I think it all starts and stops with Durant and Giannis. The Rockets have no desire to trade FVV and Jalen. Ime loves them both. If they can’t get Durant or Giannis for a reasonable deal, they will extend FVV make some marginal bs trades to say they did something and run it back. They probably will trade #10 for future draft picks as well. The result will be a lower seed and another first round exit.
36. Alperen Sengun: PLAYOFF REVIEW: Sengun’s postseason is representative of the crossroads the Rockets find themselves at this offseason. At times, the 22-year-old looked the part of an All-Star, teaming with Steven Adams to punish the undersized Warriors in the paint. But he ultimately didn’t have the scoring juice to pull off the series comeback, missing some point-blank buckets and finishing with a paltry 49.1 true shooting percentage across the seven games. Having reliable shooters around him would’ve helped, but until Sengun’s own shooting touch takes a leap, he is probably best suited to be the guy next to The Guy—or perhaps even expendable in order to get a surefire no. 1 option in the door. The fourth-year big man has made immense progress over his career, particularly on defense, but like most of the intriguing, young players across Houston’s roster, he needs to play off of a true franchise pillar to click into his ideal form. —Justin Verrier 41. Amen Thompson: PLAYOFF REVIEW: Thompson found ways to make a playoff impact, but the catch with his unusual game is just that: He has to find a way. Without the ability to generate offense for himself in half-court situations or the kind of jumper that would make him a threat off the ball, Thompson is constantly searching for his opportunities. He’s active and savvy in doing so, but there’s no way around the fact that so much of Thompson’s game feels like work—sprinting in at just the right moment to make the kinds of plays that few players can. His trajectory in the league will depend on how much of the game he can make easier on himself. The All-Universe defense is already there. The athleticism and timing are unimpeachable. Now, the mind-bending prospect just needs to nail down some of the basics. —Rob Mahoney 64. Fred VanVleet 88. Tari Eason 93. Dillon Brooks 98. Jalen Green Spoiler 1. Nikola Jokic 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo 4. Luka Doncic 5. Stephen Curry 6. Anthony Edwards 7. Tyrese Haliburton 8. Donovan Mitchell 9. Jalen Brunson 10. Jayson Tatum 11. Victor Wembanyama 12. LeBron James 13. Anthony Davis 14. Kevin Durant 15. Kawhi Leonard 16. Cade Cunningham 17. Evan Mobley 18. Karl Anthony Towns 19. Devin Booker 20. Jalen Williams 21. Jaylen Brown 22. Paolo Banchero 23. Pascal Siakam 24. Jimmy Butler 25. Jaren Jackson Jr. 26. De’Aaron Fox 27. Chet Holmgren 28. Darius Garland 29. Jamal Murray 30. James Harden 31. Domantas Sabonis 32. Bam Adebayo 33. Trae Young 34. Ja Morant 35. Ivica Zubac 36. Alperen Sengun 37. Franz Wagner 38. Derrick White 39. Tyrese Maxey 40. OG Anunoby 41. Amen Thompson 42. Aaron Gordon 43. Damian Lillard 44. Kyrie Irving 45. Zion Williamson 46. Scottie Barnes 47. Desmond Bane 48. Jalen Johnson 49. LaMelo Ball 50. Draymond Green 51. Tyler Herro 52. Julius Randle 53. Lauri Markkanen 54. Austin Reaves 55. Rudy Gobert 56. Trey Murphy 57. Jarrett Allen 58. Norman Powell 59. Dyson Daniels 60. Mikal Bridges 61. Deni Avdija 62. Jalen Suggs 63. Alex Caruso 64. Fred VanVleet 65. Isaiah Hartenstein 66. Jaden McDaniels 67. DeMar DeRozan 68. Zach LaVine 69. Jrue Holiday 70. Kristaps Porzingis 71. Coby White 72. Brandon Ingram 73. Michael Porter Jr. 74. Andrew Nembhard 75. Cam Johnson 76. Myles Turner 77. Naz Reid 78. Lu Dort 79. Josh Hart 80. RJ Barrett 81. Josh Giddey 82. DeAndre Hunter 83. Christian Braun 84. Joel Embiid 85. CJ McCollum 86. Devin Vassell 87. Anfernee Simons 88. Tari Eason 89. Payton Pritchard 90. Paul George 91. Aaron Nesmith 92. Nikola Vucevic 93. Dillon Brooks 94. Mitchell Robinson 95. Toumani Camara 96. Herb Jones 97. Jalen Duren 98. Jalen Green 99. Jordan Poole 100. Bradley Beal
Fred is vastly overrated. Should be closer. Even Jalen Green is not far off, not counting Playoffs. I see now, the Playoffs only account for half of the teams so Fred is 64 out of 200 instead of 450. Makes sense.
