You have me confused with someone else. I never mentioned LaMelo, Ant or Bane. Please tell me your great plan?....or do you only criticize? Please allow me to do the honking and you get under the hood and fix the car. I would love to shoot holes in your plan and show you how your guys do or don't fit our team schemes or salary cap. *When you look at Free Agent list this summer '25 *Stars seeing us as #1 seed Thunder last year that will probably bow out fast due to inexperience. Refusing to play here. And we don't want them due to ages. *Teams overpaying their young players. *Our players due for an extension. *How many young players do in the roster getting/not getting minutes..... you want to see more Rooks? *New CBA predicted wages to tenure in the league. Comparisons to contracts now and then. Show me your list of players: vets and rooks (what position) you plan on bringing in? Your wish list:
@Hemingway Because as I said, teams for see the money being spent and are overpaying to keep their own LaMelo is locked up until age 30 ( @ $46.4M) https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/70645/lamelo-ball Bane until he is 30 ( @ $45M for a role player) https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/70672/desmond-bane Ant-Man locked up until age 27 when he gets $55M......$55Mmmmmmmmmm he ANT leaving https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/70643/anthony-edwards Telling you wages are going through the roof. Those making $36M with skills will be a bargain. Anyone else numbnuts you want to discuss about the Rockets not getting in the near future Teams are smarter than you and have locked up most guys your little piss ant pants wants You are clueless to the makeup of the NBA coming. The new CBA was designed to discourage Super teams of 3 stars or more......that's why I'm saying strike while the irons are hot. Two stars (Sengun/Green) and Grant as semi-third star making less than the $40M excessive player wages coming.
The age of FA's is over. The plan is to bring in a younger star using the plethora of assets we have amassed. I think only Amen and Sengun are pretty much untouchable for any star not named Jokic. I don't believe we can sign all our young pieces, but I'm not going to throw them away for oft injured vets that are not a huge upgrade over what we already have or ones that are obviiously in the last few years of their usefulness. Guys that may become available in the next few years include Ant, Bane, Lamello and Booker. Giannis may also become available, but I don't think he is a great fit unless Sengun is jettisoned in the deal. FVV, Dillon, and Jalen (unless he turns it around) are all tradeable assets or salaries we can jettison if we decide signing our home grown products is a better idea. I'm not going to get real specific, because none of us (including you) know the asking price or the availability of said players. You also don't have access to the Rocket's practices, their statistical models, or the professional staff to access the data. You also don't know what players are thinking or wanting. Houston has been able to lure stars in the past. Winning changes everything when it comes to recruitment. I am not dismissive of your opionions. I just don't always agree with them and resent being called a dumbass everytime I do disagree. The main difference between me and a lot of posters is patience. I think we are building a perennial contender and I don't believe we should bend to the instant gratification crowd. I'm not totally against Grant, but i think 2 FRPs for him is too heavy a price and we might need those picks for a real difference maker.
Bane is more than just a role player. He was easily a better player than Jalen the last three years . This season he’s been dealing with some injury
Seth Curry wouldn’t be a trade target. Bit really getting minutes in Charlotte. Could probably get him for not much. Still an elite perimter shooter. Could do him for Tate
I don't also see these three ever wanting/demanding a trade to come to Houston for lesser money -- including Booker -- just them looking at how Jalen is being used -- standing on a corner most of the time waiting for the ball to come.. they'd prefer to be the no.1 option and the team owners having them rn would be fools to let them go -- they'd rather let the aging vets go free [like what happened to PG and Klay]
With the inconsistency of our backup point guard position, I can see us trading for Marcus Smart...he's a former Udoka player, plays defense, and hit open 3s. I don't see Cam Whitmore staying on our team past the trade deadline and we're not blowing up our core for a Superstar right now based on how great we're starting the season.
It won't happen but this Mathurin talk has me dreaming of adding Haliburton. FVV is enough to match salary. Give them whatever else it takes to create a starting line up of Hali, Brooks, Amen, Tari and Alpi.
