[ESPN/Pelton] Why the rest of the NBA should be paying attention to the Houston Rockets' rebuild

The gap between Wemby and Paolo is significant.....

 

The problem with the Spurs being ranked so high is they have nothing outside Wemby not even court or an elite coaching regime. Nothing.


Something like plantar fasciitis of one dude on that team can tank that franchise back to irrelevancy.

 

Where are all the Stone haters? Sam Vecenie was raving about what an amazing job the Rockets brass have done building this team on his 24 under 24 series just last week, now Pelton comes out with this article about how the Rockets have become a model on how to rebuild. Where are you guys at?

 

I don't know what you mean here by return in consecutive years. The return at this point is a .500 ballclub. If you look at past teams that have sucked and subsequently within 3 years became .500 or better, it's a pretty long list. Essentially any team that got a star in the draft can get over .500 in a few years. If you're talking about future potential, that is still potential. Yes, there could be 6 future franchise players, there could also be zero, especially if Sengun gets injured or regress for whatever reason. If you're just talking about trade value of all the players on a roster right now, I bet you most teams would take the Spurs roster over the Rockets. They'd also take OKC's and probably the Magic's. That's 4 comparable rebuilding teams just at this time.

 

Spurs have some solid pieces for the future - Vassell, Johnson and Sochan are all solid building blocks, and they have some really good draft picks coming their way.

 

Both Johnson and Vassel are older than any of our core pieces and never were large contributors to competent teams yet in their careers. Without Wemby, these guys would be considered no different than the young talent like Bilal and Kispert on the Wizards. Decent talent but nothing that designates a "promising young core".

I just think the NBA media is anointing the Spurs as the next best thing way too early when they just won 22 games.

 

I agree. I think the Spurs will suck (somewhat purposely) and the NBA will reward them with a top 2 pick and a shot at Cooper or Bailey. They may even tank another year for Boozer.

 

He is "meh" for a reason.

 

Love the "growth mindset" reference. I think we can add "grit" to the fresh psych mindset terms as well. Grit and Growth! Not sure it would fly as a marketing theme but I like the spirit of it. Tari, Jabari, Amen, Sengun, Fred, and Reed seem to me to be all high grit and growth guys. Not to mention the coach. Dillon is definately grit and Cam looks like he might have both. Hopefully Jalen can find, and sustain, both.

 

I think the media is sleeping on the Rockets. Amen and Tari playing a full season and another full off-season for Jalen, Jabari, and Segun are going to make this team extremely dangerous. Looking forward to watching the transition game with the likes of Amen, Jalen, Tari, Jabari, and Adams. Crazy fun!

 

I like Vassell. Sochan....he's been more annoying than effective so far. I'd have Sochan outside the Core 7 barely, but he's still young. They have done some great work building draft capital. I think the Spurs are going to be a great team even if they don't have a No. 2 or No. 3 behind Wemby currently for the future.

 

The Spurs don't have the market as Dallas has.....it is easier for Dallas to get a Kyrie than for Spurs to get a 2nd option.

Good thing they have Wemby to attract those.

 

Yep, Wemby is going to be a magnet for talent.

 

One aspect of the rebuild I've been surprised about is how much cap space and trade flexibility we've maintained. We had cap space for nearly two max contracts in 2023. We can have it again in 2025 if we want it. The team option on FVV's third year was a great move. We can trade him this year or next, or even in the summer of 2026 via S&T, while also being able to chase max free agents. To teams trying to acquire him, he's an extremely productive veteran who can be an expiring contract either this season or next. It's entirely up to us/his potential new team and not him. Some people balked at his per year salary, but that's the price of flexibility. If his contract was stretched out across four years but fully guaranteed we could not do this stuff.

We also have completely unprotected future draft assets from three other teams: 2027 swap with Brooklyn, 2027 pick from Phoenix, and the two best picks between us, Phoenix, and Dallas in 2029. We have a war chest not even including the seven current prospects we have on the roster.

 

Reed Sheppard is a Franchise level Point Guard.

Cam Whitmore too.

 

Rockets Roster over the Spurs Roster because of the Full Talent

Adam Silver really underestimated and disrespected the Rockets over the Years, Playoff Riggings by Scott Foster.
Lottery Rigging to the Spurs.

Adam Silver deserves to be in Prison alongside his Referees, Steroids Doctors for LeBron James, Betting Gangs in Las Vegas. His Corruption is endless, if only the FBI would look into Sports Corruption in Professional, College, High School.

 

Sorry don’t agree Sheppard is a PG much less a franchise level, but I hope he is. Cam will never be a PG, but he could become an elite wing or SG with patience. Right now, I believe he is overrated.

 

...they got the generational talent guy. That goes a long way in the NBA especially when that player's size and skill level makes them virtually unguardable on offense and capable of defensive plays no one else can pull off. It's the type of competitive advantage that forgives a lot of sins in roster construction. He will be very dominant once his body catches up with his size and skill.

 

Ime likely saved us from a desperation move, without him and the obvious move in the right direction, I think someone would have made a panic move by now.

 

Consecutive years is referring to the draft capital, as in how many teams have had a #2, #3, #4 and #3 overall pick in consecutive years. I do not think that is common, which is why i do not think this rebuild can be compared to many teams. I am not looking at the jump to .500 or a winning record, I am purely looking at it as a team that has a lot of self drafted players on their roster, as a way to highlight how the rebuild will be different from most. The success or failure of the strategy is TBD, but it is not a common roster make up.