Zach Lowe: Houston keeps surprising me that they are not trying

Isiah Joe - 2 2nds
Isiah Stewart - 3 2nds
Aaron Wiggins - 2 2nds
Jose Alverado - 2 2nds
Luke Kennard - Gabe Vincent 2nd Rdr

 

This is sad.

 

Yes say nothing and let KD turn 40 without making another move lol Seriously though the reason everyone can see they have a bad strategy is because the Rockets arent good enough to contend and they just announced that KD and Sengun are available for trade. Thats a dumb thing to do. If you want players go get them dont announce who you want gone. Rockets playing checkers like a 5 year old.

 

have to fire Ime, if we get two top five picks next year they need to start if Ime refuse to start them then our owner needs to step in and fire his ass and bring in a coach willing to develop our future. no matter how week a draft is... there is always someone good enough in it.

 

From this board, certainly seems like he's a bottom 5 coach in terms of vibes...

 

Strategy is to find a top-5 player and build a contender around that player, and keep the championship window open as long as possible. Out of the players whose names have been out there, only Giannis and (a big stretch) Jaylen Brown are close, and they either didn't think they could get the player or they didn't think they could build a good enough team around that player and continue to keep the window open. So far, our best bet is still probably Amen.

 

The situation is fairly simple. The GM believes that the young players are worth more than the rest of the league does. The offers haven’t been good enough for the GM so he is holding onto them until he gets what he thinks they are worth.

The Rockets are willing to deal for a star player but if the cost is high- it has to be the right player. Daryl Morey alluded to how highly Stone values his own players when he said that he would float over payment deals just to see if they would be turned down. He didn’t identify the GM but it was Stone.

I get the frustration fans have (including me), but just because the young players are good but not good enough, doesn’t mean going all in with an older star or selling low on young players.

 

Anything is possible but KD was leaving Phoenix regardless and a #10 pick is a very good pick, especially when you don’t have a #1 the next year either.

Sometimes things work out - look at the Rockets holding onto Gordon so long, it was a bad idea that worked out and maybe it does with the Suns picks (I sure hope so).

I remember Red Auerbach at the end of his life giving an interview about the decision to name Danny Ainge as head of the Celtics. He said that he had a big say in if Ainge got the job and he voted for Ainge. When asked why, he said all the candidates were good but in 80 years he learned that a small group of people are both good and always lucky and Ainge is one of those guys. You can’t count on it but sometimes luck carries the day.

 

It is a legitimate concern and one that I have had for some time.

 

All of those are solid players - but the really smart teams draft those types of guys and trade them when they get expensive.

 

When does the young core stop being the young core?

 

Generally 25 (either 25 and under or under 25) is usually about the dividing line I see in podcasts.

Tari is in the gray area. Sengun will be in gray area after next season.

Amen, Reed, and JSJ are still easily young.

 

Well the HC said that he isn’t referring to them as the young core. Not every player has linear development but by the numbers, after year 3-4 a player is usually close to the player he will be. We can point to exceptions of course.

I think Sheppard has to take a jump next year or he is likely a long term bench player. Sengun and Jabari are close to what they will end up being - and Amen has to either shoot better or he will be a very good role player only.

The writing is on the wall - but in pencil at this point.

 

Especially when we just saw the Spurs and OKC

 

Conversely... any big name that came up, Morey was on it like a dog on a rib roast...

unfortunately, that also included washed players, draft busts, etc...

Personally, I'd like to see somewhere in the middle...

dont bite at every possible opportunity that comes along - but be willing to go kick the tires...

 

The Art of Stone Whispering

 

I agree with you on timeline of older players but that's what made the KD trade so puzzling and the subsequent team options for a player of that age...and also why do we have 5 key rotation players over 30 right now? There is over $100million invested in players over 30 on this roster and nearly all of it was unavailable for the playoffs. It's just a strange pivot to what appears to be "win now" with a car still lacking a suitable "engine".

Which begs the question - did leadership really think Alpi was going to be the next Jokic? Was there a though that Amen was going to learn to shoot in a way that made him Kawhi? Did we really think a guy we drafted in a weaker draft who never played PG but could shoot had a Steph like ceiling? This is where you have to criticize the whole front office because it would seem like they continue to overvalue our own assets....and even beyond that, they spent years taking the best player available and there never appeared to be any course correction to say "these two players, while valuable - might not be the best fit together so we should trade one for a better fit".

....anecdotally, it feels like Stone has largely been stuck in asset collection mode - but we don't need a roster of good players, we need to try to build a cohesive TEAM out and I continue to see scant evidence that our front office:
a. sees the difference between those two concepts OR
b. is able to make accurate evaluations of how otherwise good players can be poor roster fits with each other

 

So @Nook are you waiting to see if our 2027 picks are top 5 to make a complete judgment of this off season?

 

Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Luke Kennard are legit rotation players on playoff teams. I dunno about Jose Alverado and Isaiah Stewart.

Some of you will push back on Alverado but he was a dud on the Knicks except for a couple of games in the Finals (which is all they needed from him).

 

Over the past few years
I have leaned more into the Veterans we teaching the kids than the coaching staff
I think that KD don't have time for kids
Jeff and FVV are limited
What Adams has . . . i don't know if that can be taught

Rocket River