Rockets acquire Suns picks, return Nets picks to Brooklyn

I think that is what we are counting on.

 

The Nets move(s) were contingent on one another. They would not have moved Bridges if they didnt have the ROX deal in place as well. They could have stayed in NBA hell as a middling team with Bridges and another couple of average players or they could blow the whole thing up. Houston will be sitting pretty with the Suns picks.

 

So, am I the only who really likes this trade? Assuming we don’t make a dumb trade, under the new CBA, the best way to remain competitive is to have a consistent flow of FRPs. We're now setup for a long time.

 

Stone low key cooked?

 

Doesn’t Donovan Mitchell want to play in NY? Hmmm.

 

Took me a while but I understand the thinking in relation to total draft value. Still think we are overrating an imminent phoenix collapse and underrating the near-certainty of late lotto picks at worst from the Nets in 25 and 26. Booker is in his prime, Beal is only 30 and had a better season than the playoffs would indicate, and Durant is an all-time player who could decline on a Lebron rather than Westbrook curve. Feels like we bought a bit high on the phoenix doom narrative but we shall see. Also don’t see how this moves the needle for a superstar trade much bc the best picks are now three years away and immensely variable. And if we blow all these picks for a too-soon win-now trade then it’s a disaster. Adding a star to our undercooked core isn’t win-now, it’s lose-later. Most excited about this trade from perspective of infusing rookie talent onto a mature roster after extensions kick in for whatever 2-3 of Green, Thompson, Whitmore, Green, Sengun hit. I don’t know the CBA super well but my rough sense is that it will be much harder to improve a high-salary roster through random MLE pickups so having extra picks at that point will be key.

 

As much as I contend that yes the Rockets will trade for Durant this year if they can, I think Woj’s backtracking tonight is an indication that the KD pursuit is only conditional on immediacy. Meaning the Rockets arent stupid enough to not understand that he might only have one or two more years left given how old he is. Even if he’s still as talented as he’s ever been, there’s no way his body will be able to withstand a full nba season at that age, or at least it’s a good bet that he will start breaking down.

So yes I see this trade as positioning themselves to make a star trade out of desperation for Tillman’s ego, marketing, etc. but I don’t think the KD pursuit is a never ending one. I’m assuming they’ll push hard for him between now and the trade deadline if Phx gets off to a bad start, and they are prepared to cool on him a year from now given his age.

At least that’s my interpretation after reading between the lines with what Woj was saying.


I personally don’t like this trade but I understand why they did it. Push out into the future the picks you had in your quiver to better position for a trade, and take a bet on Phoenix being a team that needs to blow up their roster and gambling that you’ll have ultimate leverage to bully them in a deal. That thinking didn’t get the Nets to trade you even Bridges but sure… keep on dreaming you’ll get the Suns to trade you Booker in a year.

What I think is lost here by Stone is that you can never just assume you have more talent then you can handle. I don’t buy into the diminishing returns thinking.

 

Well at least get back Bridges if your giving their picks back

 

Yeah I agree and/or enjoy 98%+ of his posts. But all that conjecture etc is odd. This is a great trade in my opinion for several different reasons.

Even the Suns swap could be decent next season. The west in the nba will be a bloodbath. Beal & Durant are on the edge of a steep cliff.

 

If we did either of those trades I’d throw up

 

he literally looks like Wemby put on a halloween costume

 

Those are absurd proposals for the last couple years of KD's career

 

I'd go into witness protection if I were Stone. Or a Russian prison. He'd be safer.

 

KD played 75 high impact games last year. His play style will allow him to hit silky jumpers and be a model of efficiency (for all the stat junkies) for another 5 years.

Everyone was tired of losing, but now they dont want to win!

 

i'm not going to pretend like i know more than the guys in the office but i was starting to fall in love with next years draft class. i also found it very hard to believe brooklyn would be better than a late lotto team next year.

maybe they really want to take a run at Booker next year before they have to pay Jalen Green.

 

^ Lot of the fan base is pro young core, which inherently isn't a bad thing. But i feel the coaching staff and front office want at least a 50/50 split of young/vets. It's a balance between development and actually trying to win. Right now it's more 60/40 favoring young. And lot of people here wanting to get rid of Dillon which lowers the vet ratio even more.

.500 record team overachieved last year. To expect even a better record, both the coaching and FO know they can't just magically expect more of the young core to magically leap like a Sengun.

Fans wanting a young core is fine, but the coaching staff is actually stuck to developing them and face the reality that results may vary.


Rockets went after Bridges, NY outbid us by overpaying and blowing their draft load. But out of that, Stone diluted the pick quality in favor of quantity and bought the team more time with further future picks. No free lunch, but we get the rationale.

 

And this is why we don’t do drugs my friends.

 

We don’t mind getting vets, just not past their prime vets( Butler) and not overpaying for vets(Bridges).
And if Tilman goin to pull what he did in 2018(you know what I’m talking about:LTS) then im
Definitely more leaning towards the pro-youth core group

 

Talk about a complicated trade, but you gave up a likely top 5 pick in a supposedly good draft. It is a big gamble as you know the Nets picks in 2025 & 2026 are likely very high, while the Suns may not even be lottery picks. Hard to imagine the Dallas pick being valuable unless Luka gets hurt since he'll be in his prime and they are a very well run organization. Personally, I would not have taken that gamble.

The Nets are sitting very pretty now. They have all that draft capital and will be in a position to take on two max contracts.

 

I think Stone was worried that the Nets could easily not be a bottom 5 team next 2 years and if the picks don't win the lottery, they as mid to late lottery picks likely won't be worth as much as they got in this deal. If one of them won a lottery, this deal is a loser for the Rockets provided the Rockets don't win a lottery with one of the returned picks.