Can you give an example of players that meet this? Shifting onball responsibilities from FVV to Green has been great for the offense, but I really want to know what Udoka's plan is for Amen especially when Jabari returns.
I think it is a moot point as they have won 5 of their last 6 and probably think they are "back". Highly unlikely they break up their team before the summer now (ie they have won too many games to effectively tank for Flagg already) unless it involves Beal going out. If they were to move Booker, the playmaking aspect is a concern, he is good, but not a pure point. The solution might be to ask for Jones to be thrown in, given he is on a min contract he can be aggregated in a trade.
Cam Whitmore+a future lotto protected first for Cam Johnson. My concern with Whitmore at this point is that he really struggles to get to the rim off of the dribble. Considering that he is worlds away from getting to the rim and distributing. I think he has a great career in front of him as a shooter and a cutter and somebody that can bully, smaller players. Having Cam Johnson for 2.5 years though Is super attractive to me and I would pay that price.
Having all 7 members of the core with 2-3 already being all star calibre means that we don't need Jabari to reach his full potential (Chris Bosh with better defense?). We can expect our team to be contenders year after year as long as 1.) the staff gives each of them room to develop and 2.) the team stays healthy. Speaking of health, Cam Johnson's # of games played per season scares me.
I don’t see the fit for Cam Johnson, we’re trying to build a defensive identity, which is built around all of our forwards being great defenders. Cam has a skinny frame and high center of gravity. Players drive through him like wet paper I’d rather have Brooks, let alone Brooks and picks
I don't get the I want worse players on my team argument. The more good players on the team, the more good players I want added to the team. Development is not a guarantee, Health is not a guarantee. What is a guarantee is that if Amen stays healthy is that he'll be really expensive. The next 3 years look really good for the Rockets.
Don't put words into my mouth. You clearly put more value on Cam Johnson's offence over Jabari's defence. I don't think Jabari will ask for a lot of money. If he does, then yeah. It's still early though.
Having all 7 members of the core with 2-3 already being all star calibre means that we don't need Jabari to reach his full potential (Chris Bosh with better defense?). I read that as having good players, it is okay if Jabari doesn't get better (i.e., is a worse player). I am hugely for having great players play at the same time and I put more trust in projections for the short term than I do in the long term. I put more value on Johnson's offense because his offense is a lot better than Jabari's defense. Jabari's offense is probably slightly better than Johnson's defense. I don't think these are controversial opinions (well among people that aren't a subset of Rockets fans). There is a reason most think Cam Johnson is worth at least 2 FRPs (I assume these aren't FRPs that are likely late FRPs). Maybe Jabari gets to the point that he's better than Johnson.
Yeah, we NEED another scorer in the lineup. 1) I think it will help spread the court for JG and Sengun 2) On nights like tonight, JG doesn't feel pressured to score. I would give Dillon and a #1
Jabari is better than Cam Johnson. Jabari would be worth more than 2 low FRP if you trade him. Cam Johnson is 28, Jabari is 21. Johnson is in his prime and gets lots of touches thats why he seems better on offense. On defense Jabari isnt just a little better than Johnson, Johnson is a negative on defense while Jabari is a good defender and a block threat.
We need a 6th man off the bench and a backup big. Games like today where no starter has it is when you need a guy that can come off the bench and score in bunches. We need a backup big because Adams will break down if he plays more than 15 mins. I'm pretty sure we can get DLo for a pretty cheap price. I'd try to get Chris Boucher from the Raptors. Either way, there are obvious holes on this team and Stone has to see that.
That’s why I’ve been wanting to get rid of Landale. He’s just not any good. When Adams is out, we need a better quality backup. A young athletic center we can groom behind Sengun. And no not N’Faly who’s trash.
Sure I’m talking about something like trading existing future salary (Brooks) for a similar caliber player at a different position (Vucevic or something?). I’m not sold on Green running point at all. Think we need FVV next to Amen and Green as a safe pair of hands. There’s playoff caliber defenses coming. Second half of the season is also when teams REALLY start sagging off players so Amen and Sengun’s 3PT shots are going to get the microscope from the league. I hope we’re on our way to letting Green/Sengun/Amen dominate the offense. As for Amen he’ll never come off the bench again as a Rocket if you ask me. We have to wonder whether to start Brooks or Jabari next to him, need the better shooter.
Lonzo Ball (min restriction just increased to 24 min) would be a great bench option that shouldn't cost you much, just bench salary filler. He fills a need without needing to start and has been really good this year. It's a risk for sure but you're only moving salary so worth it imo.