The Parity ends when you need a Closer I guess that is what the Haliburton pic implied. Financial parity and NBA Wealth management that is the truth.
The more parity there is, the less big gambles you should make. Especially with the more successful teams having more depth - making all-in moves and sacrificing depth and future flexibility just drastically shortens your window and you have to pray that your key players stay healthy throughout the season. Rather, with more parity, you should want as many cracks as you can get - not limiting yourself to 2-3 year windows at max and going all in during that window. If greater parity is the argument, then that means even with the Rockets current core and trajectory, that should be enough to compete and have a chance at a championship. Hell, if the Rockets just made a few more free throws against the Warriors, then maybe we'd have seen the Rockets in the WCF. And who knows after that. edit: glanced over and realized Lachard Binkley wasn't mentioning any big moves but rather the direction that the Rockets will take this offseason. Which could be anything. Point remains - the smart thing would be to not make any big, all-in moves that drastically shortens the window and sacrifices future flexibility.
Talk about saying absolutely nothing. Why even post anything, if you don’t say what your expected outcome is.
It works both ways. If you sit on your hands the other teams in which you are in parity with might make moves that bypass you. I would also argue that the West’s parity this year was more a result of aging rosters (injuries, and resting players during the regular season) than actual roster parity. OKC was the first seed in the West the year before and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. That wasn’t good enough for them, so they made bold moves to improve their roster and now are in the finals and are most likely going to win a championship. There is risk in making moves and there is also risks in standing pat. I don’t know how anybody can watch the finals this year and think we can compete offensively with just the organic growth of our young players. Even GSW coming off a championship made a bold move to get Durant and further their dynasty. They acquired Jimmy Butler and had the best record the rest of the regular season and then beat our 2nd seed ass. If Giannis or Durant cost too much in flexibility to build a championship roster then you don’t make the deal, but to just run it back with the same flawed roster is incomprehensible to me.
I'm quite surprised to see the Rockets, Heat and Cavs in that list. All the other make sense. Seems like the Yankees and Cowboys should be the top 2.
I interpreted it very differently, that you should take more swings when there is more parity. Most teams were extremely conservative when the KD era Warriors were just steam rolling the league. They didn't want to mortgage the future when the there was a very strong likelihood of falling short anyway. If you're close to contending why would you want to stand pat? If there's a chance you could win a title you should maximize the opportunity. Indiana trading three 1st round picks for Siakam was a fairly big swing and it's paid off well for them so far. If they thought they had no chance to compete they likely would have never done it. Conversely, OKC hasn't traded any of their picks away and instead traded for an elite role player in Caruso. They went the more conservative route. He's a good player but not as big of a swing as Siakam. OKC is a great team and can definitely still win this series, but if Indiana wins their big move on Siakam ends up being one of the best moves in their franchise's history.
Johnathan Givony had a “hot take” on Nate Duncan’s podcast today. I thought it was interesting. He thinks we should let Fred walk or trade him and hand the keys to Reed Shepard. He thinks giving Fred $30 mil coming off this past season is unwise; doesn’t think he has that kind of market. i agree that we should not extend Fred. I don’t think Reed’s ready but that should be the goal by the end of the season. Oddly I’d rather pick up Fred’s option than extend him at the levels we are hearing about. He’s a declining player. Worse, he’s a declining short player.
