FVV and Brooks are fine. I think given the constraints from Fertitta and Udoka (try to win more games and bring in defensive minded vets) then they met the expectations. I just think it was a flawed concept to begin with. We were the worst team for 3 years. Bringing in some 3andD role players wasn't going to make us contenders. We should have just been renting out the cap space for draft picks all along. I'd be happier seeing more Cam/Tari type young guys figure it out throughout the year than even seeing these vets grind to their max potential of play-in loss.
One thing that's bugging me is, I feel it is pretty likely Dillon significantly regresses on his three point percentage. Perhaps to around 35-36% or so. If that ends up the case, the contract will look a lot worse than it does at the moment. I agree he is more tradeable this offseason, but that may change by the next midseason trade deadline.
Yeah so like Jalen Green and the "league average" replacement"- basically if Dillon Brooks makes or misses 5-10 more 3 pointers in total over the next 20 games he goes from trade asset to trade albatross I don't think the margins are that fine or this at all a realistic assessment of the way things work in the real world
I don't really care about Fred's annual amount because it is so short. It would only matter if there's significantly better alternatives to sign. The only pieces at that time we know of were Lopez and Harden. Lopez turned us down. And you know how I feel about signing an aging Harden to a 4 year max. As for Brooks, if his shooting reverts back to what he'd been doing his whole career in Memphis, he will turn into a negative trade asset. It won't matter if his salary goes down a couple millions.
So three point percentage is relatively "stable" around 242 three point attempts on average--that's why I'm willing to have these kinds of discussions (like the one about Green) at this point in the season, when players have safely exceeded that threshold. The thing with Dillon is, even though he is above that mark, we are banking on a relatively large deviation from his career norms. I think different front offices are probably going to assess that in different ways. I think we can say his value is up right now because the sample size is large enough to persuade at least some GMs of his improved value, but that there is still a very real chance his value could come down next season.
Again, for an elite D & 3 guy as long as he can hit mid 30s, and not be totally afraid to shoot like some defensive specialists, that's probably ok value for a middle class NBA salary slot, which is what 19 million is going to be. I think a lot of folks fixated on Brooks shooting because the Rockets have done such a poor job of getting competent shooting on the team in general that exaggerates his importance - the fact that lead guard of the future Amen Thompson is checking in at 14.9 % with the ugliest jumper you'll ever see, that Sengun is about to get a rookie max at 28% for his career, that Green is...Grern that it makes Brooks at 35% seem untenable. I don't think every other team will see it that way.
You can say it boils down to micro things like that but I'd say larger questions are more important Can Brooks be a decent 3 point shooter - a non liability? Yes An elite man defender? Seems like yes On good behavior this year? Pretty much On a reasonable contract? Again very much yes and it will be more reasonable each year I think a lot of it boils down to people not getting that 20m salary slot is the new 8m salary slot. For example, Trevor Ariza was making 8m in 2015 when he returned to the Rockets. Nobody thought that was out of the question. But the Salary cap was 63 and the apron was 81, so he's like at 13% - 10% respectively. In 2026, Brooks 19m is going to be almost the exact same proportionally 12% - 10%. Role players - rolling with role player money
Or, they decline it, and use bird rights to sign VanVleet to a new deal at 20-25 million per season. There is next to no chance the Rockets pick up VanVleet’s 43M option for 2025-26. Either Thompson is ready, the Rockets sign a different point guard in free agency, or they decline VanVleet’s option and renegotiate a deal with an annual salary more in line with his production.
Agreed. Which is why all the handwringing on this board concerning his annual salary this season and next is silly to me.
No. You don’t. You seem to think that there’s no chance he isn’t here for year 3. False saying it’s a team option has no assumption that they decline. Especially when they love FVV
Most handwringing is from people who wanted Harden and were mad we got Fred instead. It has very little to do with the actually impact of the contract.
I am one of the few that is a fan of neither Harden or FVV........At this point just start from scratch and find yourself the Next Harden.... When your core 6 is 22 or younger, I think it is better to wait a little..... It does not make sense for me to go this route and see Harden or FVV lead this team to mediocrity, in Harden's case 7th place maybe but that is if everyone is healthy, I doubt it at this point..... Contract or not, Front Office is fine with existence on the border of making the Play Offs or Not..... Udoker is enough to attract the questionable Star player.
Wouldn't you say trying to go from worst team in the league to contender would be the flawed concept? I don't think there's anything wrong with going like "hey we can't skip the part where we change habits and culture. Let's build this thing right before we use all our ammo." I'm not happy that we've only gone from 27th to 23rd in the league, but at the halfway point of the season we were closer to 19th IIRC. That is a great step for a team that tanked as brutally as we did (and didn't come up with our target Wemby). I don't think Stone expected us to be contenders. Like any rebuilding team, he was probably happy with a big step forward. The kind of step where if you take 2 more of those steps you're a contender. Udoka for his own resume said he wanted to make the playoffs and it's good to have a challenging goal, but I don't think making the playoffs was a high probability unless we had signed Harden and mortgaged part of the future to do it. Was there any other way to do it? I don't think so at all. Maybe if we actually got Lopez instead of Landale, that would have made a big difference. No one was going to come here. Higher level FA's and trade targets will actually consider us now that the culture has been turned around. I agree with you that if nothing changes in the remaining games (i.e. we end ranked 23rd) it would have been better to limit our spending and go for less expensive culture guys. It was worth a shot though and what we did can easily be undone. Brooks is having the best season if his career and has 3 years remaining on a declining contract. FVV is an expiring contract with a team option, would be easy to trade/dump too without losing much. We can see Amen/Cam figure it out next season, their entrance into the NBA has been extremely ideal. Right culture, had to earn their minutes, played when it would benefit us and give them confidence to work harder. Don't write off the rest of the season though. This team might have another great run in them.
I didn't and still don't have high expectations for FVV. He's just a placeholder until the kids grow up. It's good enough to have someone to supplant KPJ at the head honcho seat.
If I were him, I would not, he could still get a 18-20 million contract somewhere with this contract ending. His last payday..... FVV should be a 25 ppg occasional starter on a really good team again, like at the beginning of his career instead of a babysitter on a 10th place team...... Like a better Gabe Vincent or Max Strus type of guy or what Rubio was.... I do not even know what players are thinking these days.......
