It’s as underwhelming or overwhelming as the Rockets want it to be, I have no idea what they are looking for. If it’s a second round pick then it’s for a bit player, if you want OG then it’s multiple firsts. The point is that this has nothing to do with kpj which is where the outrage is stemming from, he is done no matter what. We lost a rotation piece so now we are using draft assets to acquire one, that’s it.
It makes no sense to use draft assets to acquire one when we may end up taking a couple of extra years on a contract and we aren't getting a good rotational player back. That's my point.
But it’ll have to do with KPJ for the other team and its fans. Maybe the NBA will move mountains to end the investigation soon and approve the trade but I doubt it. Even If the other GM doesn’t care about “woke” fans or whatever the team attorneys, accountants, owners etc. might care because the headache affects their job.
Let's be clear: any trade that is floated is a salary dump opportunity for the other team. Additionally, the Rockets only want a defensive vet to pair next to Green. Green will actually benefit from all of this, as KPJ really never fit with him. What Houston might be doing, however, is floating the chance to have Brogdon or White come over while giving Boston a chance to look at our assets. It's a Hail Mary, but it might be necessary to float the trade ideas across the league before they can contractually cut him without being in trouble with the player's union.
It's incredibly bad taste at the very least for the organization to try and use this situation to benefit the team, and I think we'll all see that no other organization wants to be a part of this deal. An ethical organization that stands on some principles would just take responsibility for their actions and cut the guy, all this maneuvering by Stone is classless.
I don't disagree with the "too many rooks" part. But Cam is a fan favorite now. They'd be really mad if he was traded for someone like Herro. Herro is another overpaid good but not great player. And the Brooklyn picks are still very valuable. It'd be better just to eat KPJ's 16M and give his minutes to the young guys.
They would not even get a sniff at Herro because Miami would want a lot for him, I can see that. Not that he is so good. Cam is unproven to the outside market. Sengün is the Miami player because the Heat would have defenders surrounding him. Basically Miami would covet all the advanced stats players the Rockets would not be giving up.
If it’s for someone like Duncan Robinson then absolutely it’s worth it for Mia to get off of that contract, I’m not sure Houston would even be willing to do it. Ofc they are not getting Paul George for a couple of seconds. That’s silly. Equally silly, why would they give up a first for two more wings when we already have too many. These are two scenarios that have no chance of happening. What we are looking for is 1. a bit player on a bad contract that is playable - Duncan Robinson, Bertans etc, gives us a marginal rotation player that gives Amen/Cam time to adjust to the league before getting bigger minutes and overtaking them. Cost is a second round pick. 2. Or a legit 6th man to replace kpj. I like bogdan bogdanovic a lot, atl would want picks to bolster their Siakim bid. Cost is first round picks. I think the problem is people are way overvaluing the “bad pr” aspect of it and assuming we would have to attach a ton of assets just to get rid of him, that’s not what the Rockets are doing at all. The PR hit is already done, trading him doesn’t remove the stink from the rockets at all. They are only doing it to try to get better as a team - however futile that may be is a different argument. And the PR hit to the other team is also overrated. If the firsts acquired helps Atl get siakim, no fan will care that that had to waive kpj in the process. And for a maxed team like Mia, you can bet the owner would be salivating to get rid of Robinson’s contract, and can maybe spin it as being the white knight to deal with kpj by waiving him - Miami culture.
If your argument that it’s a bad trade then that’s fine and up for debate- because the fact is that we have no idea what the trade is going to be. My point is for the fans outraging about 1. We are dumping kpj to save money - as you pointed out, we would be on the hook for MORE money instead. 2. We are dumping kpj for “pr”, instead of “cleaning up our own mess”. Why can’t we be upstanding organization like the spurs who hid and swept things under the rug for 10 months before dealing with Primo. Trading kpj is not going to improve the rockets pr, and another team trading for kpj won’t hurt their pr. Kpj’s nba career is over, everyone knows that. No one is trading for kpj the player, so the outrage would only come from the most uninformed of fans.
Can he play them well? He cant shoot and he is only really a good playmaker in transition. People talk about his defense but the numbers don't support that either. He is at the age where he is about what he is going to be.
Him not being released looks terrible for the league too. Just like Bridges still being in the NBA looks terrible. Its all just so stupid.
You gave silly examples to prove why we shouldn’t try to trade kpj. I gave realistic examples to prove why it is fine to explore a trade.
Clearly you don’t understand points through exaggerated examples so just move on. Stop trying to act like you found some logical flaw in a debate to exploit. Don’t have the time of effort for trolling today.
“The Rockets aren’t getting X player in a trade…” cxbby- “Your argument is incorrect and I’m right because Elon Musk has not even put his social media site formerly known as Twitter for sale yet.”
I dont disagree at all, but the court of public opinion doesnt get to choose how companies conduct business. Greed is THE deciding factor in a capitalistic society. It is what it is. The team did the only thing they could do to send the message that this player will no longer be a Houston Rocket and in the meantime they will do their due diligence in limiting the fall out and keeping the team in good shape moving forward. Where is the outrage for the teams who supposedly would be willing to take on this player? Only thing that can be hoped for is for the NBA to blackball KPJ the same way the NFL did Ray Rice and just refuse to sign him or pick him up. KPJ is not Kobe and the ability to overlook scummy behaviour for a bit player should be easy enough for the league to make an example of. You would think.
