ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Sixers 1/15/2024

Halliburton is far from his prime but what the heck has he been doing.......

 

Haliburton is a generational talent on the level of Ant and Ja Morant. Unfortunately Jalen will never be at that level.

I don't know why I everyone is so antsy about Jalen, just leave the dude alone. If he doesn't pan out we got a replacement in Cam Whitmore, they can switch places Cam can be the starter and Jalen can be the 6th man. It's really that simple.

 

Just in terms of timeline, Alpi seems closer to Luka. He may not ever be as good as either Luka or Jokic, who knows, but if he's not at least in Luka's vicinity in terms of talent level we have little chance of winning anything with him as our best player. Anyway, both Luka & Alpi came into the league at 19 after being elite players in Europe (though granted EuroLeague is a major step up from Turkish League ball). Jokic didn't hit the NBA until he was a year older, at age 20.

I would guess Alpi will probably start to peak--whatever that peak may be--around age 24, a year younger than Jokic did, but that's pure speculation on my part.

As far as Lauri's aging curve, I don't know. He kind of plays like a poor man's KD, and KD hasn't declined much yet at age 35. You're right he could be washed as early as age 31, but he also might not. Hard to say.

 

Durant shoots a lot more than he used to, so his game has evolved, it is not as physical.

Stretch 4 now.....

 

Yeah, you are right. Lauri shoots a ton of outside shots too though. He actually takes more three pointers than KD, but fewer middies.

 

I get what you are saying. I just don't want the Rockets to feel like they have to limit themselves to a certain subset of players at this stage.

Just need players to fit in with what we are trying to do and help with winning so that our core players get more experience on bigger stages and get more exposure. I think we can afford to get someone who is 26-27 as long as they don't cost too many assets, and help the young core players on our team (sengun, jabari, tari, cam) get some playoff exposure. Once our core gets into their prime is when we can retool and really be in contention.

 

His shot also looks different, he had that typical Tmac shot early....

 

Maybe but like I said this is Danny Ainge. Remember Ainge is the one who offloaded Garnett and Pierce to the Nets and basically stole Brown and Tatum from them. If he OKs the trade you know you got ripped off.

Since when did Ainge sell low on any player? He ain't trading Markannen for Jalen Green a couple of protected picks lol, he's gonna ask for Bari, Tari, Whitmore or Amen and all the Nets picks and swaps since that's basically the return he got for Gobert and Spyda.

Unless you think he is worth a kings ransom I don't even see the point of all these speculation Ainge never gives up players on a discount.

Honestly the one who should trade for Markennen is Presti since at age 25 SGA is the same age as Markannen and they have a 6 yr windows to win rings together. Plus Presti has more picks than he knows what to do with so he can meet Ainge's exorbitant prices.

 

Probably the best point against trading for Lauri indeed

 

A team can win a few games and/or a streak of games with hyper-intensity, but it isnt sustainable.

 

Haliburton is also 2 years older than Jalen. Also in his 4th season, One ahead of Jalen.