Don't give up on 20-year old Cam Whitmore. Shooting the ball from distance is still something that we need and he can provide. Defense is important, but having dudes that can shoot like like Nesmith and Nemhard are one of the reasons the Pacers are in the Eastern Conference finals.
Sengun is 22 and 3-4 years from reaching his prime. Giannis turns 31 in December and since he relies 100% on his athleticism, has MAYBE 3-4 prime years left before he is toast. You would trade a 10+ year window for maybe a 3-4 year window? Not to mention we do not have the roster of shooters that we would need to win with Giannis meaning we would spend any assets we have left trying to build a Giannis type roster.
I don't know who actually believes there's some magic talisman about drafted vs traded players in an individual playoff series? In a franchise long term sense - sure drafting a guy makes it easier bc rookie deals underpay and bird rights etc. but those are all long term secondary effects at best, if they even occur But once on the floor - it doesn't matter at all.
HELL ****ING YES - they have a balanced roster.....we are unbalanced, when we get behind we are almost always done, we don't have the shooting in the rotation to make a comeback. Play REED, Play Cam........those two need to be in the rotation. DD
Sengun has been a pro since 15, he will get marginally better, but he is closer to his prime than most 22 year olds. DD
All 4 teams remaining have stretch 5s that can shoot - the paint isn’t clogged .. look at the room the guards have to operate … imagine Brunson trying to do what he does with Alpi and Amen lmaooo or Halliburton these teams are also shooting more than 35 3s a game Rockets failed to reach 30 3pt attempts in 4 games (we lost all 4) and had a measly 18 and 23 attempts in 2 of the 4 games
We could easily have been where Minnesota is. It was our first year back in the playoffs. Let the kids learn.
I agree, Ime did a horrible job adjusting but it’s just his 2nd trip to playoffs, so hopefully he learned something also
Also note that most of the players leading the charge are not top lottery picks. Haliburton, SGA, Jalen Williams, Brunson, OG, Bridges, Turner, Siakam, Gobert etc. all taken after the 10th pick that the Rockets currently have. Many of them in the late lottery range the Rockets are at right now. So yeah, this is an important pick for the Rockets future even if many think "well this guy can't make the rotation as a rookie anyways."
Or maybe .... Just maybe the right deal hasn't come along. Sometimes the best move you make is not making one at all, simply preserving assets for when the right deal does present itself.
This was way before when star players and superstar players preferred to sign their maxes and Supermaxes with their current team..... And predatory types like the Rockets can only wait for sloppy seconds and sometimes they even cannot pick what player types...... This made some teams way too passive to sit around and wait. This is not about what is right or wrong but what you can offer to the free agent or traded player..... If you are the Bucks or Suns right now, I would not recommend any special player joining them, they are just a waste of a ball club.
Not disagreeing with your post - I agree with it conceptually....but statistically poorer shooting teams have more opportunities for rebounds a game. I'm actually kind of interested in whether what divisions you play for has an impact on shooting, rebounding - it would follow that if one division was worse shooting than the other, then they would likely have more "good rebounding" teams. Shooting and rebounding are both interesting stats because the question that comes up is - do you shoot well because you have good shooters, because you have an offense that works to get better quality shots, or because the defense is bad? Do you rebound well because of a commitment to hit the glass(as opposed to a coach who prefers guards to get back to stop transition play) and do it well, or because you or your opponent are poorer shooting? It's hard to isolate the commitment, the performance, and the strategy from the quality of opponent in an 82 game season where you disproportionately play teams in your division over an 82 game season. Anyway, just philosophical ramblings....
OKC was better than us in 2023/2024 and made very important moves to get better and is probably going to win a championship. Our GM sat on his hands and I expect him to do the same this year, while our competitors get even better. I betcha the Warriors and Lakers find a way to get better. Even if SA just takes their picks with a full year of Wemby, Fox, and Harper they will be right there with us. If Flagg works out and they have some injury luck, Dallas will be on our tier (I doubt this). Memphis, Portland, and even Utah will improve. Running it back should not be an option.
The best players on those teams were traded when they were still fairly young, and under 30 years old. It takes years for things to gel and to build a team around someone, SGA was traded to OKC 6 years ago at age 20, Jalen Brunson was 25, Haliburton was 21. They all were traded in deals where the team sending them out thought they were outsmarting their trade partners and the reality was that they weren't utilizing their best young player the correct way. That is why every team that acquired them did not give up much and they they are able to compete. Established super stars cost way too much in trades, which is why they never win a championship. The difference between what those teams did and what people are proposing here, is that the Rockets take on the role of the Clippers in the SGA trade where they send out a ton of assets and young talent for an aging star (Paul George would be similar to Giannis). You want to be the team that trades for Haliburton, SGA, Brunson, or OKC Harden to Houston. Not the team that trades for 31 year old Giannis, broken down Paul George, or chasing KD (BKN, PHX, both failed at this). The Rockets traded for a declining Westbrook and it set them back, the Clippers org and fans are in shambles, don't be like them.
I don't think you necessarily have to do it how other teams have done it, but none of the teams in the playoffs right now were built how the Rockets have tried to build this team. And I can't even think of an NBA champion that has ever tanked for multiple years and then won a ring with the players they drafted. Odds are, for the Rockets to take the next step some of these young guys will have to go. Whether some of ya'll want to accept reality or not, Jalen and Sengun are the two most likely centerpieces to any deal that inevitably happens.
