It's pretty easy to say Fox is a better PG than Amen right now. Amen is a future superstar who has only had a 30 or so starts and one at PG. If we want a championship team, we have to look at the future make-up of the team, not just the here and now. Before wasting assets on a 37m player that is a career 33% 3pt shooter on a team that lacks shooters, why not just make the obvious move to give the reins to our future superstar and maintain our 36% career 3 pt shooter as his running mate? Not to mention, that Amen woulld be in the conversation for DPOY if he was starting.
I don't think people realize how well he's played so far ..... but the main reason people want to move him (I've been guilty myself) is the perception that he takes minutes away from Tari & Amen or that one of them should be starting over Brooks. I'm not even sure that Cam's minutes are affected by Brooks - he should be getting his minutes behind Green ... The more I think about it, the less I like the idea of moving Brooks. Those 3 make up the identity of this team & I like the versatility they bring as a whole. There's times where you can play them together. Amen can get minutes anywhere, Tari is the primary backup at both 3 & 4 - Brooks isn't hurting them for minutes.
The Rockets have Brooks for this year and 2 following. FVV will probably be a Rocket for 2 years after this with him getting option decline and then signing with early Bird rights. Sengun, Amen, and Tari are really great right now and are on small contracts that allows the Rockets to add talent to them easily. Getting Fox would allow the Rockets to have Fox now with teams with Brooks and FVV for probably 2-3 more years, and then with teams when Sengun and Amen are in their prime. There is no guarantee that the young guys improve well enough that they are better than themselves now plus FVV, Fox, and Brooks once they are all making bank such that it will be difficult to add a guy of even Fox's talent. Also, the value to acquire Fox does not disappear. Fox can still be traded such that not much value is lost in regards to improving later (Fox is only 26 years old). The big difference is that the Rockets get that value now as well as later instead of just later. If the Rockets want a championship, the best approach is to try to win in a lot of years instead of putting all the eggs on a few years. Usually going for internal growth is the way to go for increasing years. The Rockets are going to get that with or without trading. Trading just gets the value on the team sooner, but does not necessarily remove it from the future. While I think odds aren't good this year, add someone like Fox and keep the best 5 players on the team together, and they will be strong contenders within the next 3 seasons without substantially hurting future teams. if Amen becomes a superstar, having Fox helps the odds even more.
I will say that I think Tari probably could handle 6 more mpg. I just think there are better ways to get those 6 minutes than from Brooks and even if you took those minutes from Brooks, getting rid of him would create a vacuum of about 24 mpg. I think Cam had a rough start of the year. I don't think he had demostrated enough to take away Brooks's minutes prior to the season. I really am not too concerned with Cam over the bad 79 minutes he's played as a Rocket this season. It would not surprise me if he's fighting for PT later in the season despite everyone throwing him under the bus right now. You have to win PT on good teams. That doesn't mean a young guy sucks just because there are better more experienced players on the team.
Jabari is up for extension next year or RFA the year after. Tari is in the same position. Trading for Fox for an FVV, Fox backcourt would improve your backcourt marginally and stunt our next superstar Amen's growth as he is best positioned at PG. If Fox was a good 3 point shooter it would make sense, but he is not. We would have the same issues with spacing as we have now and Fox's contract in addition to FVVs would be an impediment to signing Jabari and Tari, weakening two positions while only marginally improving at SG. You are also ignoring the defensive side of the ball. All 3 of Amen, FVV, and Jalen are better defensive players than Fox.
Amen is not a PG. SF is best position for him. He can become a starter if he keeps on getting better as a mid range and 3 point shooter.
Man losing the suns picks to give fox a 30% of the cap deal just seems so brutal. I don’t think he’s good enough to warrant that.
Wouldn't take all of them, but at least 2. Still too much! in the off-season, Kings might go for 1 pick and Jalen. I still don't want.
Brooks+ Jeff Green+Tate+Landale+Adams+Reed+Cam for Durant and Grayson Allen Sengun/Adams Smith/Eason Durant/Green Amen/Allen FVV/Holiday Does this open a 3 year window?
I know these trade scenarios seldom, if ever, come to fruition, but just to say, Jalen Green's Poison Pill Provision would make trading him much more complicated than what you proposed. If there were a third team with big cap space that could take on expiring salary-players we don't want or need, for example. (Suns won't trade KG. He's on the IL now but when healthy he's still tearing it up. Top 10 player in the league.)
You’re not getting him for 1 pick, that’s just not realistic. Do you even want fox on a 30% max? I don’t.
FVV for Fox feels like a sideways move. at best a minor upgrade but not one that really moves the needle. I'd rather not expend the assets in such a sideways / minor move. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for upgrading the PG spot, just don't feel like Fox is going to be able to pressure the rim with this cast of shiit shooters. The current starting 5 shoots .327 from 3. substitute Fox for FVV and its .329. Is there any wonder why the spacing is terrible or the lane clogged? Instead of replacing FVV who has been a much better shooter over his career than this current season - replace one of those bad shooters around him ....
This would not be much of an upgrade to spacing, but the rim pressure goes way way up and basically swaps out a hugely inefficient scorer for a highly efficient one. So no spacing upgrade, but Fox would add about 1.5 points just on being able to finish better in traffic than Green. I think FVV as a SG or PG is a lateral move. Also, adding Fox would be having Fox or FVV running PG for 48 minutes. I'd also want Ellis with Fox so the Rockets have a 3rd guard to play when FVV and Fox aren't both on the court. Ellis adds shooting and defense. I like Reed's potential, but Ellis would be a great fit now. As far as expending assets, Fox would be a Rocket such that he could be dealt to recoup most of the assets sent to get him if someone that fits better becomes available. The only player better than Fox that is young that might come available soon would be Booker. If the concern is Booker, the Rockets would keep the Phoneix picks and trade other picks so Phoenix is basically forced to deal with Houston if they want to trade Booker and want the 2027 and 2029 Phoenix picks back. The only problems I see with trading Fox are that he's a PG which makes fitting Amen at PG for those that don't think Amen can be great anywhere, but PG and that Fox is likelier to get hurt than draft picks (i.e., the chance of him significantly degrading in value is a little more than the picks).
I just dont think Fox makes us better, especially not at the cost of assets to acquire him. Rim pressure is good but he would hurt the spacing more than FVV does. Our defense would not be as good and we would lose pretty much our quarterback and leader out there. Add on to that one of our biggest strengths is ball security and it would suffer from this. We really focus on possessions as an identity. Losing 2 to 3 more possessions a game would not benefit us. Rebounding and turnover battle is how we as a team overcome our bad offensive efficiency. The only trade we need to make is for a backup 1/2 to give us adding facilitation and ball handling. late 1st/jeff green/jock to washington for brogdon is my preferred trade. Any trade we make this season is going to be like this of adding a rotation vet to replace Reeds minutes and reduce Greens come playoffs if he is having a bad game.
I you ask me, and you didn't ..... the only trade I'd be looking to make is with Portland for Robert Williams iii , I think he'd be the idea backup for Sengun and fits the identity of this team being a great defender. Anything else comes in the offseason - preferably moving on from Green for a more reliable 3/D guy even at the expense of the potential upside. Just give me a player who can function off the ball, shoot 38% or better from distance and solid defensively .... I'll run the offense thru FVV/Amen/Sengun. Everyone on the team would benefit from a guy with some gravity as a shooter.
