Because he'll be a locker room problem, he wants to start, but he's unlikely to get any minutes at all.
How? It's two years. Would that be an overpay? Absolutely, but the Rockets know that. They don't need/want a bunch of veterans on long-term deals, because they know this team isn't close to competing yet, they won't be a year from now either and they don't have that many roster spots open. This is the bridge squad. Lead the young guns and get them to play competitive basketball to a point in two years when they can actually add vets on longer-term contracts. If you overpay a guy for two years and he gets outplayed by a rookie, that's not an issue. If anything, that would be great if we were sitting here a year from now talking about if Amen has outplayed FVV and is ready to start at PG. Then either FVV takes a backseat as a 6th man or he's a huge expiring contract that could be a useful asset. Barring FVV getting injured and providing zero value or the Rockets completely shocking the world and contending this season, I don't see any downside to a 2-year, $80 million deal.
I don’t know if they’d give us a SRP or we’d give them a SRP. Tate and Christopher are not assets, they are just neutral salary on our books that we will almost definitely be moving for close to zero return this summer.
Rockets immediately piling up the worst contracts in the league is impressive. Clown show. Who are these Isaiah Thomas savants in here who think FVV on a $40m expiring is an asset? Did you just start watching basketball?
Get Kyle Lowry and maybe a Brook Lopez and possibly 1 more good locker room vet and just roll with it.
This FA class is terrible with no good fits for the current Rockets roster. Why sign FVV to take time away from developing the young guys. Why sign Brooks when we have KJ who’s getting better ever year. No point in Brook Lopez either. And he’d only come if you way overpay at this point in his career. Best way to improve would be trading by KJ/KPJ/Tate/Picks for a bonafide star already locked up on a big contract (John Collins just got traded for nothing). If you’re going to throw away money, just go get Harden back, at least that might be fun to watch.
There are some terrific FA’s that just are not likely to come here. Grant Williams, Harrison Barnes, Poetl, and Reeves to name a few. All we need is a starting SF or PF (Jabari can play either one) and a couple of defensive minded wings that are at least decent shooters.
if we try to sign Brooks over Brown that'd show how inept Stone is and would shock me. Brooks has declined as a player over the last two seasons and has shown to be a distraction in the locker room.
Dillon Brooks was traded for a future 2nd Round Grizzlies' pick. Who or what did that turn into? I miss the old days when you drafted a guy to be on your team not to fashion a contract that you can move later.
Dillon Brooks —> 2018 2nd round pick (De’Anthony Melton) —> Melton + Ryan Anderson for Marquese Chriss and Brandon Knight —> Chriss + Knight for Iman Shumpert
All the guys we look at our coming in to MENTOR our young core - that's it....none are thought of as long term investments. DD
If FVV is willing to do a high AAV, short-term deal, it's hard to think of a better fit in Free Agency this year. Absolute professional who is the perfect stop-gap in Amen Thompson's year 1, who also has demonstrated the ability to play off the ball alongside Lowry at his peak. The ideal timeline is to have FVV play competently as the lead guard in 2023, and be gradually phased out next year while still contributing Eric Gordon-esque minutes. To be able to not have to commit to him in 2025-2026, the first year when Jalen and Sengun become expensive and start taking up $30-$40M themselves, gives the Rockets a ton of flexibility. Not nearly as high on Brooks for a multi-year deal. Almost think it makes sense for both sides to go with a 1-2 year deal with AAV above the MLE; would let him rebuild some of his value and reputation by being the good soldier on a less scrutinized team, and also give him options to hit FA again while he's still young. I think that most teams could talk themselves into a trade deadline acquisition of Brooks; he's difficult to deal with, but is also a plug-and-play defensive stopper who you could absolutely see swinging a playoff series. As for Lopez, I'm generally the lowest on him as a signing, just because I think it's critical to see if Sengun can sink-or-swim with this core, and I want to create extra wing minutes through experimenting with Jabari Smith as a small-ball 5, rather than try and get a Sengun/Lopez pairing to work effectively. I generally believe that you can't make a huge mistake on a 1-or-2 year long deal; with how risk averse the Rafael Stone-led front office has been, I'm hoping they act similarly.
I'll definitely take FVV on 2y/80m as a stop gap. I don't think Lopez is quite as interested, and I'm less interested in Dillon Brooks unless it means they have a trade for KJ.
Let me be the first to say that I can be an ***hole for a lot less than the mid-level exception - and so can actual good NBA players
