Using picks to add young assets with upside is the same as drafting IMO. Putting all your eggs in draft makes no sense especially when most draft picks require several years to develop and/or show their potential. And secondly, this FO has not proven that they are capable of picking or even have the resources and/or structure in place to develop future stars. Wood is the player that Rockets are rebuilding around until another player is acquired with greater upside. Surrounding him with a plethora of rooks is not a recipe for success in near future.
Zellers expiring, and Malik Monk for Eric Gordon. I think Hornets need extra shooting. They might throw in a 2nd round pick.
I don’t think we should rebuild exclusively around drafted players. I think we should be focused on asset acquisition. This is a minimum 2-3 year rebuild. Likely longer. All I’m really suggesting is not making win now moves. Don’t trade for players on short term contracts that cost you assets. Otherwise, be aggressive as ever. With all of expirings and TPEs, I think there’s potential for some fireworks at the deadline.
Something like this might actually happen. I like u didn't throw in a pick since Gordon isn't playing like a negative asset anymore
Do not disagree. But I also include young talented acquisitions to be just as valuable as assets on par with draft picks, if not more valuable depending on the player due to being the more proven commodity.
Deal 1: Hou: Looney, Wiggins, Oubre, Nunn, Okc: Iggy, Wanamaker, 2 2nd GS: Gordon, Tucker, Exum, Nwaba, Brown Mia: Oladipo, Bazemore Deal 2: House & Mclemore for Thybulle Deadline Deal Deal 3: Wiggins, Thy, Looney for Lavine, Felicio, Valentine Wall/Nunn/Jones Lavine/Porter/Thomas Oubre/Tate/Valentine Wood/Krucus/Martin Jr Boogie/Felicio/Bruno
Sorry. Long(ish) post incoming (I'm also on my phone so forgive me for any grammatical errors). So first off, I think we need to establish who we are. I'm not gunna pretend to be GM Stone or Silas, nor am I gunna pretend to be more knowledgeable than anyone else one this board. But. We need to figure out who we are, where we're headed and what our goals are over the next few years. So. Based on Stones recent moves, I'm comfortable saying that we are currently looking at a rebuild WHILE trying to compete and make it to the playoffs. This is a HUGE task, however I think we're in a pretty decent position to do so. I'm not gunna break the team down here because if your reading this you already know the ins and outs of the Houston Rockets. We have a mix of useful vets, young guys looking to take that next step and unproven young guys who are hungry to make a name for themselves by making Houston winning basketball. That's who we are. We're currently looking to make the playoffs this year. With or without (most likely without) the current roster. We want to showcase that this is a winning organisation, that's dedicated to the game and that we may be a piece or two OR a trajectory or two away from really making noise, so our goal should be to build on that. Capitalise on our draft assest and either draft for skill, fit and need or turn those into established players who fill a skill, fit and need. So what do we need? If we're competing this year there are a few positions that need to be strengthened. And we need players that can fit to our biggest asset - Wood - and grow with him. Starting with our most glaring need, and that is a younger, bigger Power Forward (not a Center because Wether you agree or not CHRISTIAN WOOD IS THE CENTER FOR THE HOUSTON ROCKETS). There are a bunch out there so let me get the top ones, then il break down if they're obtainable or not. Jerami Grant. Aaron Gordon. Domantas Sabonis. Patrick Williams. Pascal Siakim. Larry Nance Jr. Jonathon Isaac. John Collins. Julius Randle. Michael Porter Jr. Miles Bridges. Out of all of them I would say, realistically (and based on various rumors and rumblings) the only guys we COULD have a chance at are: Larry Nance Jr. Miles Bridges and Aaron Gordon. With a slight outside chance at Collins and Porter Jr. Secondly I think we need to find a long term solution at the 3. I love playing Tate there and he is showing that he is a straight dog who loves playing. However, I'm not sure if he's the guy just yet that we want to be our first line of defense against the Kawhis of the league. So again based on the criteria above. Mikal Bridges. Jaylen Brown. Lu Dort. OG Anunoby. D'Andre Hunter. Brandon Ingram. Kelly Oubre. And honestly out of those guys the only guy I think MAY be attainable is Kelly Oubre. This is based purely on his production this year and GS massive tax bill. The last role I want to look at is the backup 4 and 5. Boogie had been great with Wall and.. not so great without him, so having a break in case of emergency scenario is ideal. Also getting a young backup PF to grow with the young bench players is my ideal target here. So who do we have to trade? I'm one of the few it seems that wants to keep Oladipo. Unless someone like Miami comes