Maybe, I think the first hope is that Reed is ready such that we will see some FVV and Reed lineups when Amen sits early in the season. I expect Cam to get some minutes there, but he will mostly be used as a SF. If Reed takes the majority of the backup guard minutes, Cam may still be on the outside fighting for a spot in the rotation. I think Durant, JSJ, and Tari are better as PFs so he should get plenty of chances to take the backup SF minutes.
This is a little misleading. Yes, we will have the exception available, but using it can still push us over the LT or apron threshold, which the team may not be willing to do. It depends on what Fred’s salary ends up looking like. If they can bring Fred’s extension in at $20M or less, then they can use the MLE without going into the tax. That makes it much more likely that they pursue one of those players.
My draft addiction withdrawal is about to have a cure!!!! “Sources tell the Houston Chronicle that the Rockets have identified about five prospects, mostly projected first-round picks, who could fit that criteria. If that happens, the player drafted is likely to be a high-upside depth piece on a Houston roster set to return most of its playoff rotation.” I think this is the right move. Draft every year is increasingly important under the heightened restrictions imposed by the new CBA. At the minimum, buy a 2nd rounder.
Harden definitely is showing signs of age and there were always "clutch" concerns . His season was fine by his standards and he definitely helped the team perform better than the sum of it's parts. I thought he had a great playoffs . DEN was a top tier team and he had one of his best playoff Assist to TO ratios . Seriously , Denver might have lost to OKC because LAC took a huge bite out of them. That series went 7 games . Our series vs GS was high level , but it was not THAT high level. I think either of those teams (den or lac( would've wiped the floor with us) . We can get Harden a good role at PG and he can finish with multiple championships in Houston. Reed Sheppard/ amen Thompson learn under him.
Other than faith in his potential, what else have we seen from him that shows the level of maturity and dedication that it takes to be a heavily contributing bench player on a championship-level team?? I'm not being contrarian, I'm genuinely curious. I haven't seen that level of sacrifice out of him, especially on the defensive end. Is he going to sulk and pout if there's a game where he only gets 7 minutes? What about when he's on a bad shooting night off the bench? Is he going to allow that to ruin his focus on defense? I want to believe in the guy, but he's shown very little in terms of maturity for me to believe that he's a professional in the truest sense. We're no longer in the Development Phase of the rebuild. We can't afford chuckle****ery from anyone, let alone someone that is earmarked for 15-20 mins a night.
Thing is Harden doesn't actually need to be clutch in the playoffs, we've got KD. Harden's one of the greatest regular season players of all time, that'd let us also rest KD more for the playoffs. Imagine Harden and Amen 2 man game? Harden and Sengun? And both of those you've got actual KD AND bootleg KD sat on the wings waiting for the kick out too. No worries at all about "2 non shooters" in Amen and Sengun, besides Amen hits them when he';s wide open, and he'd always be wide open if he was taking them. I genuinely do not think there's a better FVV upgrade in the league that doesn't cost max money.
Instead of star hunting Ime needs to give steady and solid minutes to Cam and Reed. We need these guys to develop into legit players or we'll never be able to beat OKC. Pacers only had a chance because of their unreal 3pt shooting in the playoffs. That's what they bet on, volume 3pt shooting much like the Celtics last year. We do not have the luxury of 3pt shooters like they do so we have to rough it out with them and hope the refs are letting us play.
A knock down 3 shooting guard would be chefs kiss. Also need a cheap veteran PG/ball handler to give FVV some rest.
This is so true. The Rockets could probably afford to punt on the draft this year & the next. Cam and Reed should get every opportunity available.
if KD is insisting on being a SF instead of a 4, u forget the idea of getting a real SG because Amen is not going to the bench. I still rather have KD be the 4, Amen be the 3 and we find a way to get a guy like Bruce Brown to start and Bari to the bench.
