I will shed some light on some other positives besides the Wood signing. Denver and Clippers both took a step back, each losing one key player (Harrell and Grant) and another role player that helped with depth (Plumlee and Green). And hopefully Millsap lands in Boston as rumoured and doesn’t re-up with Denver, leaving them a big hole in the front court. And let’s also hope Atlanta gets Rondo, as Clippers second likeliest team to land him and he gives us trouble. EDIT: see. I’m not a total Debbie downer
So far, we did not get better. Losing Rivers and Green hurts. These guys played a lot of minutes for us and I'm not sure who we are replacing them with. I know people hated Rivers but he's not an easy guy to just replace. That's 20 mins a night going to....who? Maybe Clemons can step up. It really depends on Westbrook. He needs to play at an MVP level, if you have two MVPs you always have a shot. Can he do that though consistently?
Yes but Phoenix doesn’t automatically overtake us. Nor does Portland. Dallas I think the J rich move is not a plus, I prefer Seth’s shooting. James Johnson brings toughness that’s irrelevant in a match up against us. Point is last year we were 4th best in the regular season and one of four teams in the second round, and two of the other three got worst.
We were also 3 games out of 7th place in the West last year so top 4 isn’t really much to be excited about with how close it was. Portland dealt with injuries as well. Phoenix could very well be a problem in The West. The point is all of those teams made move to improve the roster. We did not. We took a step back.
Well you are kinda calling the game at halftime instead of the final whistle. From not so updated list of FA’a available: Baynes Noel (RealGM shows only 2 teams pursuing Houston/Thunder) Harry Giles Cheick Diallo Tristan Thompson (29 y/o.......12 pts......39% 3P%) Milsap Markieff Glenn Robinson III (11.7 pts.....39% 3P%) Rondo Ibaka Vonleh Jeff Teague Taj Gibson James Johnson (12 pts.........37% 3P%) Batum We go through this every FA period......teams shoot all their ammunition. Then the Rockets swoop in as players have to lower their asking price. Guy like Jeff Green nobody wanted for about 2 months.....then Rockets got him and made him look great. Vonleh, James Johnson, Tristan, Taj could look much better next to Harden/Westbro......like J Green.
Remove the C! Our step back was less significant than Denver and Clippers’, especially if the two lose Millsap and Rondo (lose out on) And those are the two teams that we KNOW were on our level. Everything else is more hypothetical.
Most of that list is absolutely unrealistic or spoken for; James Johnson is off to Dallas and I believe Diallo is staying put with OKC. But you are right. There is still time. Edit: unfortunately for us even for vets that are realistic at the minimum without Harden announcing he’s staying put we are a very tough sell. Not being negative here but that’s reality
Young UDFA will have to step up if no more moves are made. Scary because Rockets only have ONE player taller than 6'6.
I agree with you on Phoenix, but watch out for Portland, Covington is probably the best defender they have since they got Lillard and CJ on the roster, Nurkic is back and if he's healty he's all around a big upgrade over Whiteside, plus they have other young players that should give them something more this season (Collins, Little, Simmons), if they click they could be dangerous imo. As for the Mavs i think Richardson is an upgrade over Curry, Seth is a better shooter, but his defense is ass, Richardson is a really good defender but he can also shoot, score, pass a bit...imo they have more versatiliy and potenital now.
All we need is about 3.......we don’t know yet if EGo will be moved or not to free up money.......yet. I choose not to jump the gun. We all wish we could go to $155M like the Nets, but small market teams usually can’t. We deal with it, until an Elon Musk comes in..........now is that realistic? Musk coming to save us? Not likely. Teams are running out of money and players don’t want to be excluded from the life rafts.
I think Taj would be a nice start. Also, yes, Moving EGo would be key though it better be for bringing in someone good, not just ok.
Losing green hurts a lot. Rivers was redundant and did not play close to 20 minutes a night. If Westbrook Harden and Gordon are all healthy that should be all you need at guard spot.
I think playing Rivers actually hurt the chemistry more than anything. Gordon needs the ball more. House needs the ball more.
