Depends what kind of PF/C you are looking for and what you want to put next to him. It's a classic question of Offense or Defense, because Ibaka to me is the better rim protector (and blocker) . Ibaka is the better shooter, Horford the better passer/facilitator/glue. The gap isn't as wide as you make it seem, and I don't think that trio would be good enough for us to be a 65-70 win team like the Spurs or GSW.
Horford is the better overall defender despite Ibaka getting more blocks. Horford is by far the better player on offense. The gap is pretty wide. Ibaka isn't a max quality player IMO.
So what coach would you have in mind? Invincible, maybe, maybe no. So much better than everyone else, yes.
A Durant, Harden, Horford big 3 is on par with the original Lebron, Wade, Bosh big 3. The Dubs and Spurs wouldn't be "much better" than that if they in fact were still better than that.
Get all the talent in the world and have it in a stupid system led by an idiot puppet coach I don't think it would matter. This team is full of a bunch of whiners and talkers with no loyalty or integrity towards the game or each other. Its the culture the FO has built and FAs aren't going to touch it with a 10ft pole.
There probably is no formula to automagically catch up to GSW/SAS. You just get as close as you can and hope some breaks/luck go your way. So if Durant feels its time to leave OKC, the Rockets with the right pieces/coach is a good spot. Also it's not just KD/Westbrook/Ibaka vs KD/Harden/Horford. There is Billy Donavan vs ???? (JVG). That is where the Rockets coaching search is critical.
You don't know who the new coach is going to be so there's no way you'd know what kind of system they'd be running. This is a pretty good example of pessimism for the sake of pessimism.
Notice how KD and WB are doing interviews together everytime? If I remember hearing correctly WB said "I have his back and he has mine". They're not going to separate teams to say the least and they aren't going to come to the rockets even if that wasn't the case.
That trio would be unbelievable. But how would the Rockets have any room left to sign anyone else after using up all their caproom on those two players?
#businessdecisions every time with these players. If the Rockets offered Durant the max, ability to play with Harden, and the right to help in choosing the next coach, plus he gets out of Oklahoma, why wouldn't he consider that? Could be a blessing in disguise for these Rockets, and I'd be highly surprised if our next coach was picked before the Spurs bounce these Thunder out of the playoffs.
Yeah, and also cause we choked with LMA, Bosh, Melo...but i understand that, it's just that nobody is saying "he'll pick us", but just that we're in a better position than most of other teams.
They'd already have several players still under contract and they'd be able to keep guys like DMo using Bird rights once they were done signing those max guys. They'd have a pretty solid team of role players.
Draft picks. 2.8M room exception. Trades. Vet minimum deals to players that want to join a vet laden team. Also, next off-season the cap is expectd to go up again by 20M. With big 3 already in hand, can cash in big on high quality role players!
They are going to separate teams after next season even if KD sticks around for one more year. Westbrick is going to a major market and he's gonna want to be "the guy" just like Melo in NY. I don't see KD sticking around and wasting another year in Oklahoma when it's obvious their ceiling isn't championship caliber and it's never going to be.
Its a logical assumption based on past statements, sentiment from coaches they have fired, and Morey's on admission on that the fact that coaching matters very little. His words, their actions, not mine. If you're looking for a verbatim statement to enforce mine, that rarely every exists in any facet of the world. What you can however do is see every sign pointing in one direction when you reach the fork in the road. And if you want to call me pessimistic, Morey's last interview indicates that he sees nothing wrong with their policy in the past. You can choose to ignore everything and label it in any way you want, but it doesn't relinquish what I've said from the realm of logical thinking.
Not sure how you can blame people for being pessimistic after the Rockets just phoned in one of the more embarrassing and disappointing seasons in recent NBA history. It's not as if the Rockets are overflowing with positive vibes right now.
PG for sure, but at the 4 and 5 they could have Horford, Capela, DMo, Harrell, and Beasley. That's a decent big man group especially if Capela keeps improving. At PG, you'd have to count on Bev staying healthy and playing well, which isn't at all optimal, but it's not like the Heat had any amazing PG's either.
Those two guys are sticking it out, I cited something to support my end. You saying there are "other teams" "melo did the same" do little to support your claim. If you can find any evidence or statements to support what you are saying then that's different.
I applaud people for remaining optimistic, pessmism isn't a good thing, that doesn't mean you should remain blinded and ignorant to the problems we have though. It should be "hey, we have such and such deficiency---the results clearly indicate so----lets just hope we can get better" Not : "All the FAs are come to us James Harden and KD once shared a urinal and had a deep conversation at golden corral"
