Its possible Nets and Philly both lost the trade, esp when Harden gets offered that multi year max deal at season end.
Then after screwing H-Town he slapped the Nets around for a bit. Next up the city of brotherly hate. Get the popcorn.
In an ideal timeline, the Rockets would be in a similar situation as the Celtics was around 5 years ago. Tank one more year and compete hard in the 2023-2024 season (Rockets retain full control of their draft pick until the 2024 draft). At this point, the Rockets will no longer have control over their picks for 3 seasons, but they will have full control over the Net's pick. The Rockets will hopefully have drafted/developed well enough that the roster can win 35+ games (rendering their own draft pick useless to the Thunder, because at that point both teams would have accrued enough talented young players that a pick in the 14+ range has practically no value to either team) , but the Nets will also hopefully be bad enough to be in the deep lottery range (a very high possibility) that the Rockets can continue to acquire assets with the picks or reinforce their roster with more young pieces. However, if the Rockets drafted well enough, realistically the Net's pick will be used as a valuable asset to trade in vets or other proven talent. The coming 1-2 season will more or less make or break this current team.
Rox just need to have the courage to outright tank for 1 more year despite all the noise and they'll be alright.
Whether we can actually tank next season depends on the development of the young players. If they are doing well, you don't want to hold them back. It's unlikely but possible that Green, Sengun, Martin, and the new picks are good enough to compete for the play in. If that happens, so be it. That just means that the rebuild is ahead of schedule. Again that scenario is not likely but not impossible. I mean, few people expected Green to jump a couple of levels in a blink. The important thing is to get rid of the veterans, Gordon, Wood, and Schroder. Let the kids play and see how the chips fall.
Nonsense. You can’t just expect to magically get good the year before our picks start going to OKC. It’ll be really bad if we don’t make some major improvements next season.
the thunder went from 23 wins to 50. The 76ers went from 28 wins to 52. The Warriors went from 23 to 47 wins. All one year to the next. it’s not Magic but this is exactly what happens often.
This, especially if we don’t land a top 3 pick this year. I am not convinced that Green can be the first option on a championship team.
It happens, but history has shown that teams that tanked successfully did so for no more than two seasons. Teams that tank for longer for that just seem to keep tanking.
Most tanks last 3 seasons, the key is to select superstars and avoid busts. Anyone who tanks for longer than that typically selected so too many busts, or are ineptly run. The Timberwolves with Wiggins and Dunn flanking Towns come to mind.
He's dropping efficient 30 point games as a teenager like it's easy to do. If you're not convinced maybe it's because you have unrealistic expectations.
I could see this team finishing next season with 30-35 wins with growth from our young core. That would probably land us in the 5-12 range for the next draft, so not a tank-worthy outcome, but a bad enough result to still give us a good player depending on strength of draft.
I know what you mean, especially since next season will be the last one where we keep our picks before OKC gets them. I just think it will be hard to be a bottom 3 team again.
Look at history. 80s: The Rockets tanked twice. 90s: Spurs tanked one season. 2000s: The Sonics tanked two seasons. I guess the Sixers are an example of a 3 season plus tank, but that had more to do with Embiid’s early injuries. For every successful 3+ season tank, there is a Kings or Magic counterexample. Again, I’m not saying we won’t still be rebuilding next season. But we should be done with “tanking.”
I think this is right. The tank would have to be more intentional next year. Green, Sengun, Porter are all going to be playing more than 30 mins. Green is going to be top 5 in scoring next year. It’s all about if there is any interior defense. If we have that we will definitely be in contention for a play-in. Sengun’s interior defense will improve. I expect him to pack on about 20 lbs of upper body strength. Now if we are forced to take Ivey or Griffin then we may still be able to tank successfully, unless we make a trade for a legit PF.
On tanking, it isn't time dependent. It is player dependent. If tanking doesn't work after 2 seasons, but is best option in year 3, you tank or become the Kings. P.S. I don't like tanking, but until NBA provides a disincentive, tanking makes sense.
