If you’re not gonna win the championship then what is the point of finishing 2nd and getting the 30th pick? Or even worse fight to get the 8th seed and get eliminated right away. There is almost a zero chance that we will be able to beat the warriors so why not try and get better in the draft?
Unfortunately, the previous Rockets owner refused to tank so we ended up with multiple mediocre seasons. Morey got lucky with the Harden trade and we were back on track. However, that was years ago and we weren't able to get a finals appearance in all those years. Our window is basically closed once Harden exits his prime so I hope Tilman isn't shy about tanking. Tanking also relies on full commitment and good drafting. I hope they don't half-ass it.
Yea let’s throw season away 20 games into the season while having two max players, very brilliant idea.
we already have 11 wins on the season... do you really think atlanta, cleveland, chicago, and phoenix will win more than 15-20 games this year?? likewise... there's almost zero chance that we'll end up with a top 3 pick even if we tank right now. there's no point in finishing with the 7th worst record in the league and getting a late lotto pick.
Man, I hate the defeatist's attitude. By your logic, except for 3 teams in the leagues, all other teams should tank this year. Not only are we still very much in it with only a few game deficit, but it's still early in the season. Bad stuff happens to every team on a night like tonight. Sure plenty of negatives so far, but let's also see the positives. We beat the Spurs by 30+ points in San Anton, the Warriors by almost 30+ points, and Nugs at Denver. I am not giving it up. Let's go!
One of the worst threads I’ve ever seen. Not only do I abhorr tanking as a practice, but our team is too talented (yes I say talented, because our chemistry isn’t great right now but the talent is there) to be elite. A few tweaks via a trade for another impactful player and we’re right there in contention. Ariza and Luc were not championship pillars And yes we were a championship squad just last season. We would’ve won if Paul was healthy
This makes no sense. First off, we have Harden, Capela and Paul - this team is too good to tank. Second, let's say everything falls our way and end up with the worst record / highest chance at the first overall pick. Isn't it only a 25% chance we get #1? Not to mention that it's not guaranteed whoever we pick will pan out. If everyone had your mentality, 95% of the teams in the league would be tanking right now.
This team and last years team are nowhere near the same. No team is going to beat GS this year no matter what. So we can trade for another player it’s still not going to get us a championship......I’m a huge Rox fan but we have to start looking into next year when maybe GS doesn’t have 5 all stars in their starting lineup.
CC and picks and even CP3 could be a base for a younger star to pair with Harden. Perhaps EG too. Some kind of combo will be needed. This season is almost over. If Harden doesn't agree to a rebuild, then even he can be traded for solid players or a smaller star. We will have at least something in our hands while ending up with future lottery picks. I would hate that to happen. I might be wrong, but I see no other way to get us out of this situation.
Oh just shut the hell up and root for a ******* underdog. "If we're not guaranteed to win why not quit?"
This is a business and the Rockets have no way of getting to a point this season to compete against the GSW for the championship.....In fact no team does. As a lifelong Rockets fan I’m not in denial and can see that, I also see that with CP3, Harden & Capela on this team that it does not leave much money left to acquire a top caliber player this offseason. With a higher pick in the draft we could use that pick for a trade or let Morey do his magic and draft great talent. This isn’t a movie where you root for the underdog this is reality and this team is not going to win a championship this year.
That happens every year …. with multiple teams. The really bad teams tank from the get go , others join the parade as the season progresses. Realize you aren't a contender , shed salary , accumulate assets , get under the tax and try again next year. Thing is , while Les was the owner , Morey wasn't allowed to take that route and I can respect that commitment to winning BUT Les Bought a team built by tanking prior to his purchase - They tanked back to back years and had the #1 overall in both which made the league institute the lottery. It didn't pay off right away .... but eventually it brought the team its only two championships. Tanking doesn't always pay off with the ultimate prize of championships …. but it gives you a better shot at those generational players than finishing as the 6-8 seed and getting punted early in the playoffs or finishing 9-10 , missing the playoffs and having a crappy 13-14th pick (we've been there before). With all the money tied up in Harden , Capela & CP3 , its going to be very difficult to inject talent into this roster without doing it thru the draft. Teams don't want the garbage contracts they have to make money work …. couldn't give away 4 picks to get rid of Knight and return Butler - they got a worse deal from Philly and took it. I wouldn't be against stinking it up for the rest of this season , dipping under the tax , shedding EG , Knight , MCW and Melo's corpse and getting some draft assets in return while the young guys play a ton of minutes …. You have to believe with Morey's track record , he'd be able to make something happen with top 5-8 pick …. one way or another. The guy has never had a sub .500 year … that's impressive over that time span and considering they lacked a foundational piece between Yao/McGrady & Harden.
2 things 1) we are 1-0 vs GS this year 2) the chances that a rookie will be good enough to help us vs top 8 teams ( semi's and up ) next year are very low. Or even be a top 6-7 player on our team
Well to be fair you absolutely can get steals late in the lotto (see Donovan Mitchell, Paul Pierce, Devin Booker, Kawhi, etc) AND a better asset is a better asset - be it for trade or use. I’m not advocating tanking but if it comes down to 7th/8th seed vs lotto odds and a better draft pick, I don’t mind the better draft situation that’s for sure.
to the same point... there are a lot of good players at the end of the first round and second round due to the rise in the overall talent level, especially with the influx in the international pool and so many players getting overlooked. the draft is literally just a crapshoot wherever you pick... and even top 3 picks can be shitty as hell - just look at the past 10 yrs.. markelle fultz, brandon ingram, lonzo, d'angelo russell, jahlil okafor, anthony bennett, mkg, kanter, derrick williams, evan turner, derrick favors, thabeet, oj mayo... most of those top 3 picks either suck like hell, have no potential, or are already out of the nba. and to bet all your marbles on such unknown potential is such a bad decision when you're already committed salary wise to pay the luxury tax like the rockets are right now and have no chance at the no.1 pick.
