I’ll give you that this upcoming season will be the true test to see if KPJ is replaceable or extension worthy as point guard To put Christopher ahead of him as a untouchable is just plain silly. Christopher is a bench player
ok, if you think he's slightly above average, that's not what we're looking for next to jalen green in a starting role. i would even take a prime beverley or derrick fisher over him. slightly above average isn't want we are looking for. If he becomes that one day, i'll give him props. but you just said he wasn't elite, which is what i was argueing.
I said he wasn’t elite yet but he has shown signs he potentially can be I’m sorry but why is that so hard to understand? Secondly, on the note of Jalen he needs to improve his defence firstly as does most of the rockets unit apart from Tate, Christopher and the incoming draftees. KPJ and Jalen are fine for now and both have things they need to improve on, if they both keep improving they will be more than fine and as backcourt.
... so it's fine for Green to be the worst defensive player in the team, but it's not acceptable for KPJ to be anything less than elite? Lol, that's a fun kind of hot take.
Hopefully our next move is just shuffling the deck. We still have several vets and probably way too many rookies and sophomores. Lets just let the season play out while trying to move some vets. Of course we should be predatory with our war chest of assets but I just think a major move is less likely. Next season we keep our pick and we probably won't be a bottom 5 team so that would be the time to really try to move up before we lose our picks to OKC.
Nonsense. Off the top of my head, Ayton, Bridges, Wiggins, even Steph Curry are examples of players who have made massive strides on D.
who said that? Im just arguing that he aint elite as was mentioned….but we do need good defense. I guess if kpj wants to inch towarda good, he can run back in transition instead of just watching the other team score. At least schroeder does that. But i get it, you think hes our point guard to lead us to the chip. jalen green is the future. So obviously we need a guard who will make up for his weaknesses
KEEP WALL & GORDON We do not want to take a long term cap hit with the return. Use the cap space on someone like Middleton and be able to keep our youth as they mature. Learn from OKC (Harden) and be in a place to retain our home grown talent.
.... so Jalen is still "the future" even if he's the worst defender on the team, but KPJ has to be a stellar defender (he was already good) to justify his spot? Why do you give Green such a pass?
We aren’t going to take a long term hit on our cap space. You can relax, the deal we got for Wood was really revealing as to how Stone regards said cap room.
I love them both. Green is going to be one of the best offensive players in the league. KPJ may even be better. His shot is better than Jalen’s and his defense is miles ahead. All the concern about his turnovers and lack of court vision came early in the season. His assist/to rate was great after the all-star break. If the guy keeps his head on straight he is a max player and alpha dog for someone.
Here we go again. Kid is 19 and has not played a game and already people starting to buy bs tags like "role player at best". Come on pj Tucker, ariza are role players at best. Stop putting such a low ceiling on the kid
Do you think this is a championship team regardless of who you add? He is not a 2nd scorer on a championship team at this point of his career but Jalen green isn't the best player on a championship team either. The question you posed wasn't who can be the 2nd scorer on a championship team, the question you posed was who can be the 2nd scorer on this team
Jabari will average more PPG than Paolo. Wait and see. And the +20 PPG vacuum left after Wood departure will be split between KPJ and Sengun. Rockets are also chest deep in playmakers. In starting 5, it's KPJ and Sengun. Off the bench - Nix and TyTy. And Trey Burke is still on the roster. Decision on Schroeder still pending. IMO next step is to consolidate the roster with 2 for 1 trades. Better yet, 3 for 1 trades. I'd move Trey Burke + 2024 FRP to Hawks for Jalen Johnson adding a 6'9 athletic playmaking 2 way player. Jalen Johnson, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason average 6'9 in height and +7" wingspan plus all averaged over 1 steal and 1 block in college. This allows Rockets to keep 2 long disruptive switch everything defenders on court at all times e.g. 2018 Rockets. Then another trade with 76ers and Hawks: 76ERS: EGo + John Collins + Nwaba Hawks: Tobias + Tate + Bassey + 2025 Rockets swap + 6ers 2027 FRP Rockets: Capela + Thybulle
So Green's numbers are fake as well? Just stop with the uninformed takes. Wins and losses are due to poor TEAM play. This empty stats narrative is BS.
Or maybe Green can level up as a defender. KPJ is best guard defender on team not named Sterling Brown. KPJ is better defensively than EGo now.
KPJ is certainly reliable in silly season. He’s put up great numbers when the games don’t count 2 seasons in a row. After his breakout month a two seasons ago, I expected more from him last season. I was very dissatisfied with him this year. A month of good play against B teams two years in a row is promising but he wasn’t good outside of those months and it is obvious to anyone who isn’t biased. Hope he puts it together next year… should be his last chance. I’ve been told it’s cherry picking stats to bring up what he’s done for an entire season yet the irony are these posts about 7 games as if that is the only thing that matters and nothing happened before that point. 7 games lmao. Like, a third of those games were against the Kings among others. Maybe I’d buy it if we played the kings 20 times a year or if teams just rested their starters vs the Rockets all year. He needs to play well when the games count and everyone knows quite well, he did not.
green will become a better defender in about 4 years from now, when he's able to hold his ground when switched onto a big. KPJ better than gordon? at what? defending the 1? the 2? gordon switched onto trae young when christopher was getting cooked, it wasn't kpj. gordon can switch onto a big in the post, kpj can't. i disagree he's better than gordon. jrue doesn't even attempt to drive on gordon, his lateral movement is too good. how is kpj better than gordon?
We have many things to do still: 1.) Continue to focus on development of our young players and not on winning. 2.) Land another guaranteed top five pick in 2023. 3.) Continue asset management - Right now, it looks like Tate, Mathews, Nwaba, Gordon, Wall and KMJ don't look like long term pieces - Find a way to turn them into future picks / assets. 4.) The next major decision will be on Kevin Porter Jr. - This is such an important year for him. - Is he a long term piece or not? - Is he our PG or a sixth man? - Could be highly dependent on who we draft. If we land Scoot, hard to see him coming back. 5.) Sengun, while he looks like a great prospect, is an awkward fit in the starting lineup long term. - When you consider next years draft features a generational center and a dynamite PG, he could be displaced by position (C) or role (playmaker) - All signs point to him being a bench player, but nothing wrong with that, he could be awesome in that role. - Who knows though, we will have this year to see what he looks like alongside the core, and perhaps there is some magic there. - Most likely scenario in my opinion is we miss on Wemby, pursue a great fitting Center like Myles Turner in free agency to start, and Sengun comes off the bench. 6.) Need to be predatory in regards to the Nets picks and the Nets situation. - If that situation blows up and Durant is on the block, we are in a prime situation to get involved. - Easy to see a scenario where we send our picks back to Brky, Durant to say a team like Boston, and a youngish stud like Jalen Brown to Houston. - I could also see a scenario where might like to bring in Ben Simmons. - Guy has his warts, but the talent is undeniable. Could fit like a globe setting up Green, Smith, Wemby. 7.) I remain neutral on Silas. - He has gotten the short end of the stick in regards to this situation. - I have been comfortable with his work in developing our young guys, and I happy to let him continue to do so this year. - I might even extend him for one year, and see what he can do with the team, when the organization is all in on actually winning, IE 2023-2024.
