That could be true. We don’t know for sure what the thinking was. Priorities can change with circumstances. They may have seen this as an opportunity to develop and assess those players. The entire season has been odd to me. One to forget for sure as a fan
Eh, I guess if your playmaker is Luka or Harden they are also your primary ball handler, capable of directing the offense on 80+ possessions a game, sure. But you aren't going to ask Sengun, KD, Reed or even Amen to do that for more than short stints. The point guard is an extension of the coach on the floor - he brings the ball up, handle pressure, get everyone in their spots, sets the play and distribute the ball accordingly along with other things like running a pick and roll (this team didn't utilize the pick and roll much at all because they had no one capable and we wonder why the offense was anemic? The most basic play in basketball). It was proven that not only can none of those dudes do that, they can't do it collectively. None of them have that skillset. As for FVV being out 20-30 games Vs the entire season, that's irrelevant, the roster was set before his injury. You already had 7 forwards on the roster prior to the DFS signing. You had 3 guards and only one of those a competent point guard that can execute an NBA offense. It would have been wise to ensure that there was another player with that skillset on the roster - you know Fred isn't going to play 82 plus. Signing DFS was a terrible decision simply based on roster building / balance not to mention coming off of surgery and missing the first ~45 games and then proceeding to play ass for the duration shooting 27% from distance. James Harden and Luka have that point guard skillset. These jokers don't - they can't run the show.
The whole Harden/Luka old school heliocentric type of offense is less the norm in the modern NBA.... Most teams use multiple ballhandlers, which includes traditional point guards and non traditional point guards. All of Reed, Amen, and Sengun have experience running an offense in more than short stints. Sengun literally was the entire offense for his Turkish national team. Not sure why yall act like we don't have to actually play the games to see what the young core is capable of. If you think players like Giannis, Mitchell, Tatum, etc are not out there running the offense (albeit not full time) then I don't know what to tell you. It's one of the traits what separates the truly elite... Actually it's very relevant..... The type of backup PG needed to compete at a high level for a full season vs 30 games is way different. Ty Jerome filling in for FVV's +30MPG for 20-30 games is objectively different than an entire season. It would have been wise if we were truly all in competing..... but again.... we weren't.
The mention of Luka or Harden has nothing at all to do with a heliocentric offense but their ability to perform point guard duties in general - since they are the point guard and playmaker, they skip the step of getting their playmakers the ball in advantageous positions. It's like asking KD to bring the ball up court against pressure and double teams - it was often a disaster, KD would get pressured / double teamed and have no outlet - turnover. Same for Reed - he has a habit of picking the ball up against pressure - he doesn't have the handles to deal with that and it often leads to turnovers. You certainly aren't asking Sengun to do that and Amen is pretty much useless outside of attacking in transition as far as running the offense is concerned. I get the idea that these guys are your "playmaker" but that's not the same thing as a point guard. Your playmaker can be anyone - your point guard can't, he has a specific set of skills that is necessary in an NBA offense. We can see what they are capable of while still having a competent backup point guard on the roster. The fact is that the roster was already set prior to the FVV injury, whether that's 20 games or 82 is irrelevant. In constructing the roster, which was finalized prior to Fred getting hurt, there should have been some redundancy in players who possess that skillset - Before not after. It isthat important, so much so that literally every single team in the league has multiple point guards - regardless of who their "playmaker" is - even the teams with Giannis, Tatum, Lebron, Wemby and Ant. They were all in competing until Fred went down. Then it became not our year. They were expecting to ride FVV for 34 minutes a game and have Amen / Reed fill in the rest which on the surface is fine but that makes Fred invaluable in that he's the only player on the roster who has that traditional point guard skillset - he goes down, your season goes down with him - unless you are able to add another player with that skillset which they didn't (and I understand why). Again, the roster was already established prior to Fred's injury - they left themselves with nothing but bad options from that point on. 7 forwards prior to DFS signing who made it 8. Surely you could have signed a point guard in place of one of them - Green played 175 minutes on the season, Tate 405, DFS 620. Were these guys really better use of roster spots than another guy with point guard skills? This should have been the case before Fred got hurt - not a reaction to Freds injury - which makes it irrelevant if it's 2 games or 82.
