[ESPN - McMahon] The Rockets are still waiting their superstar

Some good quotes by Ime. Never thought he'd take the Rockets gig due to having to go through the developmental phase.
Everyone in Boston had already fulfilled their destiny when he took over as coach.

"So to try to expedite the process by going out and getting one piece now is kind of doing a disservice to what we all talked about coming into it. That's our vision."

 

Jalen isn’t ready to lead a team. He's not mature enough yet. It's possible that he might not ever be that guy, but then again maybe he will be. All I know for certain is that he doesn't have the killer instinct that you'd like to see, and he seems pretty content scoring in the single digits and being benched in crunch time instead of getting pissed off over it like a true superstar absolutely would be. I do still believe in him though, for what it's worth. He's just not there right now. He needs to grow up some more.

 

Man. Didn’t realize the warriors won 4 games already. Guess it’s over on then… offseason here we are

 

Exactly. Some of us are acting like our core is old and the window is RIGHT NOW. It isn't. The goal was to make the playoffs this year, accomplished. The goal next year will be to actually contend in the playoffs next year.

Yes, if something like Jalen for a Tyrese Maxey pops up or something. You do it. He's young and he's an all-star talent right now and he fills a need right now. I'd give them a package of Jalen, Sun's pick, maybe Reed if they need it and it would be fair since that Philly team is going nowhere fast.

But I don't think we should gut our young team for say Giannis. Does that really put us into contention? I don't think so, so why do it? It would then also make our window become 'Right Now' and again, there is a risk here. While its easy to say now we don't have a superstar player you never really know how things play out. Dallas got rid of Brunson when it turned out he was exactly what they needed. I mentioned SGA. NBA history is FILLED of guys becoming superstars because their first team gave up on them too early. One time Curry was just a nice shooting PG and then suddenly after a couple of playoff losses he turns into a generational player.

This is of course not saying that our guys will do the same but it is saying we really do not have to be in a rush for these decisions and this is not a garage sale.

I'd rather just improve the team, get FVV off it so that we can actually play Reed more and I would love a low-risk trade to get Durant here. A swap of Brooks and their pick back (if it is 9 and above especially) and if they need it, throw in Tari or Cam (since we never play him anyways) because this is a low risk move where we get a bonafide superstar player and the young guys WILL learn from him being on the team every day.

Otherwise, I'm being really stingy with all of our young guys. I'm not trading them for anything, we are not desperate and should not pretend as if we are.

 

Alpi makes that shot and nobody is saying this. He missed. It sucks. His shot was off all night. But he’s closer to being our star than green, that’s for damn sure.

 

There are also moves we can make without sacrificing significant assets. Quentin Grimes is an RFA this summer and can shoot. Tyus Jones is an UFA and would be a great guy to pair with Reed next year. Etc. Smart moves that improve the team without risking our future.

 

So Question: Remove Shai from OKC . . .. . .are we better than what they have left?

Rocket River

 

no. They have great players up and down their roster. Players that can defend and make shots. Wallace would blow up with a bigger role. Chet and JDub are better than anyone on our team; you could only make a case for Sengun. IHart is underrated and their bench scorers like Wiggins are high level role players. They are a better team.

But once we find our SGA the sky is the limit for Houston. 4 drafts in the top 4 didn’t do the trick. Now we are going to have to trade for our #1 closer (assuming we don’t get outrageously lucky in the lotto this yr). At least that’s the way I see it.

 

Rockets first move this offseason should be to fire Stone and get a basketball GM.

 

This is the dude that apparently asked Tilman who to draft if they were presented with both Podz and Whitmore to which Tilman said "I dont know isnt that your job?".

 

THIS 100%. F MacMahon. We haven't lost yet! I can hear Rudy and his "Heart of a Champion" speech right now. Rockets are finding out about themselves and will come back stronger next year.. MacMahon and his ilk are propping crap trades for the Rockets young core - I am not giving up on any of the young guys. Trades will happen because we don't have minutes for everyone, but we need value for value.

 

Even the best miss game winners, it happens

I'm more annoyed about all the missed FTs. To be fair it's still a good possession even if he's shooting 60% at the line, but I would like to see him hit at least 3 in 4.

 

This story is now front page on ESPN.com

 

Still think Amen has a really good chance to be that guy. His trajectory is one we've seen before from stars with similar player profiles, if you assume his jump shooting will continue to improve. Honestly, to already be close all he has to do is show the same amount of improvement this upcoming offseason that he did during the last one.

At this point I think there's like a 50% chance he's an All-NBA 1st teamer in his 4th year.

 

Got to say that the Amen/Westbrook comparison made in the story is both apt and frightening. Russ was always the guy with the highlights and triple-doubles, but his style never translated into success apart from his time as Durant's sidekick. Proceed with caution.

 

If you take the cautious approach, we really won't know what Jalen Green will be until he's 26. Yes, the cat will be full-grown and out of the bag at that point.

I hope the plan isn't to run it back and hope our young guys get stronger and smarter (although young guys will mature along the way). If that's the mentality, shouldn't we wait for another 82 games and four playoff showings to know what we have?

Being a coach and a GM is all about making adjustments and tweaking the roster in substantive ways.

We should do more than cannibalize the Suns' pick(s), though I'm glad Stone had the foresight that Phoenix was about to implode. Or was that just good fortune?

 

@Jontro

We need him

 

I never really liked the Amen/Westbrook comparison very much. They're physically very different, and their approach to the game is very different. The only real similarity is their lack of a reliable jump shot, but even then, it's only year 2 for Amen. Unlike Russ, a lot of guys do learn to shoot significantly better over time.

I don't think there's a good 1:1 comparison in the pace-and-space era to what Amen does. The closest might be Jimmy Butler, but Amen is far more athletic and maybe a little less savvy and technical in his approach/skillset.

Going farther back, maybe you talk about Scottie Pippen or something. I personally believe Amen will have a similar trajectory as a jump shooter to Pippen's--he'll get it figured out during his 20s, not sure on the exact timeline, but I think he's going to get there.

 

Panicking ruins teams- see the Suns and see the Rockets when they traded for Westbrook.
On the other hand, teams have to take advantage of assets they have before they die on the vine. Players don't have trade value forever and too many redundant players only reach their potential elsewhere, if at all.

Tearing stuff down to the studs is the easy part.

 

No deal unless Nico Harrison is the other GM lmao

Seriously no deal.