at us with a decent offer I think him and Wall will be an awesome backcourt and more than qualified to get us to the playoffs. I'm also holding out hope that we could sign him to a deal under the 20m mark, but considering how empty the FA class is this year, now that everyone's basically resigned or signed extensions, Dipo seems to be one of the more coveted FA. PJ Tucker looks to have value around the league, especially those already marked for the playofffs that just need one more piece. Eric Gordon seems to have found a second gear again, and those same playoff teams could use a guy who can guard 1s, 2s and SOME 3s while also being able to bomb from the outside. Dante Exum is an expiring young PG, although coming of an injury, his contract can be worth a bit at the deadline. Sterling Brown and David Nwaba have shown they can add value to a team and for the right price, I wouldn't be against letting one of them go. So I'm looking for a starting 4, a backup 4 and a quality 3 to start. After all that, here's my proposals. Trade #1 Eric Gordon, Ben McLemore, Frank Ntilakina and Kevin Knox to the Warriors. Andrew Wiggins and a protected Washington 2023 FRP via Houston to the Knicks. Kelly Oubre to Houston. While I would hate seeing EG in a Warriors uniform, he would be an ideal target for the Warriors. With Klay down Steph would be looking for another shooter to play off ball next to him. Getting TWO with BMac coming off the bench would be huge. Frank has the potential to fill that Shawn Livingstone role and Knox needs a change of scenery. They also save over 16m in cap. Knicks get a 1st rounder for swallowing cap space. But also have a backup player in Wiggins in case they miss out on any FA they want. Houston get a long term 3 who fits Wood's timeline. Trade 2: PJ Tucker to the Timberwolves. Ed Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt to Houston. Timberwolves haven't been quiet on their want for Tucker. And while his potential market price is 3 2nd rounders, I'd rather take my chance with a young guy in JV. It may be a but harder now that he has shown up in KATs absence but before then he was an end of bench guy so I think the Wolves still jump on this. Davis helps fill in for Boogie when he sits or is having an off game. Trade 3: Danuel House, Portland protected FRP via Houston, Detroit protected FRP via Houston to the Hornets. Miles Bridges to Houston. 2 FRP may be a bit steep, but considering the protections, understandable. You could also throw Nwaba in here to sweeten the deal considering the Hornets bench is not.. great. In that instance I would look for a 2nd round pick to come back to us. This is the trade I'm most sketchy on, but considering Charlotte have Bridge and PJ Washington basically doing the same thing, hopefully means they see one of them as excess. If you made it here. Thanks. I appreciate it. Honestly. And after all of that heres what the Rockets would look like: Wall/Jones/Exum Dipo/Brown/KPJ Oubre/Tate Bridges/Vanderbilt Wood/Boogie/Davis
It sure feels like stone values draft picks to group together and send in a trade for a franchise cornerstone type player...with no draft picks in return i cant see how these trades look good for houston
This is why trading for young players is just as important as drafting young players. FRP are not important in and of itself.
In and of themselves? No. However, I don't think you can overstate the value of having a player on a rookie contract under control for the foreseeable future. I think everyone would agree that it's be better to trade for a franchise player rather than draft a bust but if the talent is equal give me the rookie contract.
I like this trade. 2nd rounders can feel like real crapshoots, although 2nd rounders from Minnesota are more like last firsts, so I'd prefer an athletic prospect that fits the mold of what we need in Vanderbilt. Is he actually available? He's been playing nicely lately but I don't know his history.
There are very few rook guarantees. Lottery picks bust all the time. Young players on rook contracts (Kevin Porter Jr.) or on reasonable contracts (Wood) are more likely guarantees based on real NBA production or extrapolated from small sample sizes.
Not that it would, but it can’t happen till next year because he can’t be traded back with in the same year. I like your thought process. Can you imagine Wall and Westbrook on the same team. I get a headache with just the thought of it.
More Random: Magic Eric Bledsoe, House Balance out the roster. Jazz JJ Redick, Ben Mclemore Shooting for a play off push and BB in the dog house. Cleans up their cap. Pelicans John Wall Wall is better leader than Bledsoe the rest are expiring contract. They get the foundation they lack to develop the youth. Wall expires when it’s time to pay Zion. Rockets Aaron Gordon Lanzo Ball Bojan Bogdanovic Distribute FRP as needed We get really good really quickly. With a solid core and room to grow as a team. Oladipo, Bogdanovic, A. Gordon, Wood —> Deep bench maybe second round?
