Why are you using playoffs to judge the 2025 team when the playoffs havent even happened yet? Right now the Rox are 4rth in the West standings and top 5 in net rating so they are a top tier team full stop.
I think I see why you and I are having a communication gap. You are defining "top tier" with historical meaning. I am not. I'm just saying THIS season, not even last season. Right now, the Rockets are a top team in the league. I'm not even comparing this team to last year because this team is very very different than last season. The Rockets lost 3 new starters from last year. My contention is that if the Rockets had FVV playing that this would take pressure off of Amen, Alp, and KD from having to dribble the ball up the court. That alone would be valuable. FVV would also get many more uncontested shots because you have to double KD and/or Alp.
I feel like this is one of those situations where the stats are kinda misleading, yeah, they look great on paper .... but look a little deeper. It's not like he's executing the offense in the half court. He's a monster in transition or against an already compromised defense and that's where he does the majority of his damage. But when it becomes a half court set, it's mostly point Durant running the show. When the playoffs roll around, that half court offense is a much greater part of the game - everything slows down & gets more physical, ball handling becomes much more important and transition buckets much less frequent.
In the playoffs Amen was pretty decent. 15/7/3 on 49% FG, 54.5% TS Not the best but also not terrible esp when you consider the defense. He should be better this year.
Funny thing, the Rockets were the most efficient at the PnR when the ballhandler kept it last playoffs because of the namesake of this thread. That Kevin Durant guy has also been better than most PGs at isolation and PNR in the playoffs. I'm not saying the Rockets don't need playmaking and shooting, I'm saying it could come from a PG, SG, or SF. Prefereably from someone who isn't turnover prone. I don't like the arguments it has to be a PG. I don't like the arguments that the Rockets don't need a PG. I don't think risk more than SRPs at this deadline unless they make a big move and just put their hopes on the guys already here. I'm much less confident in the Rockets since Reed fell off a cliff.
