What did he do on Twitter? I took a look at his IG, he seems like he is on a spiritual journey w Christ, he is preaching a bit, but I didn't see any red flags, seems like a good kid. He looks like he takes in a lot of social media and is impacted by negative news, but seems more normal than most of Gen Z.
They absolutely have a right to their opinions, but having a right to them in no way stops them from being crazy.
They are playing at the 3 spot. Cam is clearly better than AJ despite being a bit raw. Griffin only played 20 games in Atlanta last season.
They'll probably give AJ the bus they gave Royce White and just install a baptismal pool in it or something.
AG's 6M salary wont be the difference between 2nd apron or not. You are over vomlicating things I'd rather take it a season at a time. The cap for 2026 hasnt been determined yet.
I do think that Stone is trying to improve our bench and this is a low cost way to do that with a chance to be something more. That we could get the 16th pick from 2022 for the 44th pick in 2024 could be telling, but ATL is also trying to dump some salary and this was a move that saved them a little coin.
Beyond the shooting talent and the young age, this was a great deal because we’ve got that club option next year in case he turns into something. And if he bottoms out his contract is still useful in a trade. This is the kind of move I wish Stone would make more often; an upside swing with zero downside…kind of like the KPJ deal . Just don’t give him the keys to the franchise
Nah if he plays well to the level of KPJ when he was here (good 3pt shooter suspect but not horrendous defense) I'd be perfectly fine giving him that second contract. KPJ I never liked because his issues were all violent stuff. When the news broke part of me was happy that I never have to watch him again, even if it meant one of our only reliable shooter is gone. But AJ Griffin's issues seems to really just be personal issues. And while I'm not religious, I live in America and it's nothing I haven't heard before. It's not something that would make me truly dislike a player.
It's funny because he says that Beyonce fans are devils, yet he plays Call of Duty... Anyway, hoping that he can put everything aside and go hoop. I am more worried about his body breaking down than his mental breaking down. The poor guy has probably lost 10+ inches of vertical since he was a senior in HS. He used to be a completely different player. He has lost nearly all of the athleticism he once had, and it actually makes me sad, because he was super damn talented. THIS was the potential top 5 pick. He is not this anymore.
You missed what I'm saying; I believe the Rockets can potentially open $39M in cap space next summer if they waive Landale, don't pick up Fred VanVleet's option, and allow Sengun and Jalen to be RFAs. If the Rockets don't want to take the chance on adding a significant free agent in 2025, and instead simply lock in Sengun and Green to extensions, and function as an over-the-cap team, then I agree, Griffin's $6M is not going to make or break the team other than possibly being cash out of the owner's pocket. If they do want to be players in FA, then it matters a lot, and they have to make this decision by October 31st, 2024, based only on how AJ Griffin looks during training camp and the preseason. The new CBA implemented cap smoothing, making it so the salary cap can only increase by a maximum of 10% per year. The new TV deal is almost tripling the annual rights fees for the NBA, so the cap will very likely be increasing at the maximum 10% per year for the foreseeable future. Sure, the 2025-2026 cap is not yet official, but we have a very high likelihood that it's going to be $155.1M, and 2026-2027 will be $170.61M. Taking it a season at a time seems a bit shortsighted, considering all of the critical decisions this team needs to make on its young players. The Rockets under Rafael Stone have always strived for optionality and flexibility, but they are going to have to start committing to key pieces now, and knowing how their projected contracts are going to affect whether they go over the second apron in 2027 is a consideration, unless you want to see the Rockets start executing trades like that Davion Mitchell contract dump between Toronto/Sacramento.
For the 44th pick I can't really complain about the acquisition price. Maybe he can develop into a reliable bench shooter. He's got nothing else. His defense was terrible even at Duke.