Obviously theres 0 chance they would trade hali but something like fvv, amen, tari, reed, and the suns pick could entice them if they decide to rebuild
Yes, the stars in the league are divas that want the owner to flirt with that second luxury tax apron in hopes of, "Buying a Championship" When has Tilman ever spent a penny over the luxury tax? Now he is going to change with this particular CBA? Not likely. The penalties are much greater with the new CBA. Just my opinion as the Rockets are in such good position (2nd seed in West) to try to take advantage of it by going all in so that the championship window can include this year. To me the West is prime for the pickings with Thunder and Warriors being the two opponents to get through. Booker is a Suns lifer. Just like Beal, he'll won't leave until he is in his mid 30's.
I could see what you're going with J Grant -- he's 'gettable' [how about FVV and a pick ] just the right role player semi-star with the offensive impact plus three point shooting -- compliments our defensive identity this season could really be an opening for the Rockets, we're peaking gradually offensively while the defense is getting sturdier every game rep the teams with lingering old vets are just barely surviving -- while teams with Luca, Ja, Shai, Booker, Ant, etc.. are having some odd problems - whether injuries, chemistry, or haven't still figured out what really works for them yet..
brown 27 tatum 25 porzingus 28 jokic 27 murray 26 gordon 28 curry 33 thompson 31 green 31 giannas 26 middleton 29 Lopez 31 holiday 30 lebron 35 davis 26 kuzma 24 leanord 27 siakam 24 Lowry 32 How far back do you want me to go? The 5 championships before this were the warrirors, cavs, and spurs all vet teams with Curry winning his first at the age of 26 while the latter 2 teams in their 30's Love 27 and the YOUNGEST of all the players in this list Irving at 23. So..... the Rockets have no "stars" yet their window is "open" this year, and Grant will open it apparently. Some posters here are throwing so many opinions out there that they are getting turned around in circles. The Rockets are not winning in the playoffs this year. Likely not even in the first round but it is possible. 2nd round and 3rd round? Window open? Come on now. Sengun 22 Green 22 Thompson 22 Jabari 21 Eason 23 Sheppard 20 Whitmore 20 So even though the Rockets are doing well and outperforming expectations they need to get rid of some of their picks (trade assets) to open their window (it's not open) and clog up playing time even more, decreasing the team's ability to assess what they should do in the future (again with fewer assets) to do it with.
Jordan Clarkson 32 year old, 6-3, 194 lb G from Missouri 15.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.8 apg in 26.0 minutes in 2024-2025 Patty Mills 36 year old, 6-2, 180 lb G from Saint Mary's 3.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.4 apg in 15.3 minutes in 2024-2025 For Jae'sean Tate 29 year old, 6-4, 230 lb F from Ohio State 2.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.5 apg in 4.8 minutes in 2024-2025 Aaron Holiday 28 year old, 6-0, 185 lb PG from UCLA 3.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.3 apg in 8.7 minutes in 2024-2025 Cam Whitmore 20 year old, 6-7, 230 lb F from Villanova 5.9 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.5 apg in 9.9 minutes in 2024
the Rockets right now could be the Thunders [KD,Harden] before -- why not, could be possible -- strike while they all [young guns] aren't yet paid spend some of the money to get a Vet Role player / semi-star
It's not the ages of the players that breaks up teams or championship windows. It's about the cap..... especially when dealing with Tilman LTS (luxury tax spending) is undefeated. The new contracts or extensions adjusted to new CBA are/ will be larger and will close windows sooner.
Play-Types 24/25 PnR (Ball Handler) Grant..........75.3 NBA percentile Jalen G.......50.8 NBA percentile VanVleet.....50.3 NBA percentile Post Ups Grant............62.3 NBA percentile Sengun........47.1 NBA percentile Hand Offs Grant..............88.2 NBA percentile VanVleet.........89.2 NBA percentile Jalen G............62.5 NBA percentile Transitions Grant................54.2 NBA percentile Spot Ups Grant................58.0 NBA percentile Just increase frequency and give him a reason (playoffs) to succeed. Rockets have everything except 3-point shooting and Grant can help with that. Jalen Green and Sengun will benefit exponentially with spacing if Jabari is on one side and Grant the other side of the court.
I presented the same suggestion a day or two ago. Seth for three second round picks. If the Rockets can acquire him by giving up Tate, it's fine with me.