Bill Simmons: “In the whisper circles, everybody seems to think he’s going back to Houston.”

I think the Rockets getting Wemby is the best thing that could happen to Sengun.

Wemby is a perfect pairing next to Sengun, especially defensively.

Wemby switches really well, is rangy and can come over for blocks, which means Sengun doesn’t have to worry as much.

Offensively, Wemby is a solid passer, and can play well with Sengun and they can play off each other.

Most likely Jabari Smith would switch to the 3 spot with Eason getting back up minutes.

 

20 assists and just 1 turnover tonight

people trying to argue that the Rockets shouldn’t sign Harden aren’t even making sense at this point and are incapable of providing alternative solutions

 

If the Rockets draft Henderson, I’m not so sure that Harden would want to play here - but if he did, you could run Harden at the 3 and he and Henderson could split ball handling duties.

The problem would be on defense - because the reality is a backcourt of Harden and Green will get killed. Green needs a very good defender next to him, which was one of my only concerns with drafting Green.

 

20 assists to only one freaking turnover tonight. Assists to turnover ratio is 20/1. Welcome to the real point god

 

Why is Sengun gone? Wemby doesn’t want to play C I thought. And Sengun can only play center. Why would we have to trade him?

 

I don’t know

If I’m Harden I’m not wanting to babysit a g league rookie on the court starting when at least trying to make the playin

I could imagine him requesting to start green & KPJ if they are intending to run a 3 guard lineup. Especially with KPJ’s catch and shoot compared to Green, Jabari, and Sengun. I’d imagine he’d want at least one consistent shooter and also the teams best starting

I know he’d be a top 2 draft pick but it’s James Harden. He can be the 6th man of the year as a rookie if he’s that good

 

Yeah they'd both be starters. The rockets would run Harden at SF (which really is his natural defensive position) with Green / Henderson.

 

Harden is a better player.

He is a better defender… better rebounder… better passer… as good a shooter this year as well.

Lillard is only 6’1”, so he has to guard point guards (if anyone).

The Blazers are 5 games under .500% 3 guys scoring over 20 points a game.

Lillard never was “that guy”.

 

Contrary to a lot of the styles he has cultivated during his career, Collet is coaching Wembanyama differently than he had future NBA first-rounders in the past such as Batum, Alexis Ajinca and Frank Ntilikina. Collet allows for more mistakes, lets Wembanyama get away with more bad shots and is nurturing in a way he might not be if he were simply trying to win another league title.

Wembanyama likes to shoot jumpers. One-legged jumpers, spot-up jumpers -- and he averages four pull-up jumpers a game, which is not something normal for such a massive person. By Collet's own admission, if the rangy and super-talented Batum had tried this 15 years ago, the coach would've pulled him out of the game.

That freedom is something Wembanyama -- a player who now understands the power his talent has afforded him -- has come to prefer.

In 2019, when he was 15, Wembanyama had a lackluster outing in Spain at a showcase event, one of his first in front of major international scouts. He was being played out of his preferred position and wasn't a focal point of the offense. His effort and focus waned badly.

"I had literally zero responsibility. I never had the ball, even at practice. The coach played me at center," Wembanyama recalled. "I was really frustrated even coming to the game. I knew it wasn't going to go well. So it didn't go well."

Wemby doesn’t want to play C, or he doesn’t want to be used like Deandre Jordan?

 

Backcourt defense doesn’t matter thaaat much, especially outside the later stage of the playoffs. You can have a really good defense with 2 smallish or mediocre defensive guards. Look at the Cavs for example.

What matters is rim protection and scheme discipline, which we have neither of. Guard defense is a distant third.

 

Your quote does not support your hypothesis.

 

it actually does…he does more crying about not having freedom and not getting the ball/being a focal point than he does about not wanting to play C

 

The Rockets aren’t getting Grant and Harden. There is less than a 50% chance they get one of them.

If the Rockets get Wemby, Sengun would start next to him with Smith at the 3. The Rockets would overall be pretty good defensively at 3-5.

Harden and Green would be terrible defensively - not as bad as Lillard and Simmons - but still too bad to win a good 7 game series

 

You aren’t winning many titles with two poor defenders in the backcourt.

There is a reason that Lillard has never sniffed a title.

In the playoffs teams HUNT for weak players to exploit, and when you have two? Well it’s a death knell.

 

We'll just have to disagree bro. All of the numbers Im looking at has him as a better player this year. He's still an offensive force who's still in his prime. He'll never be better than Harden all time but right now I think he is.

 

Because the Wemby only fans would chase him out of town - it would be extremely funny

 

Sure it matters, just not nearly as much as how good your bigs are defensively. And we’re not talking about Trae or Kemba or Isaiah Thomas level tiny guards. Jalen or Scoot or Harden are / will be big enough to be acceptably below average and not free points every time down.

If you have a a good defensive anchor, you can be a top 10 defense with that. If you don’t your defense will suck even if you have Jrue And Marcus Smart in the back court.

There have been a lot more mediocre defensive guards (Steph, Kyrie), winning titles recently than weak defensive bigs (___?).

 

good ole bill doing everything he can to screw up the sixers. nothing he wants more than philly stuck with 5 year deal on an aging harden.

 

I refuse to get my hopes up over this, but ******* am I sick and tired of watching shitty basketball. Silas and Co. have murdered any desire I have to watch this current group of chuckle****s, so I would welcome Jimmy back with open arms just to end this shithousery. At the very least, we would be a relevant basketball team again. And I'd also assume that any and all subsequent moves would be to build a roster that can at least compete for the West.

Pray for Victor.

 

I gave you a like purely for your use of the word shithousery, that made me laugh.