The Athletic — The Rockets are going star-hunting again.

oh shiiiii we getting lerbon?

 

I don’t think people realize how much of an anomaly the Harden trade was. The idea that there’s one trade away from this team becoming a contender is delusion. That immediate fix superstar just isn’t out there.

Keep in mind that according to reports, Stone thought so much of Brooks he has willing to offer all the Brooklyn picks back to them for him. If that’s who Stone considers a superstar then he’s probably not the guy for this job.

 

I just don't understand why people can't let these guys grow? Why hunt for a star now? The team is trying to internally develop them and the team has multiple guys capable of it. One has already made the leap(Sengun)

 

I'm not interested in trading any of the core pieces for anyone being mentioned here. Just older guys that are not quite all-stars. Keep developing what you have unless a real star becomes available.

 

We have future stars on this team. Just need to keep moving forward with a winning culture. I’d be happy if we came out of this deadline with a Brogdon and a backup center. I’m all for star hunting, but I don’t trust Stone to cash in our assets on the right deal.

 

I thought Stone said he was "comfortable" with this roster.

 

If you could get an actual star that’s one thing. The guys being talked about…..are not that.

 

There’s no star available that would move the needle much. Obviously, always keep an eye on opportunities but for now I say let this young roster cook and continue building a culture. The 2014 Spurs showed a star is not necessary if you defend and move the ball at an elite level. Those things begin with a strong culture of accountability, development, and dedication.

 

I would definitely think about what we could get for Tate, Oladipo, Bullock, Landale and our 2027 pick. Maybe for a really worthy target we can add a well-protected Nets pick.

I don’t have much hope that our own 2025 pick will be very good but I bet teams are not as optimistic about our future. They might project it to be in the #15 range. I think closer to #24.

Derozan + Drummond is interesting to me but only if we can agree to a 1-year extension for Derozan. Don’t think he’d cost a lot in trade or extension. We let Cam/Jalen compete for backup minutes and the loser barely sees the floor and works on his game. It’s only 30 games remaining anyway.

You send them our future pick, Tate, Bullock, Oladipo and Landale. They’d have to add 1 more filler on a small contract. We’d have one roster spot to sign a veteran or project.

 

I mean look at how much better a team can be tonight with the Pelicans where just a few more SIZABLE good players (no superstars on the floor) with a couple more years on their belt can be than the bottom half of the league…. And the Rockets do have a few players that have higher ceilings than some of the Pels starters.

The Rockets if they continue down the path they are on, adding 2 more quality picks and a few more free agents with have an extremely high floor. They’ll be in the mix every year for the next 5 to 10 years if you just continue to develop and build.

If the Rockets get antsy to make the next Harden trade now then maybe they extend their ceiling but more than likely what they do is lower their floor almost surely when that “next Harden” turns out to be … well not Harden.

If Embiid or Giannis go on the market, awesome… put an aggressive bid package together. But those kind of players just aren’t going anywhere anytime soon based on the current landscape of the NBA.

Stone putting out this sports propaganda piece today really has me again scratching my head wondering why… just why say this?? Just shut the fck up.

 

I would be down for this but it takes so much patience and then we are likely going to get into a contract battle with JG who hasn’t shown he’s worth the max.

Guys like Trae Young or Mitchell are your best targets. I could easily see ATL just blow it up and trade Murray somewhere and Young and Capela to us for Green, picks and the Tate, Landale filler.

I think the FO believes Sengun and Jabari are your homegrown Supermax guys not Green.

 

"Star" as in All-Star probably only Mitchell who is risky because he wants NY and we gotta pay our young guys eventually.

The rest are nowhere near "stars", just a bunch of bonafide role players. Bridges, Kelly, Brogdon, Capela, Timelord, etc...

Even Lauri and Levine are only plus role players.

 

Missed you Codman. Don't be a stranger here.

 

I would consider Lauri a star player--dude is averaging nearly 24 / 9 / 50% / 40%

21st in scoring, 20th in rebounding. He's also 8th in true shooting percentage among players over 20% usage rate.

As far as Donovan Mitchell goes, if they have any success at all in the playoffs I don't see why they'd trade him until they absolutely have to. They're on a tear and are looking like contenders at the moment.

 

I would hope we aren't stupid enough to trade Green for Lavine unless we get a few first round picks in the deal, and plan on trading him in a year. I mean why take on an over 40 million dollar contract for a guy who is only shooting 34.9% from behind the arc? We need 3 PT shooters on this team.

 

Bye Jalen the entitled.

Because by year 3 most are whom they are, and will only incrementally improve....

You have to take risks to be great....holding on to youth until the promise is all gone is horrid asset management.

DD