On starting Lopez and Sengun, there is no chance Udoka is going to start a guy at the 4 who has no chance at succeeding at defense. It's not his way, he understands not all players are the same and defense is not only about effort.
Gotta see the contract first. If he’s making over 20, he’s gonna start for sure. Him starting also has to be a sales pitch to convince him to leave Milwaukee
I mean there are 48 minutes in a game, so unless they are doing 24 & 24 sengun or lopez(!) is going to have to play the 4 for 6-10 minutes.
Starting assignments would happen after training camp / preseason. If they sign Lopez I would say it would be a better chance they start him and Sengun and sit Jabari. I have a feeling Sengun will end up the focal point of the offense so he will likely start no matter who they sign. Jabari basically sucked last season so I see him being brought along more slowly if they sign a veteran 4 / 5.
not necessarily. We could very well overpay veterans just to get to the floor salary and have veteran leadership.
So people who want Lopez want Sengun at the 4 and Bari at the 3? That defense will get smoked. If you want Lopez, be prepared for Sengun to go to the bench. I dont get the people who want vets. I cant imagine any scenario where the Rockets want to put our young starters on the bench for vets that do nothing for us in the now or long term. If brook is down to come off the bench and just get paid big to do so. Hell yeah sign me up. I just dont think he wants to go from starting on a contender and finishing runner up as DPOTY to a bench on thr youngest team with an emphasis on developing.
Sengun and Jabari can still start with Lopez getting ~25 mins a game. They aren't going to bring him in to stunt the growth of our young core.
Wouldn't mind Brook starting, if Al P is outplaying him mid season Sengun eventually could become the starter. I'm sure Ime will have our guys competing including the top pick in Amen. I'd rather we trade for a guy like Tyrus Jones to start before Amen takes the reigns mid or next season. We need our young guys to learn the ropes, develop good habits, and soak in as much knowledge as possible from the vets. Al P, Amen, Jalen, Tari, Jabari, and Cam all have the talent but all are still young and a bit raw at the moment.
I don't agree with you at all, full stop. It's stupid if you're paying them to help you win a title. If you're overpaying them to lock them in to improve the situation without committing beyond two years, I have zero issue with it.
Teams want vets to help guide and develop young players, on and off the court. We allegedly have a bad environment with a bunch of kids learning bad habits, and you don't get why we want veteran players?
See, what you're describing are locker room vets that barely play. People want starters from contenders. THAT makes no sense to me.
Of course. That said, there's a huge difference between being a veteran on a young team, where you're a professional and show up and do what's expected, and being a willing tutor for the youngsters. Sure, seeing a vet take care of business is a great example, but anything more than that isn't a guarantee. Regardless, it's hard to imagine Lopez wants to leave a contender where he's established relationships to come to a team that is pretty much guaranteed to finish out of the playoffs next year. I'd much rather bring in a vet in his late 20s who we can keep around for a few years.
The Rockets want vet players that can contribute, and the high priced ones should be capable of starting. If the kids are all that then go earn your minutes.
What does putting needed on court development to the side for some veteran starters with no star ultimately do? Win 35 games instead of 28 with the young kids developing and going through their growing pains and locker room vets off the bench and in practice helping them all year? Clearly Brook and FVV are the favorites on here. With Brook even on a short contract, you can at least experiment with Alpy and Bari all starting. I think it would be too slow so ultimately you have to bench Alpy who is looking ready to blossom NOW, not next year or the year after so you sacrifice Alpys growth for 2 years. With FVV, he is not taking some 2 year contract at 29 years old, so you get him on a 4 year deal after you just drafted Amen to play his position. Amen is 21 years old by mid season. He's got to get going with on court experience NOW not when he's 24 or 25 toward the end of FVV's contract. Realistically neither Brook or FVV are coming off the bench. So say Brook(30mpg last year on a contender-runner up DPOTY), and FVV(36 to 38 mpg the last 4 years in a row) each want at least 30mpg, you now have to cut Jalen and Jabari to less than their rookie year minutes just to give Alpy and Amen and the rest of the bench players their needed quality minutes. None of this is realistic and makes no sense for the long term trajectory of this team. You may as well just blow it up and go star chasing and then get the Brooks and the FVV's to pair with 2 aging superstars. Also any long term contracts are goin got hurt the Rockets when it's time for all these young players to get their extensions.
Sign him, we need a vet to show the young guys how to be a defensive big. He's a proven winner, was a true DPOY candidate, can space the floor, was a one-time all-star in younger years and as they get older he can take a bench role to support them.
I agree. We need to let the young ones learn under a competent coach. They need to be on the floor. The vets we sign should be very much on the back side of their careers looking to make some more money before they retire. Any vet should come with the understanding they will play sparingly for the most part.
Locker room vets that don't play and have no stature with the team do nothing to build culture. Did DJ Augustin or Frank Kaminsky or Boban matter? If you're not playing and you have no stature, you may as well be furniture in the locker room. We have to bring in vets who (a) can play >20 minutes per night at a higher level than our existing young guys in order to put our team into more consistent competitive situations, (b) have stature and experience in the league, (c) match Ime's mentality of toughness and competitiveness defensively, and (d) bring complementary skillsets that make our young guys better and put them in an environment to succeed -- shooting, rim protection, wing defense, floor generalship, decision-making. Hence: Brook Lopez and Fred VanVleet Ime has shown in Boston he swaps out starting roles based on matchups. Particularly in the frontcourt they had a rotating group of Horford, Rob Williams, and Grant Williams. Jabari, Sengun, and Lopez for 3 frontcourt spots matches that with each player bringing something different. Both Lopez and FVV could be had on "overpay" short-term contracts, because the Bucks and the Raptors are in the luxury tax, with the Bucks being deep in the repeater tax already. Lopez for $55M/2 and FVV for $75M/2 would almost definitely secure both. Then if we move on from Tate, KJ, JC, and Garuba we'll have ~$10-14M to spend on a 3&D wing, and the $7.5M room exception to bring in another vet. Both Lopez and FVV would also be perfect tradeable salary on those expiring deals if the opportunity arises to make a big move next summer. This is the plan.
