Sam Amick: Giannis probably on top of Rockets list

I don't think it's the same at all really.

Howard was brought in to be Robin to James Harden. Harden already had a ton of accolades including being fresh off a 1st team all-nba selection, by the time Howard came here. We already had a clear franchise player.

Giannis would be coming here to be THE franchise player and the Rockets likely wouldn't even have a clear #2 option to pair him with, especially if Sengun were included in the deal.

 

You're not wrong at all

 

You're right about the grace period.

Emotions aside, I'm not sure Giannis is the solution.

• He doesn't fit any of our primary needs - shooter, closer, half-court guy.
• Age. His game will fade faster than others due to reliance on athleticism. Our window shortens significantly to next 2 years, then we're faced with 8 years of middling playoff performances after reasonable regular season records.
• We would have to lose a lot of young guys on good contracts to get him. He would cover up a lot of sins during the regular season, but our loss of depth and versatility would get exposed in playoffs.
• We wouldn't have flexibility to get the right guy when he became available.

I would prefer to look for a better Jalen, or at the least, a one-sided offensive player to replace Jalen.

 

They're not going to trade Edwards in conference

 

They’re not going to trade Edwards, period. Why would a new ownership trade their only superstar who also happens to be young and is playing in the conference finals? Edwards also isn’t going to demand out this off-season.

 

LaMelo Ball will be a rocket.

 

That's the craziness of posters since I've been here.

 

All of yall who keeps stressing about his athleticism fading clearly haven't watched him play recently. Not only that, even if his athleticism fades a little after age 36, he is still one of the 5 most athletic players in nba. I mean does Westbrook look any less athletic?

 

You keep bringing up Westbrook, when is the last time he was the best player on his team or a top 30 player?

 

Inside information?

 

You and many keep bringing up athleticism as if Giannis didn't shoot almost 50% from mid range. He's getting better as he's aging which is a great place to be. Listen 1st, Akeem was a athletic beast, but Hakeem was a better player. What Giannis is doing is not letting teams off the hook, but he's punishing players. He knows the teams backing off is giving him easy money mid range. Again, analytics have warped alot of brains and those teams are sitting at home.

 

50% is a bit of a stretch. He shoots 48% from 10-16 ft, 44% from 16-3p. That's pretty good. BUT the volume is very low. 71% of his shots are from within 10 ft of the basket.

And it's not like he has had a straight line improvement trajectory. If you look at his numbers from year to year, it's up and down randomly. I think the small volume may have something to do with the high variance.

What I like about him is his playmaking is steadily improving.

 

You guys are going a bit overboard with the Giannis age thing. Yes, he's older but he's not suddenly just gonna be trash overnight. Giannis had his best offensive season ever last year. He added a middy to his game. He's still getting better. Yes, players who rely on athleticisim wash out faster but there are at least signs first. They don't go from MVP candidate to scrub in one season. I'm not gonna believe someone is washed until he has at least one down season but Giannis has never even been close to that yet.

 

It's not analytics, it's facts and watching basketball. To back up Easy's point, I love who Giannis is as far as player. Greek Freak started at the bottom and worked his way up. His game is not based off of fear but he just doesn't shoot much. He doesn't want to play center but that is what he is. He robs the team of their rim protector and it destroys spacing. Giannis plays bully ball period. Not LBJ that can hit the 3 and shoot who also relied on bully ball. Giannis is going to lose the ability to do that and without being surrounded by shooters it will kill the offense. Our SINGLE problem is shooting. Giannis is the opposite of the solution to that problem. Forget age. Giannis will require us to dump our assets AND rebuild our team around him. He has flamed out every year after winning the chip. Giannis is great, plays hard, has great stats, is everything you want AND HE STILL CAN'T WIN. Anthony Davis is identical to Giannis except he can shoot more and will play C if forced but also injury prone.

 

Nah, their problem is scoring, not just shooting. Giannis is a scorer, period. You don't score 30 per on 20fga by accident. He's a force and has to be accounted for every trip. He's also a rim protector, something they don't have also. This demise in athleticism is probably 5 or 6 yrs away and by then, a younger Amen and Sheppard should be picking up steam. The youngest team in the nba with a mvp won 68 games. How you gonna close that gap? Its not going to happen by osmosis or natural maturity. Williams, SGA, and Holmgren and better by a longshot than your best 3. Again, how you close the gap? To me, it's Giannis. Giannis cancels out SGA, now with Thompson and whomever, you have a fight. Nobody in their right mind can watch the Rockets and Okc and say they're close

 

Worried about is injuries, but with La Melo it would be a more exciting team than watching Yannis.

 

Sounds like you'd be moving Sengun for Giannis

 

If he becomes available there will be a lot of Giannis competition which will drive up the price. Knowing when to walk away is super important because we have a bright future with our own prospects. consolidating our best prospects and bringing in a good fitting core piece is a great alternative. And we have the assets to do that without emptying our war chest.

 

OKC will have to make decisions in the next couple seasons on how much to pay Jalen Williams, eventually Chet and to keep Hartenstein and his 30 million as well. Also Shai will demand a huge pay raise extension, affecting their cap.

Often teams who are contenders or win championships struggle to keep and pay everyone to make a dynasty. Just look at what may happen to Boston one year later.