One would think we're not done. We need a few 3/4's in that 6'7 - 6'9 range. Another PG. Plus another 5.
In terms of personnel I think we moved laterally. I really like Wood, and I think Cousins is a great flyer to take a chance on. But I am extremely high on what Covington brings to the table as a role player and we are running an extremely thin roster ATM, even thinner than usual in terms of proven NBA players. Not to mention Westbrook and Tucker are a year older. The only mild optimism I can possibly have is Silas. Maybe he finds a way to get winning minutes out of Westbrook (our only chance to be relevant), and Gordon can't possibly be worse than last season.
I think giving James a guy in Wood who can play above the rim and in the 2 man game will be great for everybody. When Capela was traded it affected James game and took away a weapon in the lob that he never got back. Young legs - always running and playing above the rim will unlock James game again. Woods 3 ball is almost too good to be true and adds a pick and pop option. Come playoff time hopefully Boogie is near 100% and will give you another guy who can get his own shot. As always it begins and ends with James Harden.
I feel like people always get irrationally hyped when you sign players they've only seen in highlight videos. When you move Roco and get Wood and Cousins you're banking on Cousins being a serviceable player. Even in his prime we watched him be an inefficient shooter, a slow defender and a knucklehead. What the response in these threads is telling me is that in a few weeks we're going to have a bunch of "fire stone", "Harden is gone threads" when we inevitably come out of the gate at .500. Staying even keel is just too hard.
Agreed. People are so fixated on filling the C spot that they forgot we've been searching for a wing defender for 3 years, and will be again unless one of these diamond in the rough signings pans out.
I don't think losing Morey is a loss, but Stone appears to be about the same as far in assessing talent. I do give credit to Stone for pulling off the Wood trade, but he's been unable to add better veterans. Let's see how the youngsters perform.. Nothing wrong with the Cousins pick.
No more firework? Say AG, Larry Nance Jr. Glenn Robinson III? Whenever we sent away EGo, i would choose 'yes, this team is better than last yr squat'.
As of right now, they're about the same from a sheer talent perspective, so I voted for the third option. I do think that by adding legitimate bigs on the roster and finally having a true stretch 5 (two of them, really) who can rebound and block shots, you could argue that they're better on paper. But with the chaos and drama of the last couple of months with changes at GM and head coach and superstars asking for trades, it's so hard to know how this season is going to play out. This team has more size and more upside, but I could easily see this going downhill fast.
Taking all things into consideration, we got worse. Sure, we got more versatile because we added two bigs - one that's young and (hopefully still) hungry, and one that is eager to prove he's still got "it." On the other hand, both of our best players have either said / heavily implied that they don't want to play on this team anymore or would like to be traded away. A roster is only as good as its cohesiveness, and right now, this team is anything but.
Who are our wing defenders, though? Eric Gordon? Danuel House? A major part of our 2018 success was the 3 headed monster of Tucker/Ariza/Moute. I'd rather have a warm body catching lobs at C and have great wing defenders than a decent C and warm body wing defenders. It's just a requirement to be competitive in the NBA and it's why scrubs like Mathews, Batum and Bazemore get paid $$.
i see wood as an upgrade over covington in many ways. PnR w/ james and he's a far superior finisher in the paint and at the rim over opposing team centers. much better ballhandler and transition player. someone we can run the offense through at times as well. his defense remains to be seen. covington was exceptional off the ball, but disappointing on the perimeter. as long as wood does not get lost on switches we should be fine. cousins we should probably wait till second half of the season to gauge his contributions. hopefully stone adds another big to help out in the interim
0 depth. You also loss your best wing defender thats been missing for years. Once again it'll be missed. Outside of Woods, the rockets added a number of fringe nba min. players. Taking into consideration, harden still wants out this team clearly isn't better.
I love the roster with Woods and young fresh, hungry and athletic and long D players. I love that it looks like the media is going to eat **** and both our guys are staying put when they tried so hard to put disrespek on their names to lower their trade value so their big markets could get them without losing anything. **** the media. That said, still not too hype or expecting much from Bogie Cisns sry not engrish frum nurway. I'm sure the Lakers were hype about Boogie as well. Everyone was pissed when the Warriors picked him up for nothing(although he was playing well on his way back). Has it been long enough for Boogie to be 50-60% of what he used to be and consistently stay on the floor or will he be on major minutes restriction? I see he won't even be ready by the start of the season. I just don't see how were expecting much out of him. I see it more like getting 15mpg for a month of 2 of bball and fight for a longer term contract next season with whomever is willing to sign him.
I voted for the 3rd opinion as well. The only veteran that was worth retaining is Uncle Jeff. I didn’t want Austin to leave either. It’s too bad that we didn’t have the leverage to pry a good player in return from the Knicks.
I don't think the Rockets' perimeter defense is all that suspect. Tucker is still a force to be reckoned with on that end of the floor guarding pretty much all five positions, and Gordon and House are both still at least average to above average on that end (you could make a case for Gordon as being excellent). The addition of Sterling Brown could help if the guy can hit a consistent 3-pointer, and Harden even made big strides defensively last season. If you look at last season, perimeter defense wasn't the reason they got killed in the playoffs by LA. It was poor rebounding, no rim protection and inconsistent offensive production from everyone other than James. They've been aggressive at solving those problems, and I'm OK if they needed to sacrifice some of their perimeter D to do it.
