Brooklyn Picks -- Cash 'em in, or let 'em ride?

The reality is the only type of guy that make sense for the Rockets to trade for is the 2024 equivalent of OKC Harden. Most stars that gets put on the trade market are just way too old for this team's timeline. But teams are just no longer trading someone like a young Harden these days. The only star that's fairly young traded recently I think is Mitchell. Absurd price tag aside, that is probably the upper end in terms of age/mileage I'd be willing to trade for.

I know we're winning a lot more these days, but keep in mind this team still only has one young player you can truly call a star. Other than Sengun you can't be certain anyone else can be a top 2-3 guy on a championship team. The Nets pick, which is probably in the 7-10 range unless we get lucky with the lottery, just offers another chance at that star.

 

Exactly. We have one star. It's up in the air whether any of our other prospects will take a leap. Cashing in our draft picks likely isn't going to make us a contender. Trading picks for immediate help makes sense for a team like the Grizzlies. They already have their core in Ja, JJJ, and Bane who are all entering their primes. They could be one piece away from contending. I expect them to tank the rest of the year and put their pick on the market.

People may not like the comparison, but we're a lot closer to Utah. One star, a couple of nice young prospects, some vets, and a bunch of picks from another team. Neither team is even close to competing, so there's a lot of work to do before going all in.

 

Give me all your monies!

 

Got the top pick twice in 8 tries. That means we have a 25% chance of winning it! But seriously as things stand we have a 30% chance of a top 4 pick because our pick going to OKC is top 4 protected.




HOW SWEET IT IS!



And I'm done for the night!

 

What a goldmine -

Tari Eason @17
2024 pick - likely 7-8 at worst, with a chance to shoot the moon
2025 swap
2026 pick
2027 swap

Folks need to quit being so casual about..."trading all the BKN picks".

 

oh hell yea. Forget about bridges. If he was so good they wouldn't suck this bad. The worst thing we could do is trade with them. Let them suck. We want to get the next bridges, the next claxton on rookie deals. We are going to have to deal with SA and OKC in the future. Forget about immediate gratification. Best thing is to take the sam presti approach and continue to stockpile assets. Let sengun grow and wait for the superstar who wants to join him. This is the best plan. Sengun is not nearly close enough to be no #1 option on a contender. He needs to hit that 3 ball at the top of the key. Its easy for a good defense to swarm him when he gets that ball in the middle of the paint.

 

Even Mitchell is honestly too old--he'll already be 29 when Sengun is 23. That's a really brief window, and that's assuming Alpi is even ready to be the best player on a contender then, which he may or may not be. We talk about the Jokic comp a lot--Jokic didn't really start to peak until age 25.

Other than that I agree, we're looking for a guy like Maxey, Bane, Edwards, some guy like that to shake loose--or perhaps a guy right on the verge of breaking out into that category. I would be calling teams about young (under 25) shooting guards with better current performance than Jalen and similar breakout potential if I were Stone, but who knows if any of them actually become available.

 

I got the 8-9th pick a handful of times. That is a nice asset.

Let's hope Brooklyn continues to struggle. This pick could be a goldmine. Thanks Harden!

 

SGs/Cs can be gotten with those picks which should be mid rounders. Looking around the league at Haliburton, SGA, Keyontae George, Mathurin, etc....we can easily solve our Jalen Green conundrum with another SG prospect or the Landale situation with a C prospect. Probably just keep nabbing and developing these players. Sengun/Jabari will be max and near max players. One of Amen/Cam will likely be the other max player. Feels like the rest of the year is just going to be letting one of Jalen/Amen/Cam solidify themselves as the other banana opposite Sengun while Tari/Dillon/Jabari shore up the defensive end and contribute 3s on offense.

 

To clarify I was speaking of the Mitchell at the time of the trade from the Jazz (so he was entering his age 26 season) rather than now. I wouldn't trade for Mitchell today, maybe worth a FA signing in 2025, although that's unlikely due to him wanting to go to NY.

To be honest I can't think of a single player who would be available and fit the Rockets timeline. Even someone like Trae Young who I think a lot of fans don't even want would likely be off limits from Atlanta's perspective. If there is someone out there, it's going to be a player most fans think is disappointing and not worth the price tag and all that. And you have to rely on Stone/Udoka being smarter than the front office of the other team.

 

The Rockets draft capital will remain pretty consistent going forward, because the Nets obligations to us basically coincides with our obligations to OKC. Any additional assets will have to come from player development, such as when Phoenix traded Bridges for KD. And in the hypothetical you're laying out, we should have a lot of youngsters developing well, cause if they didn't, this team would be mediocre for the next few years anyways and there is no contention window.

 

I would love to make a trade now for that reason--I don't think our ammo is going to get any better than it is at the moment. But unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a player available who makes a lot of sense.

Maybe Tyler Herro depending on what you think of him? I keep circling back to thoughts of a three-team trade where we provide the draft capital Miami needs to pick up a guy like Siakam, Grant, Murray, etc, with Herro being our price for the pick(s).

 

Herro is a pretty limited player--more of a two level than three level scorer, no real ability to get to the basket and finish to speak of. And he's not a great or even good defensive player (although I hear tell he's at least average now, not surprising under Spo's coaching).

But he can definitely light it up from outside on high volume, 41% on 8 attempts this season, and he has a bit of a midrange game too. Would certainly help our spacing a lot more than Jalen has been.

I'm not sure if he can be the second best player on a contender, but maybe he can be #2B alongside an in-house player like Amen/Cam/Jabari. I think I would be okay with getting him, provided the price isn't too crazy. We need shooting.

 

Ok, so you're saying the Rockets trade all their picks and swaps for Bridges or OG and then pay them $220+mil in FA? I mean the Nets probably will take the offer where we give them back all their picks and swaps and an additional 1st for Bridges. But why would the Rockets do that? You are essentially betting that one of the players on this roster is going to be a superstar cause if not, that's a perennial 6th seed in the west for the duration of Sengun's prime.

 

I love both of them. While I think Herro's pretty much untouchable. Murray would be a great get. He'd not only give us another ball handler that can shoot it, but is a helluva defender. Definitely an Ime guy. I like him playing the point some, and when it comes time to move FVV at next year's deadline, taking over until Amen is ready (all the while tutoring Amen)....assuming that happens. His flexibility really gives us options. All at only 16/yr.