I have a new job and a lot of work these days, so I'm fine with my basketball team sucking. Also fine with sports broadcasters pulling leagues like EPL and Champions League off cable and confining them to Peacock, Paramount, etc. They think they can entice me to pay extra for what used to be in my cable package. In reality, they're saving me hours of time every week. As others have said in this thread, the Rockets' suckage is only partly intentional. A lot of it is crappy judgment by the organization. If the organization gets lucky enough to overcome its bad judgment, and the team starts to win again ... I'm gonna have some serious challenges managing my time. Until then, to be honest, I'll keep supporting Clutchfans, but I won't spend much time trying to watch the team.
Until we have two All Stars. Then add a free agent. And Go Boom. Could be 5-7 years. Expect a process.
You're a good poster Snowcone, so I say this respectfully. You are going to have to learn patience. When teams have a bad owner or suck at this level, they don't turn it around in 1-2 seasons. The Rockets were competitive for the better part of 40 years. This is no longer the Rockets franchise as we know it. How many more seasons like this do I want? None. How many more are we going to get? Way more than we want until Tilman Fertitta is gone. He is Cal McNair 2.0. We are no longer on a franchise tier with Dallas, Utah, LA, Miami, San Antonio, etc. We are Orlando, Detroit, Charlotte, Sacramento until proven otherwise.
I am hoping this season is the one and only where not winning much is a consideration. I know I come across as a major tank guy, but that is just for this season. Doesn't mean I expect to start winning a lot next year though.
It isn't as if that foundational piece is going to just show up fully formed and signal the end of the process. Young players have to develop. Hopefully after the draft this year, and with a trade or two, there will be a big enough collection of potential foundational pieces that some of them will pan out and things will start improving. If we're lucky, the end of the darkest days starts next season. If we're not, it could take longer.
It isn’t a question of whether the Rockets will try to win next season, they will. The success of the Rockets in long part is going to depend on whether they end up with a franchise type player. They had the #2 pick last year and walked away with Green. He doesn’t seem like a franchise player at this point but with his natural skill set and work ethic I think he can be an all star or possibly more. The Rockets need to hit on their 2022 draft pick in the lottery. While there is no guaranteed franchise player like AD, Shaq or others, there are 5-6 players that have the talent to potentially be that type of player with some luck and under valuation of talent.