HOUSTON ROCKETS 2025-2026 NBA SEASON DISCUSSION

Would be a great vet to mentor Durant and Jeff.

DD

 

We already have a 3pt shooting 40-year-old dude sitting at the end of the bench.

 

We could definitely use a stretch 5 during the offseason, and I think it's time to move on from Adams if somebody wants to take him off our hands. He's a great player but he doesn't fit on this team, especially when we already have Clint giving us traditional big man stuff too. Too much money going into the center position as well; Clint + another taxpayer MLE guy makes more sense. Horford is too old and washed though.

Porzingis and Mo Wagner would be a couple of dudes I'd look at. Both with their injury concerns, especially Porzingis who has some chronic stuff going on (that's what we have Clint for though). Not sure if they'd be too expensive or not.

Still thinking ahead to the offseason, I think I would only trade one of Amen or Sengun if the return really makes sense. So not Giannis. I have mixed feelings about the Austin Reaves idea; I don't think he's as good as Sengun and is maybe around the same level as Amen or slightly better, but has less upside (Reaves is probably a finished product). He would be a better fit on this roster than trying to mash Amen and Sengun together though.

I don't know who else could possibly be available that would make sense. If it's not at least a Reaves level player, definitely don't do it and just add shooting around Amen/Sengun and run it back one more season I think. Pray they develop their jump shots.

 

The problem then becomes the fit between Sengun and Reaves, who are both offense-first guys that you have to cover for defensively to some degree. I think Sengun would be more likely to go out in a trade for Reaves, which I'm not sure I'd do either straight-up. It might depend on other parts of the deal or follow-up trades. We'd need a new center, for one thing.

I don't think we necessarily need to choose between Amen or Sengun this offseason, like I said, but if we did it's not going to be an easy choice between the two. What's harder to find, a starting-caliber stretch 5 (needed if you build around Amen IMO) or enough two-way players who can shoot to have a good defense around Sengun?

 

I think there is little to no chance they trade Sengun or Amen. Fit or not, I believe the FO believes they are the bedrock they will build this team around. Ime has already announced his strategy which is to overwhelm teams with size and defense. I believe they’ll add an MLE sized contract and trumpet the return of FVV and Adams. Ime will double down on double bigs and slow methodical offense. Next year’s starting lineup: FVV, Amen, KD, Jabari, Sengun with a heavy dose of Adams off the bench until he breaks down. We will see how they feel about Reed with the FA they add or trade they make. I can’t imagine they will give up a pick to unload DFS, but I guess that’s a possibility instead of signing a FA vet.

 

What do you think Reaves next contract looks like?

I think it would take a sign and trade deal regardless.

You have most of those two way players who can shoot and have good defense on the roster - the question is how many you can keep out of Jabari, Tari, Okogie.

I like the idea of sending FVV out in that type of deal with whatever salary it takes to match along with draft assets - This is the type of deal that they really needed to preserve their draft assets for (not giving up #1's for Ayo, White or Alvarado).

 

Not being disrespectful. Do you really think they will trade FVV in the offseason or at the deadline?

 

I think @Hemingway is probably right that they're just going to run it back with some minor moves. I don't even know if that's the wrong call here. If either of Amen or Sengun develop a jump shot they're instantly top 10 players IMO. If they both do, we're top contenders for a decade or more. I don't know what the percentage chance is of one of them pulling it off, let alone both.

But it can be fun to speculate anyway.

 

Amen may have a jump shot eventually. Reed may become an adequate defender eventually.

Neither is likely to happen soon. I think Reed's part is more likely to happen sooner than Amen's part.

I said it earlier (probably in another thread) that the problem with FO putting all their eggs in the FVV basket isn't the lack of backup PGs. It's the lack of backcourt player who can both shoot and defend good enough at least not be an exploitable liability on either end of the game. Fred is an average to above average PG depending on how you see his dipped shooting average last season. Either way, nobody would mistaken him as a franchise level player. For him to be the most important player of the team, it's not because he's a great player hard to be replaced. It's because we don't have anybody else who is adequate on both ends of the floor in the backcourt.

We have two-way players (Bari and Tari) in the forward positions even after we lost Brooks. DFS could be another one if he's fully healthy. But they never went out to get a 3&D guy to shore up the backcourt depth and thought FVV alone could hold down the fort. When Fred went down, all they could do was say, "Uh oh!"

The value of a player depends a lot on his replacement. If the replacement is zero, his value becomes sky high.

 

I don't know really, I think it depends upon who comes available and whether or not they can keep most of the young guys.

