This is crazy. Stone really put to bed all the doubters saying he cant do anything but draft. I will wait until DFS and Capela are officially signed but its looking like Stone turned DB, Jalen, 10th pick and 5 seconds into KD, DFS and Capela. We are 3 deep at almost every position, got one of the best players in the world in KD and still kept most of our young guys and picks. Stone really playing NBA 2K GM mode irl.
@roslolian For sure. 6 of the 7 core still in tact AND the PHX picks?? Queue the music - Reeeal meeen of geniuuuus! Today we salute you Mr. Rockets basketball GM guy! You took an underachieving fruit cake girly boy and a hot-headed bully and flipped them into an NBA legend, a top notch defender and the return of a hometown hero in just a matter of days. So crack open an ice cold Bud Light oh wizard of GMery . . . and crack a few more after your Championship.
I don`t get this move. Yes, 3d string center is important and yes, there are health concerns around Adams and last season he was taking a lot of games of. But signing another older player with health concerns to a 3 year fully guaranteed deal doesnt make sense to me. Especially since Jabari can play center as well for us (and the number of teams that have those classical centers that could really give him trouble are pretty small) and since we are kinda thin at guard. But if we went the 3d string center route I would have prefered a younger guy with some potential or even keeping Landale (after renegotiating his contract). Still, there is value in having insurrance at this position, and I really liked Capela before - he also gives us another element to our team, so I am not mad about it. Can`t wait for the season to start.
OK, so basically we have Capela as our 2nd backup C instead of Jock? An upgrade to our defense for sure, though Jock was a much better shooter. But in case Adams gets injured, it’s good to know we have Capela closing our paint. Welcome back!
really bad. 54% for his career, 53% last season. A good year is 60% for him. I love Capela but this is a redundant signing. We’re basically paying Capela and Adams $22m per season to be one backup player. The NBA is trending towards bigger and faster, but the team seems to think lumbering C’s who can’t impose their will on offense is the way to go. Let’s see how it works out I guess. A stretch 5 and a shooter at the 2 would have been a great way to go.
I mean surpising but to rotate with Adams throughout the season to keep Adams healthy into the post season. I like.
we got a better player than Londale, for less money than what we paid Jock last year. A vet, been to multiple Conference Finals. What's not to like here?
I think Stone may be trying to angle himself to have extra players of archetypes teams often desire in trades. The Lakers I'm sure wish they had Capela and Adams on their squad right now, for example. 3nD wings who legitimately play defense are always useful trade chips too. He's always looking for ways to reload on assets, or make salaries work for an advantageous deal i.e. the KD trade.
I think today's acquisitions are strategic and laudable. They replaced Dillon and Landale with cheaper options in DFS and Capela. Rockets improved their offensive rebounding and can run the double big lineup even more. They think they have found a market inefficiency with offensive rebounding, length and their interesting zone defense. These moves were also a hedge for load management, injuries and possible trades. They are the deepest team in the league right now. DFS is a playoff rotational piece that will not be asked to do as much in the regular season. Finally, the Rockets were able to give Reed more defensive protection and a real opportunity to become a meaningful contributor next year. I think the two guard concerns are overblown and can be easily addressed later if necessary.
I don't think any of those were possible? Signing had to be under $7m per. Lopez and Looney and Kennard were all over that number. Clint might not be the best C in the league, but we're only asking him to be the third best C on our roster. He can definitely step in and play a role on occasion (in my opinion that is). Yeah, I want a dynamic young 2-guard off the bench as well. Happy to hope for Cam and Reed to produce.
I guess we can play Jabari or Uncle Jeff in that role? We have options. And FWIW, Clint is still pretty mobile up and down the court.
If that's the case he's sacrificing the present for a maybe-future while we have KD at 36 years old. Seems like a bad idea. We're paying Capela and Adams $22m per season. The Clippers just got Brook Lopez at just $2m per season more than Capela (and Lopez is going to pay a high tax in California). A stretch 5 would have at least given us some diversity and options tactically. Then if Stone wanted players to bundle in a trade, he could have loaded up on SG's and PF's. I'd love to think there's some 5D chess being played here, but the answer is pretty plain given the pattern of signings. They just want tall and strong guys. They are paying 0 attention to the fact that KD will need more offensive help. He has to naturally decline slowly. His driving game is slowly going away and he's about to face by far the most packed paint he's ever seen in his life. These guys are just not paying as much attention to offense as defense. Which is fine for Stone because he'll call this Udoka's plan. But Udoka is honestly digging his own grave right now. He's making it easy to turn him into this team's Mark Jackson, JB Bickerstaff or, well, Celtic's Ime Udoka. Curious to see how it goes but this seems like another regular season team. You let KD get his points 1 on 1, then you can shut down the rest of the team pretty easily since there will always be 2 non-shooters on the floor.
Udoka didn't like playing any of those guys serious minutes in that role so I doubt it. Clint is not the same Clint. His mobility is severely reduced, that's why he was allowed to walk as an FA and signed for just $7m. His FT shooting is getting worse. He's just going to be a 3rd backup to an Adams who is more healthy than last season. Just a really weird waste of money.
