His offense was great. On defense, he looked like a puppy chasing squirrels. That is where I really hope to see him improve
Agree mostly in principle but with the third bullet point there is a lose proposition that he plays well enough for a confirmation bias extension from the FO that he really shouldn’t get and that hamstrings us in the future.
Daryl Morey's also responsible for tarnishing this organization's reputation enabling Harden’s foolishness, anything coming from him is hogwash
The Bridges love is because he’s the best young-ish player who seems somewhat gettable, especially since we have assets that would be uniquely valuable to the Nets if they want to go full tear down. It’s not unreasonable.
Maybe not most overrated but most accessible. We have a headlock on the Brooklyn picks which means we have something no other teams can offer. So IMO, its not so much that Bridges is the most bad ass player, but we got the chips to get him, whereas, a lot of other names that come up are guys we love to have more, but probably not the leverage to get.
Mikal was pretty average last game. Cam and Green do not read the game as well as Amen, while Amen do not shoot as good as Cam and Green. That's our problem right now at the SG position.
Bridges' value comes from his contract. He's about the ~50th best player in the NBA, playing a versatile and portable role, but paid only $23M/yr this year and the next two. That makes him super valuable to contenders in a salary capped league. Not as valuable to the Rockets because we have no real salary constraints for the next couple years. Bridges' value is sharply decreasing as time goes by however. In 1.5 seasons he will become an expiring contract, ineligible for a contract extension, will then hit unrestricted free agency, and get paid close to a max for a complementary player's contributions... at which point his value is mostly gone.
Jalen Green gotta go or be relegated to an off the bench role. Def can’t pay him serious money. I was willing to be patient but he hasn’t improved in any meaningful way and his body language comes off like he doesn’t want it bad enough. Idc what his trade value is, I just don’t want the FO to heavily invest in him…
Maybe if Jalen puts together an exceptional 2nd half I’ll reconsider my evaluation of him, but it’s gonna take a lot more than a couple of good games. I hope he proves me wrong.
The worst thing to do would be signing Green to a Wiggins like contract with the Wolves. But I think with the emergence of other young players, we are much less likely to overpay
That’s why you don’t give up all your assets to get him because his greatest value is now when the Rockets aren’t contending.
He is definitely getting the Max somewhere and not just Near Max.... Fred Van Vleet got the Max and he is better than Van Vleet. Not by much but by an amount. But like FVV he is likely not good enough to lead anyone to anything great by himself. Borderline 3rd Option.
Money is inflated now, Wiggins signed to a 29 million per year contract (5 years which was too long) in 2017. 29 million is not much in this era. Now those players will sign to 35-38 million per year. FVV signed for 40 million, he should have been signed to 33-34.
For arguments sake: What if someone was to say (of Green): He's probably not better than VanVleet in the same way that, say, Lavine isn't better than VanVleet. One guy is boring, unathletic, doesn't always score well, but has a knack for.not turning the ball over, is a great leader, and genuinely makes others better. The other 2 fly high, miss lots and may not move the needle much when it comes to overall wins. I don't know if they have an argument or not?
The problem with Van Vleet was that he was not all that what you described in Toronto...... He was boring and a shot chucker and a lazy leader, he tried but he failed. He re-invented himself here......In Toronto it was easily Spicy Pascal's team. You could then argue that Siakam was not that much of a winner either but I do not have the time.... There is no argument there, the Rockets took a risk and they succeeded for better or worse in terms of a non contender. It is called a change of scenery....and it works.
That's my concern with Jalen. He needs to consistently get much better in every aspect, especially in shooting %. He needs to stay consistent to get a big contract. He's 135th in FG%, 157th in 3PT%, and 164th in steals, which is not what you seek in a star. The only category he breaks the to 50 in is turnovers. Example... Last 10 games FG% 43.2 / 3PT% 23.9 January FG% 41.9 / 3PT% 28.8% December FG% 37.2 / 3PT% 32.1 Regular Season FG% 41.0 / 3PT% 32.1 2022/2023 FG% 41.7 /3PT% 33.8 I say see how much he improves by the end of this year, and again halfway through next season before trading or signing him to any big contract. There are many better guards in the league currently.
if he’s not a different player over this 2nd half of the season I’m not sure I have the stomach for another go around. I think we’ll need to move him this offseason. I certainly dont want to extend him. That would about ruin any good feeling I have about the rockets this year. I wish I trusted Stone to make good decisions…but I don’t.