If you are getting a better point guard (Reaves is listed as a SG but like Harden is the primary ball handler), do you really want Fred and his $25m on the books, especially coming off injury? I don't think you can afford him in that case.

If you can package him with DFS that's $38,335,000, right around the 5/200ish Reaves might get, add picks and swaps, maybe you can keep most of the young guys.

That's why it was key that they didn't waste picks at this deadline.


I don't think Stone is as married to FVV as some think - maybe Ime is but he's not the GM.

 

I don’t know obviously, but I believe that probably Stone, Pat, and Ime try to come to a consensus on trade moves. You would think that Pat (or Tito) has final say. I’m also not sure that is a bad philosophy. If you believe in a coach enough to extend him 6 years, I’m sure they put a very high value on his input. After all, he is the one charged with making the roster work.

If Stone wants to use FVV in a trade it will almost certainly be one that Ime feels comfortable with. My thinking is Ime would be ok with a trade of FVV if the returning asset fits with his idea of the ideal player in his strategy. If FVV is needed to get a deal done for Giannis for instance, it would probably get his ok. If it’s someone that doesn’t fit his model like Herro, Reeves, or Irving he would probably use his influence to kill the deal.

If we need a big contract or big talent to make a deal for a superstar, I’m pretty sure Sengun would be Ime’s preference before FVV, Amen, or Jabari just because of Sengun’s defensive shortcomings. I think we are stuck with only minor tweaks unless KD turns down his player option or demands a trade. I think they would love to have Giannis, but Amen, Giannis, Durant, Tari, Jabari seems like a really weird lineup and I don’t think either Ime or Stone is willing to move Amen in a trade for an over 30 player and the guys they might trade him for (Ant, Luke, etc) won’t be available. I guess things could go south enough that Durant would ok a trade, but it certainly wouldn’t be to a team without a chance to compete.

 

Without being too much of a killjoy on the whole "developing a consistent 3 ball" thing. But we did just not so long ago offload ourselves of a bust who wasn't good enough improving from 33 to 35.5% from deep, and we're banking on *quick check* 24 to 30% and 13 to 20.5% as our future stars? I mean...

 

I think the odds are fairly low, but at age 23 it's still possible. We have seen it happen before with NBA players, especially if you're talking about getting from 30% to like 35% or so.

The big difference from the Jalen Green situation is that Jalen is a one-dimensional player who is borderline useless when his jump shot isn't falling. He needs a reliable jump shot to be an all-star, let alone a #1 option. I think @MadMax is the one who would always describe him as a "make-or-miss player". Whereas Sengun is a great passer for a big man, a pretty good rebounder, and a good interior scorer. And Amen is a defensive terror who can also do everything else Jalen did but better except for having some form of jump shot.

They're both starting caliber players (at a minimum!) on a playoff team with no jump shot, provided the rest of the starting lineup can shoot it well. The jump shot is not required for them to be good, it's the missing piece to superstardom. JG's shot wasn't falling in 6 of 7 games in the GSW series and he was a massive negative on the court as a result, and probably the reason we lost that series.

 

I, for one, didn’t want to include Jalen in the Durant trade. FVV was my choice if we were going to trade for Durant. I was still in favor of the trade, but in retrospect, I wish we had not traded for Durant at all. I didn’t realize that Durant was so ball dominant since I really had only watched him play when going against the Rockets or when playing for GSW. I thought we should have doubled down on playing a wide open brand of basketball with what used to be our athletic advantage. Obviously the fool’s gold success in winning the 2 seed last year, changed the entire direction of this team from building a young wildly athletic team into Ime’s 90’s basketball vision. I expect they will carry forward with that vision again next year with a similar outcome. That would probably convince Durant to want out and maybe get Ime and/or Stone fired, but who knows with this ownership.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not remotely saying Jalen is a good player, he's just a much better shooter than either guy and even then his jump shot was below what it needed to be. The problem is that we need Alpi or Amen to be actual stars, and without a jump shot they're both firmly role players or borderline all-stars at best.

 

I think the big issue is just that Jalen fell to pieces in the playoffs and lost the confidence of all but his most die-hard fans, and that included the front office. The only way it works if we kept him probably would be to move FVV and Sengun (or Jabari maybe) for a legitimate PG like a Nash or Harden type who could actually dictate a wide open offense of speedy, bouncy cutters. You can't make a move like that after a performance like Jalen's - he would've been the other main focus alongside Amen in that kind of offense, and he showed he's not reliable when it mattered.