I know what you mean... but players like Mitchell, Kawhi, Tatum, Brown, Giannis, etc are elite because they can also run an offense and not just score, albeit not run it full time like a Harden or Luka. Kawhi isn't just out there methodically free lancing... Separating Ime out of the equation... I think "playmakers" do in fact run the offense, but just not to the same degree as a true point guard. Just not as much. If FVV only missed 20 games, that's far less time for Amen and Sengun running the offense. How much would Reed actually get to play if we had a solid backup PG? The contingency plan for FVV missing time was Reed, Amen, Sengun, and KD to fill in the gaps. There was no contingency plan for FVV missing the entire year, like there would be no contingency plan for KD missing an entire season. Having our team with FVV for 80% of the season vs 0% is a wildly different thing. They were in fact not all in competing. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so focused on the young core at the expense of building a more balanced team. The FO's action (not rhetoric) shows how they were constrained by the cap rules so they added a bunch of cheaper vets + FVV/KD to supplement our young core's development with playoff and beyond expectations. Forgot to mention Sengun, who is our young core player that knows how to run an offense the most. I know it doesn't seem like it since it literally happened.... but a player missing an entire season due to a training camp injury is actually very rare.
Of course I wanted them to compete since they said they were in phase 3 contending phase and not a developmental team anymore. But they contradicted themselves “We’re not a developmental team anymore,” general manager Rafael Stone said at Monday’s press conference to recap 2025 offseason moves.” https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/st...ckets-explain-cam-whitmore-trade/84531493007/ “Phase Three is becoming a championship contender” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...udoka-stone-rebuild-nba-playoffs-20267385.php
These non-guard playmakers - Kawhi, Giannis, Jokic and the like, how often do you see them bring the ball up other than in fast break / transition opportunities? Almost Never is the answer. And this was a huge issue that everyone complains about KD - not having the handles to deal with pressure and double teams in that situation, often leading to turnovers, not just turnovers but turnovers that lead directly to easy buckets for the opposition. That's one of the jobs of the point guard. Running the offense isn't just executing X play ... you gotta get the ball across the timeline & get into your offensive set in a timely manner and get your playmakers the ball where they can be most effective. We saw it all year long, Amen bringing the ball up and looking to attack the rim - if it wasn't there, he'd give the ball up to Reed / KD / Sengun and go to the dunkers spot. Problem is that he wasted 8 seconds off the shot clock in doing that. That's why this team ran so damn much ISO - no ball handlers capable of running a pick and roll along with the short clock issues. The way they constructed the roster, they left themselves no choice but to lean into Reed / Amen. And I do understand that was intentional, that was their plan but leaving Fred as the only point guard on the roster was just a bad idea. Now you've got KD bringing the ball up against pressure, Reed picking up his dribble and Amen wasting 1/3rd of the shot clock before giving it to KD / Sengun who's not in his preferred spot, instead of someone who can get the "playmakers" the ball in their preferred spots. Fred's not that great either - mediocre shooter, can't finish at the rim or in the mid range but he's got point guard handles and mindset of what has to happen to be successful on each possession. The fact that Fred was missed as much as he was shows exactly how important that skillset is to an NBA team. Your season hinged on Fred's health before he was injured. They shouldn't have signed DFS period, not with 7 other forwards on the roster, that money should have gone to a guard (before FVV got hurt). Some of us were begging for a guard last offseason, before FVV got hurt.
The planning and thought process that went into roster construction was flawed. How could they think point guard by committee from guys that have never played that position in the NBA or a Center would work? Raptors had a version of this they played at one point with Nurse. Barnes was ther pg and everyone else was a wing. They took turns running point as well. Those lineups sucked. You would think the Rockets learned from this. Baffling to me. Just an ill planned roster.
This is interesting because it goes back to the positionless concept or theory, which is a misnomer. Many people call Jokic a point guard or point center. Its true he possesses point guard skills in setting up the half court, directing traffic, facilitating and he brings the ball up full court from time to time. But if you watch Denver Murray still brings the ball up most of the game. He’s still directing and managing on offense and defense. People also forget and think point guard is just about offense. Jokic still plays a center role in defending the paint, rebounding, guarding bigs. That’s his position although his skills blend into another position. This era can be defined as guys that have diverse skills that are usually seen in other positions or roles in addition to their core positional skills. But that doesn’t mean teams are positionless.
KD wasn't brought onto the Rockets to run the offense, let's not be ignorant here. Our starting roster was going to involve a true PG, a playmaking wing, a playmaking stretch 4, a stretch 4, and a playmaking center. The intent was to play a pretty modern style of basketball. Also Ime kinda sucked at adjusting. BTW we are middle of the pack in isolation frequency. You do understand there was a belief that the young core would improve over the off season. I mean Sengun looked like he took that leap from playing for the Turkish international team and his first two months. The way they constructed the team allowed for us to handle players like FVV or Durant missing 20/30 games but not the entire season. Again... Ty Jerome wasn't saving this season with FVV out for the entire year. The Rockets future depends on developing the young core and/or cashing in the young core, not spending the MLE on Ty Jerome. Missing the forest through the trees.
