Brooks is on borrowed time. Amen is already a superior POA defender and one or all of Tari, Amen, and Cam are bound to surpass him eventually, probably as soon as this season. I was a big critic of the Brooks signing but the size and length of his contract is not an albatross. We can have max cap space next summer if we want to. However, it's clear we are not getting a star through free agency. Going forward Brooks' salary is more useful as trade filler than it would be to not have it at all. If our salary only consisted of FVV and our core seven on rookie deals it would be difficult to facilitate a big trade without bleeding talent. In the absolute worst case scenario Brooks will be easy to unload for an expiring. Toronto would be my best bet. They need a wing defender that can spot up shoot badly. They lost Gary Trent Jr this summer and I'm not sure Dick is ready to fill the hole at SG. I'm sure they would offer Bruce Brown's expiring contract if not more.
Dillion should be part of a package deal with Jalen, if the latter doesn't make an appreciable improvement.
VanVleet looked forward to having a rookie point guard in camp to guide. He was even amused to have been the pre-draft comparison many made for Sheppard, a nice reminder of how far VanVleet has come since he went undrafted out of Wichita State in 2016. “I think it’s always funny that I get used as a draft comp as an undrafted guy,” VanVleet said. “I see a lot of similarities in terms of pace and poise and his reads. You saw it really come out in summer league. “I’m excited to have him next to me, another guy with similarities in mindset more than anything. I’ll use him to get better. And he’ll use me to get better. It’s my job to speed up his development process.” “Any time we’re on the floor together, he talks to me the whole time, whether it’s ‘talk more, communicate’ or teaching me little things that he does really good,” Sheppard said. “So I think that’s what it’s going to be all year. I think we’ll have a really good relationship, and he’s going to be someone I can trust to tell me the right thing, not just what I want to hear. “Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, he’s going to say that, and I’m going to be comfortable hearing that from him. He obviously knows what he’s doing and how to stay around, and he’s a winner. I’m really excited for that relationship.” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said the first workout was not very different from summer league and offseason sessions. As with his role at Kentucky, Sheppard said he was on and off the ball and did not find playing both guard positions to be more challenging than if he stuck to just one. “He’s a smart guy with a high IQ. Very cerebral,” Udoka said. “So he gets it all very quickly.” Sheppard will also have plenty of input from a been-there, done-that teammate who will not be shy about speaking up. “We’ve been connecting,” VanVleet said. “It will be easier now that we’re here every day. He’ll be right under my wing, and I’ll be able to show him. He has a huge head start on me. I wasn’t that good at (Sheppard’s age). It took me a little longer to get there.” “Fred is a phenomenal player, phenomenal point guard,” Sheppard said. “Watching him when I was younger and now being able to play with him is really cool for me. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to help the team, whether it is to make 3s or sit over there and clap, get water. I don’t care. “Coming in knowing you’re a rookie, it’s not going to be given to you. You have to earn it no matter what, being able to do whatever it takes to get on the court, help the team win.”
45 minutes of film session on Day 1 Off ball defensive Communication and Awareness wtih Cam and the Group Fred more off ball, Amen more on ball, collapse other Defenses, Amen also in Dunker's Spot Reed, FVV, Amen will alternate there in either On ball duties and Off Ball duties Faster Offense right off the Gates and Offensive Glass While Still Maintaining a Top 5 Defense Sacrifice is a big agenda with this group, run like a Meritocracy, Guys still getting benched at the End
Gonna be a lot of tears on this forum when all of their guarantees that he's gone this year and a bust make them look stupid. LOL
Notice who he was putting those moves on. The 3rd stringers. Didn't do those to Brooks, Eason or Thompson. Just saying.
If you can get bruce brown for dillon you do that yesterday, as much as the raptors have lost their minds the last few years i think they would laugh at that offer
LOL, what's gonna cause tears on this forum is when some members' pet players get fewer minutes this season vs last and it becomes obvious they don't have a long term future on the Rockets. There's gonna be some meltdowns.
There's only 5 I really care about - Sengun, Eason, Thompson, Whitmore and Sheppard. I'm pretty sure all 5 of those guys are getting significant minutes.
Eh, i’ll be much more sad if jalen has a bad year than if he exploded, i think everyone is hoping for the same thing.
You sound very confident, not sure I would be if you're talking about the only player on our team who's ever arguably been a top 1-2 player in the league in a month stretch.