I like it but would try for a player with more Finals/Championship experience. IMO we're going to get home court advantage probably and looking at OKC last season, no matter how talented you are, you're playing at a major handicap when you don't have veteran experience in the playoffs. Lesser teams will boot you out of the playoffs if you don't have that experience. I'd like to avoid that and have just one more vet with deep experience like FVV and Green, hopefully someone who you don't worry about putting up 15-20 in the playoffs. That's why I like Vucevic, he's shooting 40% on 3's and has started for a top 5 defense just 2 seasons ago. You can almost assume he's putting up 18 every night. That's the kind of game-changer we need imo, a points creator more than a floor general. Having said that I don't think Vuc has deep playoff experience either. Must be someone out there. I think I'd take a risk on Ball for that price but also wondering where minutes will come from with Amen playing so well at backup PG.
OK, but only if Vucevic is okay coming off the bench. And don't forget about the following whenever the team makes any transactions: 1.) Effects on chemistry - Udoka already has a tough decision to make wrt who to bench when Jabari returns; Brooks is apparently one of the culture setters on this team. Are we sure that we can trade him so easily? 2.) Mid season additions are less likely to have enough time to gel with the rest of the team and vice versa Brooks and Jabari to me are comparable shooters. Agree with you that Green/Sengun/Amen are the cornerstones on offense. Then shouldn't we surround them with players that complement them on offense and lighten their burden on defense? At the very least, Jabari's presence helps both Sengun and Amen preserve juice to wreck things on offense. Amen, in particular, looks like he's still looking for the correct balance between exerting energy on offense vs defense. Sengun these days just looks gassed all the time and has been a disaster at the FT line. Also been settling for mid rangers and even 3pters Agree x2 that Green is not PG material; he's 100% an SG only. Amen is a gym rat and has great character apparently, so I would designate him as the primary PG over FVV and trust that he can refine his handle, driving game, and shot. FVV's impact has been better anyways since he began playing more offball ~10 games ago.
They're tired man, Green has played all 41 games both sides of the ball and big minutes, Sengun was lifting a heavy two-way load. Amen has energy cause he's very athletic and was coming off the bench, he's lifting us with his energy right now. I think they'll bounce back if Udoka exercises some mature resting decisions (cut a few minutes here and there, nothing major). I think the players around need 3 skills: shooting, defense and safe hands. In that exact order. No one's top 3 is better defensively than Jalen/Sengun/Amen. Jalen and Sengun have proven to be average or better defenders. Amen is one of the best in the NBA. That's pretty good for any Big 3 defensively. Also let's be honest, we need to force Udoka's hand with shooters over defenders a tiny bit. It's impossible that we trade or don't start FVV this season and he's a good defender against smaller players that Brooks can't guard for example - so now you already have a very good defensive unit with Amen/FVV/Green/Sengun. You add Jabari or hot-shooting Brooks to that and we're good. Brooks and Jabari are almost equivalent shooters right now and Brooks so far has earned the spot more but I think Jabari is simply going to blow past him as a shooter very soon. I think Brooks settles in as a 36-37% shooter at 5 attempts, but Jabari is more likely to constantly improve and is better in transition and against bigs. I can see somewhere in Jabari's future 38% on 8 attempts kind of damage. Maybe by halfway through next year? Something like that. That would be enormous for him and us. We should selfishly cultivate that. Ultimately, Jabari/FVV/Brooks have to show us what they can do on large volume of assisted catch and shoot 3's. That's the main role on offense, except sometimes FVV will help calm things down by running the offense. At 7-8 open catch and shoot attempts (huge volume) my money is on Jabari and FVV to beat Brooks out. I think if you increase the pace and attempts, Jabari catches a rhythm but Brooks struggles. Just a theory. Down the line I'm not sure if FVV and Jabari are good enough, they will have to be the best they've been in their careers and have no ego off ball. Amazing future ahead.
Great idea. However, just "getting rid" of Jock won't magically produce a young athletic center.... Jock and Jeff and Jae'Sean are basically expiring contracts to aggregate and trade if the right opportunity comes along. Or waive if that young athletic center (who doesn't suck) turns up.
The only trades that make sense to me is a trade for a backup pg like Dennis S or Malcolm Brogdon. A veteran playmaker with stretch ability so Ime can have someone take over when FVV sits down or when Jalen isnt shooting well. Woth the success of both Kings and PHX I believe the star ships have sailed. When Jabari comes back, he will fill the backup center slot and also be the starting PF. This will make Amen, Tari and Cam as the bench. Sidegrades like Cam Johnson wont be used. Amen as much as everyone loves him will still be a bench guy like before. We know how Ime rolls, vet first. Most coaches only play 8-10 rotation guys: Sengun Jabari Brooks Jalen FVV Amen Tari Cam Adams the last slot is some combination of Holiday/Sheppard/Tate with like 5 mins each. If we can get a pg like Brogdon, he can be this tenth guy and I think we're good enough to reach at least 2nd round in the playoffs.
