How often are there unhappy "disgruntled stars" that are good team oriented guys? Most high character dudes play out their contracts. I for one hope mgmt brings in that type of player. With a ton of cap room, a young promising core and future quality assets to either draft or aquire more help, Houston is going to be an attractive spot for many. Bring in a GOOD coaching staff in the off-season, be patient until the right free agents are available and then strike. Play your cards right and you could have a solid contender in two to three years.
If Bridges is worth 3-4 FRPs, I don't see the harm in trading 3-4 FRPs for him as he can be flipped for 3-4 FRPs if things don't work out [caveat, I think the Brooklyn picks are worth more than average FRPs traded such that it should be at most 3 for the Rockets]. Even if you don't like Stone, I don't see the point in not making a good move because of him. Shouldn't one expect him to screw up draft picks more than acquiring Bridges would be a screw up as the next GM could then trade Bridges and have picks that Stone didn't screw up? Bridges works with so many different types of players, I can't see getting him being a waste unless it is an overpay. The only reason not to get someone like Bridges on a reasonable price is if the Rockets were tanking. I don't see the Nets trading Bridges soon unless they get at least 2 of their picks back.
This is kind of confusing if trying to apply logic beyond a normal bias or preference. You assume that KD and CP3 will break down soon in this scenario. What is the evidence for that? That PHX team is loaded and has KD for 3 more years. Having to do less will probably extend his career even more. Guy has had as good a last two years as any before that. CP3 has started his decline as a scoring threat, but his still one of if not the best passing PG in the league. He's going to sit back and just spoon feed Book and KD for easy baskets. Just seems wild to me that you would think a Brooklyn team filled with mediocre players will have more success and ultimately a lower draft position than a team with Booker, KD, CP3 and Ayton. Real wild.
We don't have our first round pick next year so it's time to start winning I think rockets need to Hopefully draft wemby or Scoot Trade picks and potential pieces for a star if possible Sign a free agent star Hire new coach
The Nets will have teams throwing all their picks at Bridges in the off season. I think a fire sale is for sure coming
Depends on whether we land Wemby or Scoot. If we do, I would probably cash the Brooklyn picks in. I mean: Scoot Green KMJ/Eason Jabari Sengun That's a great group of very young prospects who need a lot of minutes to develop. What it lacks is veteran leadership and a bench (and maybe some solidity at the 3 depending on how high you are on those two). I don't know if we really need even more young unproven players, especially since tanking is over after this season. I would also consider cashing a Brooklyn pick in to move up and nab Scoot if we miss on a top 2 pick. If we get screwed over completely in the draft then maybe we hold onto the picks and plan for the rebuild to take longer though.
I think what is likely is that they are the Wizards going forward. They have a bunch of good players and are basically a play in team. Since they are in a good market and have a owner willing to spend it is doubtful no matter what they attempt they will ever be worse than a play in team. It also is unlikely they can trade for anyone that will make them better than a play in team. If anything it seems they would trade Bridges for more picks which would make them worse so keeping the picks is a no brainer. So the question is whether keeping the picks knowing that they are probably mediocre is worth it. Until we have something to build around I would vote don't trade and hope for a minor miracle...something like what the Pelicans just got with Dyson Daniels and the Lakers pick...or maybe really lucky and they miss the play in finish 8th and we end up with Ja like the Grizzlies. But it is stupid to trade picks when you don't even know what you need besides actual good players at every position.
In other words, the Rockets have done everything they can to increase their odds of getting high picks (picks with Top 4 protection are not high picks) in hopes that they can get that one star that is a lightning rod for stars wanting to come to the Rockets via cap space or trade. Granted, that's a little bit "Pollyanna", but I'm trying to match the negativity.
