With guys like KD out there, they can't really put too much pressure on anyone else and the spacing would make it easy to find an open person....and Amen and Reed Sheppard have the BBIQ and passing ability to get the ball out of their hands so they don't get stuck often. For example, if Amen is bringing the ball up the court and they send extra guys at him, who are they leaving open? Sengun in the post? No KD literally anywhere on the court? No. Jabari Smith from 3? Very unlikely Reed Sheppard from 3? Definitely not. When you have shooters and the ball isn't being handled by a low BBIQ chucker like Jalen, defenses can't come at you the same way.
About as high as I hoped it would get. 25m is fair in this market, and I don't mind the player option. It's just for the optics...We all know Fred will surely take it, because it's highly unlikely he has a dream season that makes some team throw more money his way. Now that we have him for two more years, I'm hoping his role, and especially his minutes lessen. He's a vet leader, proven in the playoffs, and if kept fresh, will probably get his %'s back up.
Fred betting on himself again If he goes uninjured he'll work his butt off and opt out next summer looking for either a bigger deal or more years. Smart on court Very smart off court
Pretty much almost every team that didn't make the playoffs would've been better with FVV or he's better than their PG. Of course, there's exceptions like Philly. It's hilarious to think FVV is some scrub when Rockets, the 2nd seed in the West, played better with him than without. I would also rather have him than some of the PGs that are "better than him" too (ex: Harden).
Elite ball handling is mandatory especially in the playoffs. You could say the same thing for Boston-- but Jalen Brown would routinely get stripped when he played lead guard. What you're saying is a very simple outlook on things. I'm not even sure Amen could handle ball pressure from one elite defender, let alone a crowd. For now FVV is one of our most important players, until Reed or Amen are ready. And Amen needs at least somewhat of a threatening jump shot as well before he can play lead guard in today's NBA.
IMHO need two lineups: Rox 94 (AKA KD-Alpe- shooters): FVV - ??? - KD - Bari - Alpe (could also replace Bari in this lineup) Run & Fun (aggressive defenders who get buckets off of attacking passing lanes): Reed - Amen - Cam - Tari - Aquaman So we're missing an outside shooter who can handle the ball when called for (Ty Jerome?) Posting this in multiple thread
25$m a year is definitely more suitable for him than 44$m. Now let’s see if Ime can cut he’s minutes as well and let Reed or other guard get some minutes in our rotation that would be great..
My point is that you wouldn't have scenarios where they'd face a "crowd" because it would be suicide. I'm not sure Amen should be bringing the ball up either, but that was just one example. With Reed Sheppard, he's not a guy that is going to keep the ball in his hands if he's facing too much pressure, he's going to keep it moving and get it to someone else and the floor would be very much opened up for the offense if they decided to overcommit to Reed handling the ball. I'm not saying that Fred won't play a role, he's just not that important because what he brings can be had by other means.
My point was that several posters have been talking about what FVV would get on the free market and how the Rockets are overpaying. But let's just keep it on you. You are looking at this in a vacuum instead of looking how the NBA actually works. The Rockets had to overpay FVV because we were emerging from being the worst team in the league for multiple seasons and we wanted a vet who could run an offense and play defense. Market rate had nothing to do with FVV's first Rocket contract. Why would Brooklyn want to acquire FVV and what he brings at this stage in their rebuild? You don't think they'd have to overpay in that situation? Maybe since Detroit already has it's primary ball handler and playmaker (we are still trying to figure out ours) with a rookie contract, dynamic guard coming back from injury they just aren't interested in FVV? I don't see how going through this theoretical exercise about teams not willingly to spend what the Rockets are as really indicative of much. Lastly, $25 mil in 2024 cap money is ~$22 mil for 2025 and ~$20 mil for 2026. That seems pretty reasonable for an aging vet guard who fills a need of the Rockets.
Underestimate bargaining power and circumstance. $25 mil in 2024 cap money is ~$22 mil for 2025 and ~$20 mil for 2026.
From the Rockets standpoint, this is a great deal. I initially thought $20-30M, but moved up my expectations as I expected the 1st two years needed to be a bit more than 3 years of the MLE. The third year was the only year that I was concerned about. I was expecting 3 years with the third year being a team option or declining. The Rockets don't get the choice of a thrid year or not with this deal, but it does the two most important things the Rockets were likely looking at: staying under 1st apron (maybe even tax) this season, and minimizing FVV's salary in 27-28.
So, on to the Durant extension. After that, we’ll have a better handle on Houston’s cap space the next couple of years
I feel like we will be a much better FT shooting team this year. We would still be playing if we could knock those down. Alperen and Amen are on the clock and hopefully in the gym.
Fred did not "take a $19M pay cut". It was a TEAM option. He was guaranteed $0 dollars. I really like the deal. Short-term at an affordable figure. It also doesn't unreasonably block Reed Sheppard if he ends up breaking out.
