In the modern NBA you could literally clone a player like Ivy or Green too and they’d do just as well if not better playing with their variant self as long as they can attack, pass off the dribble, shoot, defend, get to the rim & finish. I admittedly didn’t watch much Purdue this year so I really to watch game action but I see a player who will likely play like KPJ did but with a bit more natural talent to pass and finish at the rim which is KPJ’s biggest area to improve. I don’t see a #1 pick here and see more upside with Jalen, Chet, Banchero but Ivy looks like at the very least to be a solid versatile guard whose starting on most teams.
Jabari is my first choice. I hope it happens. I also doubt they draft a guard. I still think it would fun to watch other teams figure out how to stop Ivey/Green though.
I don’t have an issue with either player. With Tate it’s just about making a decision on paying him. Which for me is an easy decision. I would try and trade him to a contending team where he could be their Pat Bev/PJ Tucker role player. If he had an improved 3 the guy could fetch a 1st rounder easy. For us I think our window to win is too far away to resign role players. On Sengun if he was up as a free agent this Summer Id have a hard time committing to him either though even as much as I love watching him play. He was a blast to watch this season but in the end if it was about building a contender and I had to make a decision on Sengun today… he’d be out too. He needs to improve especially on D if he wants to be a starter first and then earn a long term role as a true building block. He’s got time though to improve that Tate doesn’t have with his contract.
They can't. Provide 3-pt shooting (mostly by way of each other) and nobody can stop: Jalen Green from scoring at all 3 levels plus transition Porter from scoring at all 3 levels plus transition Josh Christopher from powering his way to the rim Ivey from doing Ja Morant stuff. Guards set for 10 years. Just add water (rim protectors)
Two starting dynamic guards combo doesn’t work historically and hasn’t been the blueprint for winning. (Fox/Heild, Francis/Mobley, Billups/Iverson, Baron Davis/Monta Ellis) Rockets would be better with a shooter/defender type like Smith.
I dunno why fans keep saying winning is so far away. Look at teams like the Suns Hawks and Grizzlies who built contenders in 3 years or so with a mixture of draft, young free agents and older vets. It’s possible we could contend for a playoff spot. And for 23-24 we could be vying for top 5 seed. Anything is possible with smart roster decisions. I do agree with you on Sengun and my only concern is the Rockets have to move all these pieces (KPJ, Wood, KJM, poss Sengun).
How are you so sure those other top 2 FA are staying? Jokic verbally stated he will sign so likely for him. Media suggests otherwise on Lebron. And there’s no information on Brooks. If anything Brooks may want to test the market and dependent on his play next year.
About your point on 2 dynamic guards, how would you categorize Curry/Klay? Are you including them in a separate guard & wing(SF) pairing like Wade/Lebron and not as a two guard combo? I tend to agree that the Raptors Lowry/Kahwi/Siakam probably doesn't fit depending on whether you think Siakim or Lowry was the real no 2. I would say there were a few successful pairings of 2 guards/smaller wings prior to the current emergence of the 3 pts roughly in the mid 2000's: Kidd/Carter, Drexler/Porter, Isiah/Dumars, and of course Jordan/Pippen. The bigger issue is that at least one of your players has to emerge into the conversation for top ~30 NBA players of all time. If Jalen or [Fill in the Blank] do not seem likely to reach that status, this whole conversation is moot.
Well there’s two people who are going to determine when we can compete and that’s Jalen Green and/or our 2022 draft pick. The three teams you mentioned are great examples of that case. Those teams were ready to compete now as soon as Booker, Morant, Trae exploded and it was clear they were able to produce at a superstar level and didn’t have holes that needed to be developed in order to win. Look at how quick Morant “showed up.”…and then look at Booker who took a few years. With the Rockets could Jalen be able to carry a team as soon as next year the way Ja did?? If he’s already at that level then yeah… it changes the calculus on resigning someone like Tate or maybe even looking at role players who are even better or more high priced than Tate. Another example is the Celtics when they felt there was enough shown with Tatum and Brown to then go big on Horford and Hayward. How you use your money though depends on what is available as well. So I guess I’m saying “we’ll see” but if Jalen or our pick this year show they are ready to compete now and are as good as Ja was in year 2… it changes things overnight and the rockets are win now. If they have holes like Booker had his first couple years then they probably look more like Phoenix who needed a couple years to then in year 3 or 4 for Jalen/2022 pick to compete with potentially some new faces like then Suns did and were still able to bring in quality players then vs Bookers rookie and sophomore years.
