Playing GM: From where we are today, if you HAD TO build around Sengun - how would you do it?

Do you think he will improve on putting the ball on the floor or is this something that you would live without? It is similar to Sengun's defensive downside in terms of magnitude to be covered in my opinion.

 

Silas & KPJ being racist, Stone not liking Sengun, Ime not using him correctly, Poor Sengun tired causing poor play.bla, bla, bla...Do you really want to go there?

 

Assuming we are building around Sengun and not simply getting someone better (ex: unrealistic trade for Luka/Anthony Edwards, etc) I think it would look something like this:
JJJ/Sengun/Jabari/Amen/Trey Murphy

A good balance of long players who can play off ball, switch, play defense, shoot the ball and still have upside potential on salaries that will work. Jabari will be a bigger version of Mikal in a few years. Trey Murphy can be changed for various players.

I would love to keep Tari/Cam in this scenario. I also think Brooks and FVV have been amazing acquisitions for our team this year but we are talking about building around a 21 year old so by the time Sengun would be entering his prime FVV or Brooks starting might not work here

That being said, I don't see us winning a championship building around Sengun, but I can see us winning a championship with Sengun as a second or third best player. That being said, Sengun has outperformed my expectations of him this year and he's been our best player.

 

PLAYING GM:

I'll start by saying that getting Aquaman before the trade deadline was definitely a move in the right direction! ,,, Well played Stone!!

NOW MOVES!!
1.) I would immediately start Whitmore and have Jalen come off the bench! .... The Jalen experiment is officially over FOR ME!
2.) HOPEFULY get Tari back ASAP after the Allstar game! I think everyone agrees that he makes us elite on defense when he plays!

OFF-SEASON MOVES...
1.) Try to parlay our #2 pick (JG), either by himself or with additional future picks for any "relatively" young star that might become available! I'm not concerned at what position that might be! We have to get the most value from that pick and worry about fit later down the road!!
2.) I, like @AroundTheWorld, am enamored with Tyus! I would go hardcore after him this offseason! I think he would do for us on offense what Tari does for us on defense! Take us to the next level.
3.) ADD SHOOTERS!! This is the most obvious hole on our team!! If we could somehow add players that could bring us up to being an average shooting team that alone would place us in the top 10 in the league!!


My take is not specifically for saying/making Sengun the franchise player, but rather a general take to improve the Rockets as a whole!
YES, the only young core player I would move would be Jalen/Picks.... there I SAID IT!!


Go Rockets!!!
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Number 1 priority: Find stars whether internally or externally
Number 2 priority: Find a PG that works with Sengun internally or externally long term (if Number 1 priority isn't a PG).
Number 3 priority: Find/Figure out who will be the 3 and D guys around Sengun and other stars. I think Smith in a year or 2 may be one of the better at this among PFs, but gotta take lumps now to see if that happens. I think Cam and Tari will be an intersting battle for SF. Cam needs to improve defense. Tari needs to speed up shot and finish at the rim. Amen, if not a star or a PG that fits with Sengun, can he learn to shoot well enough? Brooks probably is fine for a bench role. I think the Rockets are doing good in this department regarding having a lot potential guys though need some shooting improvements.

 

i was replying to someone who said he had improved dramatically, if you wanna say he's stayed the same that's fine, but no way you can say he's improved

 

Since you’re too busy to do anything but exaggerate:
Jalen Green 16
Alperen Sengun 37

Not surprising because centers always have higher fg%.

By position:
Jalen Green above league average: 18
Sengun above league average: 21

Interesting indeed how perception works. The difference of unsalvageable bench trade and 9 time all star 21 year old is 3 games shooting better?

 

You forgot to mention how Jalen has better 3p% than Sengun. Clearly, Jalen is far better player than him.

 

I say that we keep stacking assets and see how the Bucks situation turns out...they could blow up that team next season if they continue to regress. Another player to monitor is Jaylen Brown for if the Celtics don't make it to the NBA Finals this year, they will probably consider moving him given their luxury tax situation.
Honestly, I don't think we can win a Championship with Sengun as our #1. Right now, he's our best tradable asset to bring in a player like Giannis.

 

lol, the good thing about you is you only come around when Sengun has a bad game or Jalen has a good game. Since both are super rare we do not have to put up with you much. I had you on ignore for a while but realized how much laughter I was missing out on by not seeing your post. You are going to be miserable when Jalen goes to the bench and they continue to build around Sengun. I wonder if you will turn on Stone at that time? Your staunch defense of Stone are the only other post I see from you which I happen to agree with. Stone has done a decent job other than swinging and missing on the highest draft pick we have had in decades in 2021.

 

None of which you're laughing at is funnier than idiot fans accusing a coach of being racist for benching his center for not playing defense. That is the epitome of degenerative behavior lolololol

 

Your argument is really stupid seeing now that we can build a top tier defense around Sengun and that he has some of the best individual advanced defensive stats on the team, I would say anyone calling out Silas for benching him was correct especially when you consider you boy Jalen was one of the worst defenders in the league his first two seasons and only slightly better this year. As far as the racist stuff goes there was a couple of people saying that and they are no longer here. The rest of us just called out Silas for being incompetent and for having a bias against Alpi without bringing race into it.

 

Yes, I expect him to improve at putting the ball on the floor. I don't expect him to ever be great at it, but I do expect him to be able to use it to get himself in position to score on pull ups, and at times in the post and to get others involved. He isn't ever going to be a primary ball handler, but I don't think he is going to be restricted to being only a shooter.

Sengun's defensive issue will not be an issue with the right players around him. Smith at the 3 and if they get the right type of 5, will cover the flaws Sengun has - if the effort is there defensively (Sengun usually plays hard defensively), Sengun can be a good defensive 4.

 

What argument am I making? Sengun's defense is abysmal. You can cherrypick metrics to form your narrative, but when you watch games consistently you can visually see him late on close outs & getting beat off the dribbles

 

Advocating for Alperen to play 4 is nothing but positioning for further discussions. You can dismiss it as soon as you see it.

 

That’s not what I’m saying, nor what I believe.

 

I think Jabari to 3 is the way to go, because they don't complement well with sengun anyway. We need someone more athletic and agile, and I am thinking of a 4 here rather than 5. I am not worried about Sengun's defense in general either but we definitely need someone to provide rebounding and deterring guards from coming to the paint.

 

Even with Sengun being the passer he is AND further development of his playmaking, I still worry about Jabari at the 3 because then the “4” has to be our third guy that can create for others pretty well.

I could be wrong though.