Who can we realistically get for Sengun?

And what a colossal mistake that would be. To me, Sengun is an easy 25/10/7 guy in his prime which is still 3–4 years away btw. I might find his inefficiency troubling if he weren't someone who regularly shows up in big games and makes tough shots. Those two qualities are exactly what you need in the playoffs. When Sengun truly "locks in" he turns into a really good defender and starts making everything seriously everything. Flamingos that he calls, turnarounds, fadeaways, even layups he usually misses. He has that takeover ability that can win you games singlehandedly at times. More importantly, he doesn't hurt your chances of making the playoffs in the regular season. We made the playoffs with Fred, Sengun, Jalen and Amen in the West. This roster should not have made the playoffs because i believe his defense almost never costs you games. Sure he makes silly mistakes loses his man it happens. But on the other hand, he has active hands gets steals and that kinda balances things out to some extent. On the other hand, offensively your team is guaranteed to look good when you give him the ball and let him orchestrate.
I'd take this guy over Amen i'm sorry. Amen's defense is phenomenal i'm not disputing that fact but remember everyone locks in during the playoffs, including Sengun. Everyone hustles and games are decided in the fourth quarter and you need at least two bucket getters.

I’m not sure what his trade value is but i suspect there are GMs out there who believe he's being misused here and that they could maximize his potential with a better roster and a better coach and i agree with him. I don't know about you, but im having a hard time imagining him struggling on a team that truly values him and has a legitimate pg. I think i'd rather trade Amen and get something in return. Tari not being made of glass would make this decision exponentially easier for me.

 

Amen struggles badly against set defenses. If you just stay in front of him you neutralize him. In a playoff setting that makes him much easier to guard. He averages 17 ppg largely because he's an elite cutter and a great transition player. But that also makes his scoring dependent on factors outside of his control. Someone has to recognize and reward his cuts, the pace has to be high and often its coming against weaker reg season perimeter defenses. When the game slows down and teams are locked in those easy opportunities shrink. And the 5 (his assists avg i believe) part, your offense looks absolutely awful with him as the hub and every time Sengun fills that role we look much more coherent. It feels like everything just clicks. Youd have to be blind not to see that the Reed–Sengun and KD–Sengun two-man games are significantly better than anything that involves Amen.

 

Smh at this thread…

unless theres a way to get a top 5 player or a top 3 pick in the draft no one else will move the needle much..

 

I think Sam is right, Alpi needs to be traded, he is not right for this team. Too slow, not enough rim protection, takes too many shots, doesn't have a 3pt shot.....

If he had a 3pt shot, this all changes....but he doesn't.

DD

 

You either need to run more of the offense through Sengun, and have an offensive assistant coach that can put Sengun in places for him to succeed, or I fear he does need to be moved. He's under sized, can't shoot, if you aren't going to force the good things he -can- do, then whats the point of having him?

This is coming from someone that really likes Sengun. I feel he could be used a -lot- differently and could benefit from it, but that doesn't seem to be the direction the team wants to go.

 

I think Austin Reeves with an extension agreement.

 

Delusional Fanboard.

Trade Ime Udoka

 

This might seem left field, but a lot of the Rockets organizational next steps will be influenced by the tanking reform changes coming soon. Flat lottery odds for most teams - except the very best - is on the table, from what I've heard.

If that happens, it radically shifts teambuilding strategy. Being in the middle would no longer be bad. Rushing to be either "win now" or "tank" will be over. If your group isn't a contender, no need to force it.

In that world the optimal move for us is probably to pick the subset of young players we believe in and who fit together (let's say Amen, Reed, Jabari), and trade other high value assets (like Sengun) for picks / prospects / complementary players.

We could remain modestly competitive and fun to watch while still farming talent for that true centerpiece. Trying to manufacture a low end contender without that true centerpiece is doomed to failure.

Otherwise, finding the right "contender" return for Sengun is super challenging. Trading valuable players for picks/prospects is always much easier to find a match.

 

it’s another unfortunate effect of forgoing the 2026 draft. This might be the last one where your “tanking picks” have a real chance to be top 4. All of the mediocre future picks teams have acquired woukd gain in value, while the high-value picks from projected poor teams would lose value. This change potentially makes that Nets-Suns pick trade much worse for us.

 

Very expensive player and he’s not exactly young but Sengun/Fred/Clint 1st for Adebayo/Ware.

 

Disagree actually. The current draft system means that even if you own a weak team's pick, because tanking is so rewarded for other weak teams who own their own pick, you're never going to get top tier lottery odds. This year, for example. New Orleans will prob only end up 8th best lotto odds, winning something like 25 games. Brooklyn was not going to win fewer than 25 games if we owned their pick.

But with flat odds and nobody tanking, having "best of" swaps on multiple mediocre teams' picks would be majorly rewarded. Odds shift away from the very very worst tankers towards everyone else. For example - If us, Brooklyn, and Phoenix were all in a flat draft lottery of the bottom 20 teams in 2027, we'd have something like a 60% chance of a top 5 pick and probably multiple top 12 picks.

 

I would go after Brandon Miller, another young piece and their 2026 pick. Charollette has a plethora of guards and forwards but no center.

Plus, I think Sengun with Kon and Ball would be a good mix.

 

I think one would rather have the odds of getting a good 2026 pick than better odds on a good 2027 pick. But I take your point.

 

If the lottery is flattened, quantity is more important than "quality" as in picks of bad teams. The more picks you have, the better odds you have to get a top pick. OKC will be having the last laugh if that happens.

 

After this year, OKC actually doesn't have that much meaningful extra draft equity. The only future assets they have that would probably be in a flattened draft lottery are one swap with the Clippers in 2027 and one swap with Dallas in 2028.

They have a couple other picks from Denver and San Antonio which will be immaterial, obviously.

Memphis, Brooklyn, Portland, and us would probably be the leading beneficiaries if this kind of change went through.

 

I like goon, I do, but he don’t fit.

 

If he’d get his head out of his ass he would. But he’s checked out understandably. So let the chips fall where they be.