year, Lakers will be dismantled when LeBron goes off to play with his son and Clippers will always be injured prone team…we have a chance to move up in the West.
We should never trade a top 5 pick, even if he is a year away….Amen has ability he is just cannot shoot right now. We need to get a veteran point guard and have Amen as a backup point guard. Harden will come to Houston, if we can get a veteran SF like Khris Middleton, Cam Johnson or Brown from Boston. I think we are going after Khris Middleton. Jalen is going to average 25 point this year while shooting 45%(FG) and 36% at the 3 point line. Sengun is going to average 20 points a game and 10 rebounds a game this year and place more effort on defense Guys, Jalen and Sengun will develop a lot going into their third year…they are great players. Jabari and Tari will be learning and focus more on defense but look for a big jump in Jalen and Sengun’s games….KPJ is a 20 points a game player if he is not focusing on being a point guard. Harden is coming to Houston, he cannot win in the East. Warriors will lose some key players next year, Lakers will be dismantled when LeBron goes off to play with his son and Clippers will always be injured prone team…we have a chance to move up in the West.
Some people think because they're old and impatient that the Rockets should throw away future potential for quick results
But like, Mobley is nearly a year older than Green, and guys like Jaden Ivey or Keegan Murray are over a year older than Smith. So I'm not sure who you're referring to about being the same age? Who was younger than Green or right around the same age (within a few months) but performed better? Same question with Jabari? I'm not saying there was a media conspiracy, I just think narratives tend to take hold and get bandied around and people start accepting them as truth without really questioning them. I don't see, for example, Green's numbers as being enough worse than Mobley's that I'm ready to make a judgment on who is going to be the better player yet. They're both roughly in that "decent starter" range right now statistically. I mean we could be here all day if we start comparing each and every guy. Like I said, agree to disagree. I don't think we're even that far apart on our perceptions by the way. I actually agree with you that I don't see clear "franchise player" potential with any of our guys. It could still happen but I view it as more of an outside chance. I do see all-star potential in Green, Smith, and Sengun though.
“No more kids” has a hidden message. DD not a big Michael Jackson or R Kelly fan. & Hardens signing because he has no kids.
Mobley just finished 3rd in DPOY voting. Will any current Rocket get a single vote ever? Will Jabari Smith Jr ever be known as the best defender in his draft class from Auburn? Does anyone who is not a Rockets fan think the Rockets would draft the same with the benefit of hindsight? Of course they wouldn't. They'd draft Mobley every time, and probably have more well rounded players ahead of Green as well. Also it's clear that Jabari Smith Jr is not close to a franchise player either and not a DPOY level defender in the mode of Jaren Jackson. I still don't get how he was graded so highly last year. You just cannot sit there and telk me that's the value you expected from that high a draft pick. But anyway since you asked, of the available players - the Rockets would have been better served with: Mobley (obviously) Giddey (better passer, better shooter, easier to fit) Wagner (arguably the top player in his class) Barnes (easier fit, even though he's boring) In 2021 And: Jalen Williams (obviously) Keegan Murray (can actually shoot!) You can argue for Kessler, Mathurin, others. In 2022, though honestly the class simply doesn't look that great. The disappointment here is just how much Jabari Smith Jr did not look like he belongs in the franchise player conversation, and just, #1 overall? Really? I still can't believe anyone actually believed that.
Mobley just finished 3rd in DPOY voting. Will any current Rocket get a single vote ever? Will Jabari Smith Jr ever be known as the best defender in his draft class from Auburn? Does anyone who is not a Rockets fan think the Rockets would draft the same with the benefit of hindsight? Of course they wouldn't. They'd draft Mobley every time, and probably have more well rounded players ahead of Green as well. Also it's clear that Jabari Smith Jr is not close to a franchise player either and not a DPOY level defender in the mode of Jaren Jackson. I still don't get how he was graded so highly last year. You just cannot sit there and telk me that's the value you expected from that high a draft pick. But anyway since you asked, of the available players - the Rockets would have been better served with: Mobley (obviously) Giddey (better passer, better shooter, easier to fit) Wagner (arguably the top player in his class) Barnes (easier fit, even though he's boring) In 2021 And: Jalen Williams (obviously) Keegan Murray (can actually shoot!) You can argue for Kessler, Mathurin, others. In 2022, though honestly the class simply doesn't look that great. The disappointment here is just how much Jabari Smith Jr did not look like he belongs in the franchise player conversation, and just, #1 overall? Really? I still can't believe anyone actually Giddey is younger. LaMelo is 6 months older. Banchero is younger. That's just off the top of my head, but I'd rather have all 3. Let's please start to tone down the youth excuse - Green has been a professional player for 3 years now I know Jalen Williams has a huge advantage of 3 years at Santa Clara and 10 whole additional months out of the womb, but at some point Jalen Green has to overcome that.