To be honest. I'm highly skeptical of Booker and Tatum. Yes both of them are now pushing to be on in the top 10 discussion of active NBA players. But historically to win a title, their ceiling has to be much higher than that. Of the players drafted younger than 20 years old that could carry a team, they generally have a few All NBA/Defensive 1st or 2nd teams. Many already have MVPs, DPOY, Scoring titles, etc. by the time they are 24, like 5-6 seasons into their career. This is even true of guys that eventually broke down or just couldn't get over the hump like McGrady or Howard. Booker and Tatum are still trying to prove that they can do that, with both maybe getting All NBA 2nd teams this year -- Booker may only get 3rd team. It's possibly they could luck into a weird year and have the perfect team set up to lead a Title team. But both guys are already against the odds right now. Morant and Luka have already lapped both of them. Even Anthony Edwards is already showing flashes that he could reach their (Booker/Tatum) level within the next season. To me Green next year has to be gunning for the scoring title and All defensive 2nd team. Sure he may not get those, but if it looks like already aiming for those kinds of accolades now, it is good sign he will start ascending at the rate an Alpha player needs to do so.
I didn’t really watch Isiah or Terry Porter but from what I know about Kidd and Carter was the chemistry and pairing worked because Kidd is still true pg who understood his role. He wasn’t necessarily a scoring/score first pg. The synergy has to be right. By dynamic guard I mean a guard with scoring mentality (Kobe, morant, jalen, Booker). If you have a dynamic guard/combo guard you need to balance it out with another guard who doesn’t need the ball to iso or make plays but a guard who can spot up shoot and dribble drive when need be. That’s why Klay works with Curry and Bane With Ja or CP3 with Booker. Both guys can’t be ball dominant or need to score. That’s why CP3 worked with Harden. Harden and Westbrook never panned out but it worked at times with Harden deferring a lot to Westbrook and Westbrook played in the post a lot.
Because the really good players rarely leave their team which can offer more money than other teams. If I'm the Grizz I'm paying Brooks....he gives you O & superior D.....Cap may be going up to $171M, so the Grizz will have money. But if the Rockets can pouch him then I win as well because I can play him at SF. Being that I'm set with Ivey-Green-Porter-Christopher. Jokic is MVP.....so same with Denver. Notice Curry, Klay, Green are still with original team. The A-brothers pay well over the cap for them now.....will pay well over the cap when the cap goes to $171M. Almost every star will get their pay raise and stay with current team and teams will have to settle for overpaying role players like the last time. Guys like Bazemore and Tyler Johnson made out like bandits. LeBron went to Lakers because of Dallas Carter, movie side gigs, commercials, Hollywood, made big luxurious house......he is just bluff and bluster that he may leave. Got his feelings hurt that the Lakers didn't go out and trade Westbrook to Rockets for Wall or anything. GM was mad LeBron forced him to take Westbrook deal over Buddy Heild deal. They had their little power trip struggle. It's over. The Lakers will trade oft injured AD before losing LeBron.
Who is missing? Name names and I will tell you if they are in the cards Fit or no fit This is the list I used. Maybe you see a player you like that I missed on this list or outside this list. I'm fair and I will give my honest opinion. https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2023-24-nba-free-agents Drafting Ivey now doesn't interfere with options available at positions 3 thru 5. It only blocks a player wanted at PG/SG as the Rockets would be set there between Ivey-Green-Porter-Christopher....throw in Mathews as well. It's chess vs checkers As they average per game about ? (by 23/24 season): Green 30 points Porter 26 points Ivey 20 points Josh Christopher 18 points = 94 points combined get rim protectors elsewhere
I tend to agree. Booker and Tatum also benefit from being part of a collective unit. Like on Saturday with Tatum only had 10 points, and played like crap but his team still almost won the game. Booker also has moments like that with the Suns were CP3 goes nuts, and he's kind of a decoy. That doesn't bode well for either of those players just going to another team randomly and you being able to build a contender around them as the focal point. In order for this team to be a contender for awhile, I do think that we need someone on the level of a Giannis, or at least a Luka where regardless of the "collective" you still have a shot every year because of that player. That's really why I think "the collective" building approach needs to wait until we have someone at that level. Meanwhile if you stumble upon a "collective" like Phoenix did when the chemistry was just really good with Ayton, Booker, Bridges, etc. you can also pick up someone like an Al Horford, or CP3 if you have a young team that might not have a Lebron or Giannis but is just playing too well together to deny. So we'll just have to wait and see the first half of next season, but we still don't even know if we have a "collective"... I mean hell... we were the worst team in the league last year, so we are a far cry from even taking the Phoenix approach. Tate was a starter on that team too... so yeah... I wouldn't think twice about trading him, but I also wouldn't care if they waited till the deadline to make a decision about him just to see what they have with these two young players.
