Cam is good. He’d better and more efficient if we ran actual plays and had an offense. When I’m playing gm on thr nba board and trying to trade Jabari(and sometimes Jalen) , nobody ever wants Jabari, they always retort with now if you putting Cam in the trade, we can have discussions. Cam and Sengun are always the assets they always want back. Some want Amen but then ppl are starting to see his flaws and scared of his shooting
I feel that's a reflection of many factors that have nothing to do with Cam having actually more value than Green outside the fact that he's in a rookie deal for a 20th pick. One factor is since Green is so polarizing, a casual NBA fan who doesn't follow the Rockets and sees an army of Sengun stans on reddit trash Green, they just get a perception in their head. Cam is more under the radar and has the "shiny new toy" sheen so causal NBA fans who don't follow the Rockets daily might just fall in love with the concept of Cam Whitmore rather than actual Cam Whitmore.
All those fans know he has tunnel vision. That was his mo on draft night. They just don’t care when they have picks before him who can’t do nothin to help the team. Cam has a skillset that valuable in the league and it’s not like he’s low efficiency when he’s doin it. the same way this fanbase didn’t care about Cam bad habits when they were ready to insert him in the starting lineup last season in place of Jalen, flaws and all.
That is my point. Shiny new toy sheen. Nothing showed Cam deserving to replace Green. The guard running 9 pnr primary ball handler possessions per game attacking point of attack set half court defenses isn't going to be replaced by a dude who attacks closeouts, catches and shoots and scores in transition. Completely different roles. So ya it's the "shiny new toy" sheen affect Those fans were stupid.
Cam is perfect for a coach that just cares about one side of the ball. Basically give him the green light and watch. He is a lazy answer and an escape goat wrapped in one.
He is going to be the odd man out. I like his potential but I really don't like his attitude. Cam + Jabari + Picks is a nice package for us to get a fringe All-star type talent that would push us into contention. Someone like Markkanen / Siakam type.
Cam can be a super sub for us if he displays the defensive intensity he did last night. It can’t happen until we solve the minute crunch. It’s amazing how so many posters are ok with Jalen’s first 3 years of hog ball with no defense, but are writing this guy off. He is our youngest player. Unfortunately it is going to be hard for him to get the necessary minutes to hone his game this year if he stays with the Rockets. All this is mute, if he doesn’t play defense. I don’t care if he Uber aggressive on offense.
This game is 50% offense and 50% defense. If you win the defensive side, all you have to do is hold serve on the offensive side. Ime can’t make guys make wide open shots. If that continues to happen, it is a personnel issue not a coaching issue. For now, our identify is a defensive juggernaut with awesome transition capability. Hopefully, Jalen, Jarbari, Tari, Sheppard can be consistent 3 point threats. If that happens we will be a really tough out.
I loved the Cam pick-up during the draft and thought he was a steal. I loved how he destroyed G-League and Summer League (for the most part). It's a good way to judge how good a player may be (by watching the progression across/up talent levels). Unfortunately he's hit a bit of a brick wall now that he's playing NBA competition, and we kind of saw that last year, as well. I think a lot, but probably not all (lol), of his jack-it-up'ness may be the coaches telling him to do what he does best : attack, put pressure on the rim/defense, and score. You can see him having some problems in the NBA against stingier defense among even the backups where he drives into the defense and tries to go for an acrobatic layup or dunk but is met by that defense. He's used to going around or over people, but it isn't that easy anymore. I think if you let him be "the man" and go wild, he would do ok in the NBA (still not sure against starters nor whether he'd put up gaudy stats, but he'd probably do ok). His problem may be when he's forced to think about what to do when he's not the man on the court. It's like when he's in an up-and-down pick-up game, that's his game. I'm still waiting to see if/how he improves off-ball and on defense (where he's showing a lot of effort and success here and there). He's still a kid, so I'm hoping he adjusts.
I see it a little bit differently: You can't (or it is much harder to) win the game by excelling on one end, in particular the defensive end. You need to be above a certain level on both ends. And if you can't be creative on the offensive end, you may survive in the regular season but not in the playoffs where the defenses adjust to your system. And the thing I don't like with Ie is, he would bench a player for defensive mistakes but almost never for offensive ones. And Cam can go on with his tunnel vision for ever. And the tunnel vision thing, taking every possible shot, is really that bombs the team spirit.
Bill Simmons brought up how just maybe Brooks, Cam and picks might be enough to get Jimmy Butler if that situation boils over. Honestly I'm not really against it. Cam's looking more and more like a bench sparkplug type than a real star. That kind of tunnel vision is just really my biggest pet peeve in basketball. I can see the numbers Cam Thomas is putting up and still think it's gross.
If we could get Jimmy buckets for just Brooks and Cam then we need to do it tbh. He's not as young as he was, but come playoff time he's the kind of guy to put a team on his back and would be infinitely better than either of those 2 guys at the SF spot.
Butler is 35 and becoming about as dependable Embidd health wise. I don’t mind the package but mid rager get a better option than Butler. A 35 year old jimmy butler isnt putting this squad over the top
That's true but we've already paid Jalen and Sengun and will need to keep handing out huge contracts every year from here on. The clock has started ticking so I don't really mind entering a contention window, especially if that's all we'd have to give up. Obviously I'd love to get Giannis instead but you'd definitely have to trade more of the core for that to even be considered. This let's you keep the team's identity while upgrading.
