We might consider signing an extension with FVV just like Celtics did with Jrue Holiday. Hard to find good veterans like fvv and he definitely would help in a title ride.
Sorry, but I just think you're way off base here. Fred may be overpaid, but all of the guys you mentioned in your previous post are significantly worse players. And getting rid of their best playmaker and turning over the reigns to Amen, who we're not even sure is really a true PG long-term, seems like a massive mistake. Also, he may be a streaky shooter, but he's the best the Rockets have. If he's so streaky he needs to be dumped, I worry about what you think of the rest of the roster. If they move on from Fred, but they bring in a star in the process, I can get over that. But this idea of "Fred makes too much money, so therefore we should get rid of him and let a 21-year-old run the show" makes zero sense. Fred is likely gone or at least making significantly less money a year from now, and the Rockets aren't going to magically get a ton of assets for a $40 million expiring contract. Bottom line, the Rockets are almost certainly not going to win more games next season by just dumping Fred for a rotational shooter or two plus some mediocre assets. I'm not sure what kind of mental gymnastics one would have to do to convince themselves otherwise.
extend Fred!!!! I don’t want to pay that 3rd year max, but extend him if he’ll take a reasonable 2-yr deal. Freaking love Fred. He’s become one of my all-time favorite rockets. We owe so much of this year’s turnaround to Fred.
There is 100% more likelihood of Fred getting an extension than either him getting traded or the Rockets not picking up that third year option.
There in lies the problem.....people want stars....bring in stars over guys that do the dirty work. Team full of show ponies and no workhorses. Our best years were with Ariza and Luc M. Tucker just doing what they do in 3 & D. Not recognizing that we have all we need in facilitators. I'm not talking Harden and all 3-point shooters. Force the ball out of Hardens hands and the ball just sticks. 1) Jalen Green has always had opposing teams full attention since he came into the league. Packed paint has been his demise. 2) Amen is a force driving 3) Cam is another force driving 4) even Jabari and Tari look good with space. Monk, Beasley, Tyus Jones are mostly for defense backing up Amen at the one. 3 & D guys that can give you some assists........make their shots so that the main facilitators get their assists. Amen could have 8 assists a game if we give him some shooters. Jalen Smith is a dawg.....he is my version of Naz Reid which I wanted last year. You would probably say other players are better......but chemistry is not often built with stars.....sometimes grunts mixed in are needed. Sorry but VanVleet is slow.....slow in fast breaks, slow in perimeter defense, slow in everything.
Agree, I don't get the remove FVV crowd. Fred had other suitors. Dillon was also a free agent signed. People forget Stone had to make lot of calls plus paying the Silas tax to get them. Imagine the signals it sends to the Donovan Mitchell's of the world, if we get rid of these free agents one year in after lifting the Rockets from the bottom. The pro-youth crowd, might want to take a step back. This year has been half youth and half vets in starters and on bench. They'll likely stick with formula. It's not realistic to go almost all youth.
If he was 3 inches taller, we’d be a playoff team. I’ve never seen small guard in Houston size be so detrimental. Chris Paul, Lowry, even Aaron Brooks I don’t remember those guys getting stuffed j. The land of the giants as much as FVv has
1) Trade FVV plus picks for Mitchell 2) Trade Brooks plus BKN picks for Bridges 3) Trade Jabari and Green for Markkanen Mitchell, Bridges, Amen, Lauri, Sengun starting with Cam, Eason, Adams off the bench
I feel like people didn't watch the games this season. Fred brought a lot of stability to the Rockets line-up. Unless we are getting a much better PG in return, why the hell would we get rid of Fred when he is likely a huge reason we won as many games as we did. If the Rockets young players keep improving even more, you still need a PG that will take care of the ball and calm the team down in tense situations. We had a ton of growth this year and Fred, despite being plain oatmeal (@Reeko), needs to be part of our future. You trade Fred and don't get a competent player in return, we are likely to completely flop next year. No young player in our current roster brings a real PG skill set to the table. Sengun is a playmaker, but he can't be bringing the ball up the court and setting up the offense full time. I think Fred will be here through the end of his contract and as long as he doesn't fall off the map, he will likely be here for much longer.
You're talking about role players, dude, and the Rockets have those guys already. Those teams also had a peak James Harden, and most of those Harden era teams had a second top 10-20 caliber player on the roster. Right now the Rockets have zero. You hope one of the young guys will develop into one, but that's all speculative at this point. Also, I find it a bit ironic that you're talking about "show ponies and workhorses"—if Fred wasn't a workhorse this season, I'm not sure what is. Dude was 6th in the league in minutes per game, 7th in assists per game, 11th in steals per game and tops in a number of defensive metrics for point guards. He worked his butt off. Why is Fred not a "workhorse?" But none of them are stars and none of them are elite playmakers. If they were close to contending and dumping Fred's $40 million meant they could add pieces that would help them push to 55-plus wins and be serious contenders, I'd be on board. They're not. This is still very much a collection of random pieces right now, and Fred is often the glue to making them fit together. You need multiple playmakers in today's NBA. And I don't think you could really argue that Fred is seriously hurting Amen's development. If anything, it was Sengun whose injury opened up Amen's potential as a rim threat and secondary playmaker. And, again, we don't know that Amen is for sure a true starting PG moving forward. He could be more of a point forward and secondary playmaker than a true PG. What do any of these guys have to do with FVV or Amen? The Rockets don't need more bigs right now. They need more shooters. You're going way off the deep end here. Dropping FVV and adding Jalen Smith makes the Rockets a better basketball team? Like... what? He's so slow, and yet the Rockets pace and offensive efficiency were elite the last month and a half of the season. He's not slowing them down, chief. And if going fast alone is the sole focus of their roster, then Sengun's gotta go, too, based on your logic. You don't need five guys on the roster who can play fast at all times. Look at Jokic and the Nuggets. Houston has plenty of guys who can play fast in transition. That's not a concern. Your FVV hate really feels personal for some reason. Like you set out before FVV ever stepped on the court that you weren't going to root for this guy and you wanted him off the team. But the vast majority of Rockets fans have praised his performance, acknowledge what he brings to the team and aren't desperate to get him off the roster. Maybe take a step back to consider why you're in the minority here?
