I just want to beat Phoenix; I don't really care about the other games on our schedule. We just can't lose that game.
Must must must MUST win tomorrow night. Lowkey really nervous. KD and Book will try to do their best in another "tryout" for us.
If I were their coach, I would be really using the disrespect angle to motivate his team. Rockets betting on them to suck by acquiring their picks. We are clearly the better team, but I think for one home game the Suns are going come out swinging.
By the way just gotta complain about the schedule a bit: Why tf they give us the b2b instead of Phoenix here? If we played Phoenix today they would be on a b2b (with their Minny loss last night) and we would have two days, two days, two days. Seems like NBA picked us for what they hope is a scheduled loss against the Lakers day after tomorrow
Doing a dive on centers. I'd be ok adding any of Maluach, Queen or Sorber. It's going to be interesting to see if Adams is willing to stay and for what price? If he's gone I think it becomes abundantly necessary to add this piece. You probably keep Jock in town and hope this pick is ready to contribute sooner than later. Assuming he'll come back, it's probably at the expense of Jock and you still need the 3rd center because Adams is likely not playing 82 games. Maluach's 7'2" stature and lob threat spacing are terrific. 2 flavors we don't currently have for sure. Queen's offense seems a lot like Alpe's. Idk how compatible they'd be together but having that hub option at the 5 for 48 minutes would wear out a lot of defenses. Sorber is yet a 3rd different center, a defender with good strength. I think you still have to let the current logjams at other positions work themselves out too. You have a veteran and 3 options at guard and forward already. Fred, Jalen/Amen/Reed. Dillon, Tari/Jabari/Cam. What good does adding more jam do?
I think the pick will have to fall in the top 10 to have any shot at Maluach. Even then he could be gone as early as 6 or 7. I agree he would be a nice fit though. Maybe if some team with a plethora of bigs lands a few places ahead of us we could trade up?
Unfortunately Scoot is in concussion protocol and ruled out for tomorrow’s game. If it lingers it’s gonna really hurt Portland. He’s been playing well.
Like I said, teams are going to start "resting" players here and there this late in the season, so I'm wary of strength of schedule comparisons. Hopefully nobody rests against the Suns. lol. From here: Udoka said he would like to expand the Rockets’ rotation to nine or 10 players for the final stretch of the season to help rest some of the regulars and get a last look at different lineup combinations...
How much higher could we raise in the 2025 draft if we packaged say our number 12 by Phoenix with Cam, who looks like he will not turn it around-- at least for us. I would go with Maluach.
We will see if we get outsized in the playoffs. That will determine the level of desperation the Rockets have for a legit 7'+ big in the draft. They have all the cards they need to make a big move up.
Suns have hardest SOS remaining in the league but it's unlikely they drop past Portland so at best we're looking at a top 10 pick provided Bulls and Heat keep winning and Suns keep losing. Top 10 pick has 11.7% chance to be top 4 and 2.5% chance to be #1 overall. It'd take another miracle like last year for us to draft in top 4 again but god, I'd wish NBA would rig it for us because OKC might also draft top 10 this year with another pick in mid 1st round and we all know OKC doesn't need any more damn help. If NBA wants us to be the team competing against them for years to come, we need all the lotto help we can get.
Well, we'll see how serious this Durant injury is. Wouldn't surprise me if we just saw him in a Suns jersey for the last time.
If Houston ends up with a Top 4 pick I'm gonna sht myself. #1 obviously would be glorious. Based on the trend we should get the 2nd pick. 2021 - #2 2022 - #3 2023 - #4 2024 - #3 2025 - #2 (Just makes sense)
Actually, in that sequence "6" may make some sense. But we don't want that - unless we like Maluach or something. We just need a #1. We're due.