What is the basis for my assumption that KD and CP3 will break down? The NETS get picks in 23, 25,27,29 and a swap in 28. Chris Paul will turn 38 years old before the start of next season. He is having a bad year, and he has already missed 40% of the Suns games this year. Chris Paul will be 40 years old when the 2025 pick is due.... he will be 42 in 2027 and 43 in 2028 and 44 in 2029. Do you expect him to be good by then? Kevin Durant will be 35 years old by the start of training camp. He has missed about 1/3 of the possible games the last handful of seasons. He will be 37 years old when the 2025 pick is due. He will be 40 by the time of the 2028 pick swap. I except the Suns to be WAY better than the Nets the next two seasons......... but by the time the Suns 2nd pick goes to the NETS, I expect them to not be very good. Will they be bottom 5? Not in 2025 unless Booker demands a trade.
I have no issue with the Rockets bottoming out.... it is everything else around it that has been neglected or handled poorly.
Right and the point is for these guys to do less as a group and they will when KD doesnt have to do EVERYTHING for a team as usual - they can pick and choose how they roll these guys out and offer the "rest" they need. You're fast forwarding to 2026 and beyond and expect this assortment of players for BKN to remain static? KD is hitting for 30 points a game and CP is still good for 10 assists per game and you have that for the next 3 years. So many guys said KD was done after the Achilles injury! Throw in a young Book who can take over the random games and Ayton in the paint and that team will be in championship talks throughout KDs current contract. Beyond that nobody knows and its just a guessing game. We're talking about draft picks that are currently in Jr High or elementary school (2028-2029)!! If PHX is picking ahead of the Nets before any of the next 5 years I'll be amazed. The Nets are in tatters and Mikal Bridges is not saving them - they will need to go star hunting to become relevant again unless Mikal Bridges is the next star of the NBA which I find HIGHLY doubtful as well. Im laser focused on the next 3 years. I'd say as soon as CP3 gets his ring he's done. Maybe KD hangs it up too who knows? But as of today if this team stays intact for KDs tenure they will be picking in the last 5 spots of the draft and for us the BKN picks run out in 2027 anyway. edit: Im still sort of confused rereading your thoughts. My only claim is that for the foreseeable future PHX will be picking after BKN. Hard to get into specifics with so much flux in the league year to year. I wasnt even focused on the points past KDs tenure with PHX so there is where I may have jumped the gun only looking at how the BKN picks impact OUR TEAM. My bad.
Look at Bridges 2p% again. It's tanked this year. His eFG without Booker on the court is 48% this season. This guy is a role player, a very good one, but I suspect we will see his struggles more prominently the rest of the year in Brooklyn when he has no star player to create for him. He is not someone you give up the future for.
Bridges is damn good. And in the day and age of rest and random sitting, he doesn't miss games. Adding someone like Bridges to any team quite frankly is a no brainer. A contender obviously is great but even for a young team to add a guy who plays the right way and comes from a winning background is a plus
Notrhing else matters at this point than getting that first star and not hampering the club around building around that star. Suns have Booker. What happens in 2026-2028 as far is who is better is tough to predict, but I'd go with the team that has the best player.
depending on who that best player is, it isn't a given they're successful. It's whether or not that player can impact winning to the degree that sustains winning games consistently AD led teams sucked, Kyrie led teams have sucked. Beal led teams have sucked. Prior to adding cp3, booker led teams sucked, KAT led teams have sucked 3-5 years down the road is a very long time for kd/cp3 at this stage of their careers
He isn't someone that is going to carry a team. I agree, but he is a very high-end role player IMO. The only way I would take on Bridges would be if the Rockets win the lottery, or Tilman insists on spending the majority of the cap space.
Yeah, I said that the Suns picks are likely better than the Nets picks, and I do believe that. I'm sorry, I am not betting on a point guard in his 40's and another star approaching 40 by the time the heart of the Suns picks are up. We will see what the Nets do, after what has happened the last two times they went star hunting, they may try to rebuild with the assets they got from the Suns and Mavericks. I agree with you that over the next 3 seasons the Nets picks are better than Phoenix. My larger point is that the Nets have more assets than people realize. The KD trade resulted in them getting a LOT....