Do y’all think Tyus Jones is a realistic FA target with the MLE? I feel like he had a down year on a crappy wizards team and could be willing to take a short term contract (1+1 w/ player option) on a good team to recoup his value and get a bag next offseason.
Now that the season is mostly over, several of the teams in the play-in, or just outside of it are probably going to be re-assessing their team and looking to make some changes. We’ve heard a few names out there, but looking at each team’s situations, who do you think might be available, and would they make sense for the Rockets? Atlanta consistently underperforms and we are already hearing that they are looking to move one or both of Young or Murray. The entire roster should probably be turned over ASAP. Chicago has been trying to move LaVine. I think it happens this summer. Once that happens, it could make Caruso more available as well. Washington is probably going to be stuck with Jordan Poole, but Kuzma still has value and is probably the only player that could net a positive return. They could move him and take on bad salary for additional picks (or they should at least consider doing that). The Warriors are a very expensive play-in team. They’ve got to be looking to deal Looney or Wiggins (or both), likely to a team under the cap who won’t have to send matching salary back. Cleveland is not going anywhere in the playoffs, so Mitchell should be on the move. They will probably try to get a return for him that allows them to continue to contend rather than a fire sale. A team like Portland ought to rebuild, but their expensive role players are still relatively young and they have two firsts they can throw into the mix while still staying below the luxury tax, so they will probably trudge on. I could possibly see them moving Jerami Grant. Unless Jimmy Butler asks out of Miami, I see them remaining pretty static for another year, unless they want to try to “sell high” on Duncan Robinson. I’m not seeing much to get excited about. Until an unexpected star becomes available, the best bet looks like drafting BPA at #9 and signing someone with the MLE. Then hope for health next season and let everyone fight for playing time gladiator style.
I think the only reason he is not in the talk is we didn't make the play-in. He deserves at least as much as orlando coach, who is in his 3rd year with the same team. Udoka's changing a whole culture and getting 20 more wins than last season despite injuries is very impressive. And although Bickerstaff had a good win record, I never see him as an impact coach. I see Ime above JB for sure. The others have valid cases for the award above Ime, but as far as being in the talk, I think he should be there.
No doubt we see things differently. Where I don't see 19 or 20 y/o as busts as some here, let's move on to the next kid.....I do believe In #1, #2, #3 #4 players picked in the first round playing right away. And i don't believe in $40M dollar players coming off the bench. Amen needs to play to get better. FVV is a 114 DRtg where Amen is a 109 DRtg. I'm ok with Amen starting without reservations. The guy rebounds, assists, screen-n-rolls well, runs the court, has mastered the "Dunker Spot." He just needs to work on shooting. The Rockets at one time during their win streak were at 130 ORtg (I posted it) but dropped some after that. Players got fatigued and were still only second to Boston during that stretch. And that was without Whitmore and Tari. What I'm trying to tell you is, Amen can do it all, which means you don't have to just run 5-out and iso all the time. You can still run Horns. Weave, PnR with Amen screening and be efficient...... my vision sees this; but like in hockey, "whole line shift changes" This keeps the troops fresh and exhausts the opposition. Utility Sports mock draft has us taking Sheppard SG at 6'3" from Kentucky with the 9th pick of the draft. Dalton Knecht went 11th at 6'7".........I say the Rockets take him at 9th. First Line 1) Amen (6'7") 2) Jalen Green (6'5") 3) Tari (6'8") 4) Jabari (6'11" ) 5) Sengun (6'11") Second Line 1) re-sign Holiday.....Monk (6'3").....Beasley (6'4")......or move Jalen Green to PG 2) Cam Whitmore (6'8") 3) Dalton Knecht (6'7") 4) Tari Eason (6'8") 5) Steven Adams (6'11")....Jock Landale (6'11").....Jalen Smith (6'10") Third Line (Small Ball line up or Hampton-5 lineup) 1) Amen (6'7") 2) Dalton Knecht (6'7") 3) Cam Whitmore (6'8") 4) Jabari or Tari .....(6'11") or (6'8") 5) Jalen Smith (6'10") I don't mind sending both VanVleet or Dillon Brooks packing and freeing up $60 million. Bring in Paul George or another top player into the mix. Fred and Dillon have served their purpose, now they can go !!
