The truth is that the Rockets are in the unique position of being able to completely remake their roster essentially from scratch in just a few seasons. As has been said, that draft pick is going to be ballgame. If they hit on it then the hope is that Tillman allows the team to organically grow around that player by building slowly over a few seasons. If they lose that pick I fear that Tilman will start raiding the pick chest for middling talent and the dark days truly set in.
They deserve criticism...... and who knows how they will be in the future......... but what I can say is that they are at the end of the day in a solid spot for rebuilding less than a season, and they have solid assets and cap space going forward.
Yes! Agreed with all of this! Thank you @Nook for helping spread optimism in the GARM! I'm sick of watching Harden highlights in my jammies late at night while drinking and remembering the good ol' days. We've moving on, dammit! We're getting makeovers and our hair done, and we're ready for our dates with KPJ and Christian Wood!
Wood was signed this off season and by this owner and GM. He fits their timeline as well. As for Harden, the assets the Rockets got from Harden aren't even really reflected in the current status of the team.... they have Porter and Wood and two solid young role players in Martin and Tate and long term cap space without touching the Nets assets.... I can understand questioning the owner and even the GM, but at the end of the day.... the Rockets in 6 months have added to players that are young and appear to be long term pieces and that isn't because of the assets from the Harden trade.
If everything goes perfectly then this will only be a one year rebuild. Team should start competing for playoff spots again next year, BUT management has to commit. Need to inject a better veteran presence than Wall or Oladipo thats for sure.
I appreciate this post given the flood of negativity on twitter and here. A few points: (1) I disagree Rockets management should be given 'credit' for Kevin Porter Jr. That was a gift that fell into their lap and likely only due to John Lucas being on staff. I don't think it had anything to do with the front office's superior evaluation over other teams like you could argue Christian Wood was. (2) The Nets picks/swaps are still very valuable in my mind. The herd has now labeled them as "late draft picks" despite most of the pick/swap options not conveying until after Harden and crew's contract is up. I'm still optimistic that those will become valuable and if so they will change a lot of people's minds about the deal. People will quickly point to Caris/Allen, which is fair, but those players don't get us to the playoffs this year and likely only raise our seeding in the standings and hurt our chances at the top 4 pick. (3) The Miami swap may not be as 'worthless' as people think. Miami currently has a worse record than any Western conference playoff team. If that holds true next year, the Rockets will be able to increase their draft position approximately 10 spots (BKN pick swap). That's a pretty solid swap -- if Miami continues on same path. Obviously a lot of moving parts for them (do they pay Duncan/Nunn or let them walk?) could change things.
Unless we get the top 4 pick and absolutely nail it I can’t see wood playing here through the whole rebuild. The good news is he should fetch a pretty nice package to help facilitate a quick rebuild if we don’t hit in this years draft. By hit I mean a quickly developing all star potential type player with an arguably higher ceiling than wood. We need a 1a.
I kinda hope it takes longer than that. By that I just mean I'd like for them to have a couple of years of high lottery picks before they become truly relevant again. If they're too good too soon, it might lead to mediocrity. If you get a top 4 pick this year, follow it up with another high lottery pick the following year on top of all the lower first rounders they're accumulating, that's a lot of young talent to accumulate in a short period of time.
Im going to count KPJ as a top draft pick. Add another guy in the top 4 this year along with Wood and J Tate? Inject that perfect veteran to fill out the starting 5 and you have a squad who can compete IMO. Im not talking championships of course - not yet, but getting the youngsters some playoff time and letting them get the taste of blood in their mouth would be more beneficial than tanking another year.
Nah. The likeliest outcome is the Rockets lose their pick, attempt to build a “contender” over the summer, end up winning 35 games, and stay on the mediocrity treadmill for a decade+. If the Rockets keep their pick, there’s still a chance they trade it for a win-now player and, again, end up on the mediocrity treadmill for a decade+. That’s the problem with dysfunctional management; you’re always at risk of slipping no matter what sort of good fortune you have - such as inheriting an all-time team with an MVP. Saying a team with only two good players (Wood and Tate), two bad contracts including an all-timer, and multiple picks owed is in good position is delusional to say the least.
I think the 2022 and 2023 drafts will define this franchise going forward. We own those picks, we need to suck for those lotteries. Keep in mind OKC has control of our picks again via swaps and picks in 2024, 2025, 2026. We have a 3 year window to get decent enough to not give away the picks to OKC.
CP3 -> Westbrook -> Wall has not been great. It's something, but we traded albatross contracts and kept tossing the picks on this. Christian Wood has been a great trade. However, these big lanky guys are injury-prone. We've seen plenty of big men get injured these past few seasons. It's a risk only a few teams can handle and still do well into the playoffs -- and those few teams spend the most money. <-- Tillman is not the right guy for these types of players. We traded our way into 2 MVP players, surrounding them with garbage. Then got rid of these 2 MVPs for mostly picks, some role players, an injury-prone star in Wall. It comes down to those picks... But the dealer has yet to draw the final cards. Until those final cards are drawn, all I can assume is the worst for my own sake. This way if we don't do anything during the draft I'm still okay with it. You want to throw everything at the draft and see what sticks, fine. We have to wait a few years to see if those draft picks from the Harden trade turn into anything, and that's quite a few years wasted IMO. How we handle this years draft is going to setup our next 3 years. We'll see by the end of the year where all of us stands. Tons of trades are probably coming after the draft. https://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Rockets.htm
sht owner, sht situation, but hey at least this franchise outlook is a lottttt brighter than the texans