Lol…. I can’t with you GARM posters that take everything the FO says as gospel. Look at actions over rhetoric. They even said “phase 3 is becoming a championship contender” not that they ARE a championship contender. Kinda implies a gradual process instead of overnight success.
Teams make announcements on specific things via the press no different than any other business, government official, or organization. What else is the public to do when a team talks about it’s direction and plans? If someone says they’re in a 3 phase rebuild then that’s exactly what that means. Phase 2 was simply about getting in the playoffs—that was the past 2 years. Phase 3 is having a contending team and that’s why they traded for Durant. Why else would they trade for Durant and shore up their defense with a wing and a center? Are they not trying to build a contender? It’s not about where you think they’re at, it’s about what they have said publicly backed by what they’ve done. And they said they will take crawl walk run approach. They made the playoffs in 25. Then they assembled a team to compete for a title this past year, which was flawed and imbalanced. “Phase 2 started in late April when Houston hired former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, who led the Celtics to an NBA Finals appearance in his only season.” “Tilman Fertitta spoke of phase 1 and how the Rockets are now entering phase 2 of their rebuild, which means he wants the team to compete for the playoffs.“ “For owner Tilman Fertitta, Phase 3 consists of playoff runs that will ultimately produce NBA titles.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...roster-overhaul-rebuilding-phase-18181669.php
It’s literally the first year of phase 3. They are clearly still developing and hoping Reed, Amen, and Sengun improve.
There have been lots of pgs who are combo guards Billups, Steph Curry, Fisher etc Acting like Reed can only be an sg when he just started out frankly is pretty shortsighted. It takes time to develop playmaking Steve Nash spent 4 yrs developing in college and still had a bad 1st year. Now Reed is just in his 2nd year you are already saying he is the white Landry Shamet. Does Shamet have highlights like this? Getting that rental how much devt would Reed and Amen get? They wont be the one playing it would be that rental so it doesnt matter if we reach the 2nd round.
They traded for Durant because he was an upgrade over Jalen Green. Sure they are hoping getting KD means they are now contenders, but since all they really gave up is a top 10 pick to dump bad assets and upgrade its not like they are now championship or bust. As for the team being "flawed and unbalanced" are you forgetting we just lost our starting pg and 6th man for the entire season? If everyone is healthy is the roster flawed and unbalanced? Yes or no? Even if the Rockets are in Phase 3, it doesnt mean you discount any and all injuries that happen to the team. A lot of guys keep giving props to Morey for the 2018 team, wasnt that derailed by Cp3 injury? Everyone gives props despite the team losing cp3 and going 0-23 from 3 but now the roster is unbalanced and bad disregarding our injuries.
People are really conflating two separate topics on Stone/Udoka: One is whether we are currently committed to being a "contender" or are we still in the young player development business (while remaining competitive). IMO judge them by their actions last summer, at the deadline, and this summer. The second topic is the basketball fit and skill distribution on the roster, regardless of what "phase" the team is in. Here I think Stone/Udoka's vision was clearly mixed to unsuccessful. Organizational actions have demonstrated they believed that size/rebounding/winning plays/defense/toughness/possession-maxing were undervalued in the market, and on-ball skill was overvalued. I think there is truth to this in the regular season, but reality has shown diminishing returns, and failure in playoff contexts attributable to this philosophy. Stone's end of season presser suggested they've changed their thinking on this, and see on-ball skill as the re-balancing need. We'll see if that plays out.
What was Steve Nash's super power? It was that he never picked up his dribble. His signature move was driving across the baseline under the basket with a live dribble. Reed is the complete opposite. He picks up his dribble every time within 3 seconds of crossing the 3 pt line because he isn't confident in his handle. If Reed himself doesn't believe in his ball handling, you shouldn't either. Real point guards start building those dribble skills really young. It's not typically something you just learn in the league. Passing isn't what's holding back Reed's potential as a point guard; I think his passing is pretty good actually. The issue is handle and that's what really separates true points and combos. Billups is a fair comparison but I don't think he'd be as effective in 2026. He was a perfectly good point guard because his team only needed to score 70 points to win.
I don't think they were deliberately seeking out a roster that lacked on-ball skill. Rather, the guards drafted by Stone did not reach their potential (Jalen Green, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard).
