All these scenarios will shift once a losing streak occurs, especially if it is a protracted one or includes multiple blowouts. Right now we are all riding wave of positivity and singing kumbaya. Would love ride this defense to the Finals and to not lose again but that is not realistic.
Barring something unbelievable and cannot pass it up trade...... I say stand pat And lock down the young guns Left the off season worry about itself If we get to the 2nd round or better Run it back Rocket River
I think we all just need to hide and watch Stone do his work. He moved Harden and Westbrook (unmovable super max contract) without wrecking the franchise. Signed some unforeseen talent to more than favorable contracts all to go with a rookie head coach that seems to be working out. At the moment his ass is probably sore from pulling rabbits out of it.
True, our valuing of defense is contingent upon continued success with it. Realistically, the team will jump on the first opportunity to get an offensive juggernaut to make money on merchandising. Did Tilman learn his lesson or is Stone going to become another cautionary tale? Now that you mention it, it's probably not a coincidence there's no big names on the roster except maybe Cousins and Wall. I don't know how much basketball Tilman knows, but he can't be that knowledgeable. Maybe Stone can stay under the radar by going after smaller names and get Tilman to be compliant.
The best way to build a team is through high lottery picks because that is how most of the high end talent enters the league and they are paid less than their performance. It isn’t like hoping to win the lottery while working at McDonalds. The Rockets got Hakeem, Sampson and Ming by tanking. That is how the Mavericks got Doncic and lost out on drafting Shaq (they won a late season meaningless game). The Cavs got LeBron by tanking... San Antonio got Duncan. Even the current Lakers were built by tanking, they never get LeBron without having the lottery players to trade for AD, and they don’t win a title last year. It is EXTREMELY hard to build a title team without a few high lottery picks, as the Rockets found out trying to get pieces around Harden. Tanking isn’t a guarantee. An organization still needs to draft well, develop players and set a good culture but it is a LOT easier to win when you get to pull a few guys from the top of the draft. Now the Rockets this year have a 50% chance of losing their draft pick if they tanked this year and there isn’t an obvious top 2-3 franchise guys. This draft is very deep to me. So Ican understand why the Rockets are not tanking. However if they get off to a slow start next year or have injuries, tanking would not be a bad idea. I could see as many as 4 possible franchise player type guys available. Holmgren is a possibly a future All NBA First Team type player.
I can write like 2 pages worth or more,I can tell yall who to trade and the reasons. The big thing right now is how good are the rockets at drafting and scouting. I also got ideas to further improve the defense but that has to do more with personel. I got alot of ideas for both offense and defense. I even know some good shooting drills.I know about the proper technique to defend 1 on 1. I got lots of ideas,This basketball stuff is easy for me.
I don't necessarily disagree but... didn't we trade away all of our first round picks so us tanking only helps the team that owns our picks? I thought most of the 1st round picks we have come from Brooklyn and there fore will probably be out of the lottery over the next few years? I just think you have to build a winning culture and go from there, draft the best you can and develop talent. I imagine its going to be hard to get a team that has talent to lose on purpose without destroying what you're trying to build just for the chance to land a franchise player. (**I don't pay enough attention to the front office stuff to know who owns what picks and what is lottery protected etc so maybe i'm way off)
The Westbrook trade has certainly set us back as far as controlling our own destiny. This year the Rockets pick is top 4 protected. The worst 6-7 teams record wise have around a 35-50% chance of being a top 4 pick. The Rockets have complete control of their 2022 draft pick The Rockets have complete control of their 2023 draft pick The Rockets can lose their 2024 draft pick as it is only top 4 protected. The Rockets can lose their 2025 draft pick as it is only top 10 protected on a swap The Rockets can lose their 2026 draft pick as it is only top 4 protected on a swap So hypothetically the time to "tank" would be 2022 and 2023.......... The rest of the picks are top 4 protected so hypothetically the Rockets won't lose anyone in the top 4 of the draft if they fall in that range.
I was a proponent of tanking for a star. Stars usually don’t stick around long enough until they wanna go to a big market to slowly die so the pressure comes off them. The real Uber stars will their teams to championships. Like Kobe, Jordan, Hakeem, and Bird. It would behoov the Rockets to go for Uber defensive players. When you can deny ball from hottest shooter and force scorers to play defense, then you have Harden in the playoffs. That’s how you kill off stars. I’d rather have the 90’s spurs and rockets than today’s super teams. There’s two ends you can win at basketball.
Ok. So at the deadline we can flip Oladipo and walk for more pics and better young talent. I’m not taking any chances on losing Oladipo for nothing when we could have kept Jarrett Allen.
They Could add a PF in free agency while they wait for those fancy Brooklyn picks to roost . John Collins? I'd be ok with that. A little Duncan Robinson for 3 point accuracy. Who knows Fertitta might be worth another 3 billion by July. 2021-2022. Wood Collins Tate Dipo Wall I'll take that lineup against any team in the west except the Lakers and clippers. =) rebuild on the flyyyyy......
We lost Allen but we got a #1 pick and we did not have to keep Prince. My guess is if we keep playing well we will keep Oladipo. However having someone offer two #1 picks like @Clutch thinks he is worth would be hard to turn down. Hypothetically if the Rockets dealt Oladipo that would mean the Rockets ultimately traded Allen for 3 #1 picks and shed Prince's salary.... that is a pretty good return by Stone.
Gordon is playing up to his contract this year. I'm not about attaching anything to him. He's not negative anymore, even it's just a SRP. All the rest of this I can see actually happening.
I have been terribly busy with work the past few days and havent had the time to do the deep dive I wanted. Just to get something out there I would start the quest with a trade like this: https://tradenba.com/trades/mMsPnqDtL After the Harden trade filled the coffers with draft capital I am looking for young pieces to build around Wood and Tate. As much as an Oladipo that was 5 years younger without the injury history would fit nicely as an athletic 2 way wing, the actual Dipo is on the decline, is too expensive and has injury concerns that dont make him the fit I want as a cornerstone piece next to Wood. I think Miami is about to enter panic mode on the season. They cant afford to waste one of the few remaining years of their core's prime and its looking like Beal, if even on the block, would probably be heading to NO or Philly who can offer better deals to Washington. Riley also has to pay a premium being that such a deal likely also pushes the Rockets draft pick up north of 20 potentially.
This is not likely, but I would be looking at the Luka situation, I know Cuban will likely never trade him to Houston regardless of how unhappy he is, but I can see him leaving Dallas, and assume he has a relationship with Silas already. I can see Carlisle and the org pushing him to the point he wants a change. I think Luka in his prime will be attracting top talent that wants to play with him.
Not sold on Oladipo... there’s a reason people seem to quit on him. He’s on the low going to Miami. He’s just doing this the right way not the Hard-en way. Get it. At least he got some class. I want max pics!! Ideally we keep Wall and Wood for leadership. Boogie can do whatever he wants till we flip him too. KPJr. needs to get his ass in gear so he can get acclimated with the team this summer. Let’s get this rebuild going.
