10 reasons I’ve come around to a Fox to Houston deal, especially for a FVV/Reed picks package. The Rockets need a closer. This is the number 1 reason with a bullet. The Rockets have proven that as constructed they can hang with any of the top teams in the league for 3 and a half quarters. I’m not talking four years from now. I’m talking right now. Where they fall short is at the end of games. They don’t need a three-point shooter as much as they need a guy who can take over when the game is close. The team, even with all of their faults can get us within striking distance on the strength of our defense and rebounding. We need someone to close it out when the game is on the line. Fred has been that guy. Jalen has been that guy. Alperen. Dillon. Jabari. All of them have closed out games. Even Amen. But none of them have been consistent and all have shot us OUT of games (especially the backcourt). We need a closer! Transition buckets. After a good defensive possession, if the outlet goes to Fred he’s typically walking the ball up court. We have elite athletes who want to run. Especially Jalen, Amen, Tari and Cam. A PG willing to run with them means a lot more easy transition baskets attacking the D before they are set. For a team that struggles to put points up efficiently, the more easy looks the better! Fit with AlP. Having a guard that loves to attack the rim and score will be huge for Alperen who likes to pass out of the post. We used to see these types of back door cuts and screens a lot with Jalen in the early days before Jalen’s regression. I think a scoring point and a passing big makes us more dynamic. Fox better fits the timeline. He is three years younger and 3 inches taller than old man river. I get that Fred has 12 lbs on Fox, and is stronger. But Fox’s length could still be an asset that Ime can work with defensively. The only way to improve is via trade. We already took ourselves out of FA contention with Green/Al P’s contracts. Signing them to those deals handcuffed us in the short term. Also, Amen and a few other pups are going to command big salaries when their rookie deals are up. We have pretty much committed to this team. If Fox wants a max, we are going to be over the cap anyway. We need to make consolidation/star trade before the pups rookie deals are up and they put us over the cap anyway. We would be committing not just to this team who may not be a contender this year with Fox, but are committing to this team with all the young guys growing up and getting better every year. And I think with a closer, this team can grow to contend for years to come. Those “holding out” for a tier 1 star risk losing core rotation pieces. To some it may be worth it to lose Amen/Tari/AlP/Jabari but at some point you risk losing the DNA of what makes this team who they are. Fox allows us to upgrade a position of need while keeping most the core in tact. The Rockets lose very little giving up non-core players and picks. The Rockets can no longer afford another project. It’s hard enough to carve out time for Reed and Cam when everyone is healthy. Developing yet another lottery rookie that needs time is not something the Rockets have the space for right now. In fact, they arguably need a consolidation trade as a way to shore up the rotation. So while they may be giving up value, those chips are less valuable being cashed in by the Rockets. Ditching hero ball. Losing Fred in the clutch is addition by subtraction. No more moon ball threes with plenty of time left. No more chucking over defenders way bigger than him. I feel much more confident with a Alperen/Fox combo closing out in the final minutes than Fred/Jalen hero ball. Again, we have memories of both single handedly taking over and those crazy shots going in. But they are not good plays and we cannot rely on that for seven game series in the playoffs. Fox will be a more desireable asset to flip should an even better star come along. We do lose out on picks we would like to package with him but it’s not like he’d be immovable trash. Also… We. Need. A. Closer (one more time).
Very good points. I was initially against the idea, mainly because Fox is surrounded by the same roster he has now. But we desperately need a closer.
Lol what? You’re talking about a guy in Fox who is young and all ready an all star player. He’s a closer. Cam and Reed are nothing but potential. Stop overvaluing players just because they play for Houston.
I’m not giving up all those picks and prospects for a guy who’s not even a top 20 player, doesn’t play defense, and can’t shoot the 3. Not doing that.
I would try to trade for Fox and Monk and give up Fred and Reed with 4 1st picks. The money matches and we would get that offensive punch with the starters and the bench. F*** those picks we have a team right now.
I don't get the whole flip thing. If you were going to flip him it would be by the deadline next year. So you would be spending a large amount of your assets for half a year this year and half a year next year and in no way would get anywhere near the same assets in a flip for a 1/2 year rental. If Fox had a different contract, he might be worth a shot, but with the new 2nd Apron rules you can only have 2 max players and Fox ain't worth one when you already are going to have to find away to pay your core. One future Rocket FRP and FVV and Reed is about all I would pay and they would have to send back some filler as well to match salaries.
Maybe one of the Brooklyn Cams/Booker (or Ant) might offer better spacing than Fox would when looking at different impact player additions?
Some combo of Reed, Cam, and FVV with a couple of HOU picks and swaps for Fox. Green and the PHX picks for Booker in the offseason.
very well said, I agree with all these points. I hope we can hang on to Cam in the trade because they will ask for him. The Rockets have to be ready to walk from the table if that happens, the kings will fold because they want that expiring and a few picks
I've actually taken a fresh look at the idea of Lavine. He is actually a better fit than Fox. Both have had injury issues in their career with Lavine's being more current. The best thing is we could trade FVV straight up for Lavine and may even be able to wrangle a FRP out of the deal. It does take your flexibility away for next year, because he won't be an expiring you can't put in a trade for Booker or whatever star becomes available this off-season. Fox is going to cost significant assets and doesn't fit. I really don't want either, but if the choice is Lavine plus an asset or Fox minus assets, then I would choose Lavine.
Fox in the clutch this season: 47% from the field, 37% from deep FVV in the clutch: 24% from the field, 20% from deep Fox in the 4th quarter overall: 7 ppg (6th in the league) shooting 50% from the field and 43% from deep FVV in the 4th quarter: 3 ppg shooting 28% from the field and 29% from deep
trading for Zach Lavine would be horrible…as atrocious as Fred is, there is no one else on the roster who can adequately run the PG position in the games FVV has missed, we had 21 turnovers and 15 turnovers, and we didn’t even play good teams
Seems like we will. Rockets or the Spurs. I can see him going to one of those teams, we got the advantage since he grew up here and with him we'll most likely have the HC in the playoffs, but the Spurs have Wemby and will probably give up more to get him.
