I mean, we're closer to contending than the Spurs, lol. Contending for a play-in spot if we're lucky? I like Payne, but I don't think we need him. We have Amen, Cam, and Aaron Holiday.
Yeah, I was thinking about this. Ideally it would be somebody who will be happy as a third stringer but could give 10-12 minutes if we have an injury. How much does Serge Ibaka have left in the tank, defensively?
This really opens things for both Amen, Cam, and Holiday. All 3 should get opportunities. I think Amen was destined to get a lot of playing time anyway. Holiday is a sleeper as a floor spreader. I think Cam is still odd man out unless we have injuries or bow out of the play-in competition early.
Would like to sign him, but honestly the Rockets are still a rebuilding team despite the signings this Summer. Amen, Cam Whitmore, and of course JALEN GREEN should be the ones getting the KPJ minutes. Especially with Amen, the Rockets have a huge investment there. He and Jalen are huge investments, and we need to give them the chance to show if we made a good investment or not. It would be totally a Rockets move though to instead of giving minutes to their first round picks, go sign someone else for a minimum contract to take the development minutes they need. Cam Payne is miles better than Dashean Nix, but this would kinda be a Nix type of move.
Amen was destined for more minutes than KPJ anyway. If healthy he will be a superstar and it will be apparent very early in his career. If Cam can play under control in the pre-season he may not be sent down and get some rotation minutes. I do think the Holiday signing was an under the radar great addition.
Yeah, I'd be surprised now if Amen plays under 24mpg. As for Cam getting minutes, it helps that he can play the 3, whereas Holiday definitely cannot. However, we may see some lineups with Amen as a point forward and Holiday guarding 1s, I guess.
Pulling for Cam to get rotation minutes. However, there is a huge logjam at the 3 with Brooks, Tari, Tate and even Amen and Jabari in some lineups.
Yeah, it's true we have a lot of guys who can play the three. I will say though that of those guys, I only really consider Brooks a "true" small forward, not that it necessarily means all that much in 2023 NBA "positionless basketball". Actually, when I think about it, Tari may gain a few minutes from this as well. I do see him more as a 4, but Udoka likes him some big lineups with lots of defense.
