Evan Mobley's dad was an assistant coach on Porter's USC team (it was his first year coaching at USC). Curious if that played a role in the alleged workout shenanigans.
The Suns and Bucks both have all star level backcourts as well. The anti guard takes are ridiculous lol. Not to mention Steph and Klay lol
Fair. Though, I'd say the Lillard-McCollum Blazers didn't really scare anyone to win it all, even when they pushed 50 wins. You can argue they never really added anything resembling a 3rd talent to that (their #3 scorers through recent years has been Jusuf Nurkic), and they had a winning record with only one other starter -- Aminu -- and he put up just 10.2 ppg. They unfortunately had no basically overlap between the Lillard-Aldridge and the Lillard-McCollum eras -- CJM broke out from a minor reserve player to 20 ppg scorer the year Aldridge. The Blazers today with the Aldridge from 10 years ago (the Rocket destroyer version) would be an interesting experiment. As others mentioned, Perkins' calling KPJ-Green a "smaller" Tatum-Brown is damning praise. That duo played a lot more defense than KPJ and Green likely every well... and even with that has puttered out even when paired with other all stars.
That is a really good question. From what I understand, the Mobley's don't really mess around and it is possible that they want no part of Porter. While everyone says that Evan Mobley is really stoic and even some say indifferent, the stories around the family are different... Evan and his brother would get in fist fights with each other over HORSE and playing one on one.
I personally wouldn’t consider 2 6’5 guards small. it’s still very early in the rebuild as well. We can still put lengthy players at the 3, 4 and 5 over the next few years. We will be in the lottery again. It’s not like we still have PJ and Roco playing center.
Vegas must have some great info. Cade now -10000 to go to Pistons. Green now -325 to land with rockets.
Steve Francis/Cuttino Mobley is a really good comp for Green/KPJ. Not so much their playing style, but rather two young, athletic, “exciting” guards that generate fan interest, but ultimately don’t contribute much to winning and were stepping stones for the franchise.
You can say its not ideal, but we're talking about2 inches if the guy was 6'7 you'd feel better. Its a nice number but in game if they have the right approach 6'5 can defend 6'7...lke yo mentioned, PJ tucker is a great example. So its about the talent mostly and getting best player available we can workout the rest as you said, its lkely well be in the lottery again. We can keep all our assets, our lottery and try to make a run at the no 1/2 next year with bates or Holgrem...all the more important not to waste assets this year for something lik getting rid of wall or trading up unless were sure that hes an elite elite prospect
We have no clue if they are going to contribute to winning or not. On court iq was lacking with that backcourt duo with horrible shot selection and white frankly it wasn't that talented of a backcourt as Francis for his entire career was a borderline all-star and Mobley wasn't. We are hoping both KPJ and Green's peak is higher than either of those two.
At this point I'm happy with whoever we pick and will deeply hope that they get close to their ceiling as a Rocket.
I'm in favor of trading up for a guy like Jones or Sengun as long as the trade pieces are only 23-24 and players on the current roster. No trading of future picks. I'm guessing 23-24 plus Gordon are being used in trade proposals.
I could see the comparisons, but who knows with the right development and approach they can be winners too. Green has taken a very new path from most and I think his ceiling is higher than mobley, he could end up like him, who knows. KPJ, the juries out. Anyyone who saw him ply last year knows why he has the talent to be considered a lottery talent, but as @Nook pointed out, hes had trouble in hs, college, and nba. Could he be keeping his head on straight for two seasons knowing he can get a 10 figure pay day possibly? Its something to consider bc we've seen that in the nba, but watching him play he seems so natural and like a true hooper like the last lefty we had, its hard to imagine him not being productive.
Yeah, no one was "really" scared of that Blazers squad, true... but it still got to the WCF. And that was considering their "3rd player" is Nurkic, who is ALWAYS injured in the playoffs, as he was that year. @D-rock Their problem is mostly that they couldn't build a squad around those two that could stay healthy in the playoffs PLUS those two aren't just average defenders, but bad defenders. I really dgaf what Perkins says. As most analysts, he has some interesting takes and some ridiculous takes. This falls in the ridiculous category. In what way are KPG and Green like Tatum and Brown? They play 4 different positions amongst them. Brown is more of a defense first player. AS much of a gap as he has on Green defensively, Green CAN have that gap on him offensively (even though Brown has gotten MUCH MUCH better offensively... i think Green will equally get better defensively). Brown has solid solid athleticism but not Green's. Tatum uses his size combined with a deadly 3 point shot. KPJ uses handles, athleticism and a bevvy of moves with a solid shot and is / will be more pass focused than Tatum. Imo. Absolutely KPJ/Green will have a WAYS to go defensively... especially compared to the potential of Tatum/Brown (interestingly the Celtics were mid pack defensively this year... probably because they got rid of their true defensive bigs), BUT having KPJ/Green in your backcourt doesn't make you undersized. Frankly... it gives you a BIG backcourt. The Rockets small ball issue wasn't their backcourt, it was their frontcourt. If you are going to pair KPJ/Green with Tate and Wood forever, you're not winning a ring, clearly. But at this point, you take BPA... and construct your roster from there. Step one = get ONE Steph, Lebron, Harden, KD, Giannis level player. The fact is the Rockets need BOTH Green and Mobley
Yea I agree with you here. I would not trade any of our assets besides the 23-24 in a trade to move up. I'm fine with using both of those to get a high pick we eel fel through the cracks, but I would not trade for cap relief from the wall trade. I want all our assets on deck for next season. If we have our own lottery pick and the consolidation of all the other picks, that might be the time to go all in to try to get the 2 pick next year and have another great decision to make between holgreen and Bates If we're looking at KPJ, Green, Tate, KMJ, Holgrem, wood, or even Bates instead of holgrem then we have a great core for years to come. IT would be an impressive rebuild with that after losing a historic star and would make this last terrible bottomed out season and maybe one more worth while for 10 plus years of winning so long as we don't jumble it up and cheap out with that talent. Thats a 3 headed monster we can have. Love it.
Great find! And that alludes to what @ch44 said about Mobley dad not wanting anything to do with Houston because KPJ is here.
