Giannis is at least debatable. AD is non-negotiable - if we go get him and give up Alpi or something, I'm demanding a skull check.
I don't think that's correct bro. Maybe I am wrong but according to the latest CBA the Rockets are over the salary cap but below the first apron. So the formula for a trade of someone like Giannis is: "Use one or more outgoing salaries worth above $29,000,000 to take back up to 125% of that salary (plus $250K) via matching" Also, the remainder of Giannis' contract after the swapped salaries is roughly 11-12 mil. That money is still counted towards the cap and the Rockets would be closer to the first apron at 9 mil under. Just like with Bird rights--the rules make the deal legal but teams aren't immune from contracts affecting the cap. So the Rockets would be wise to send out more salary. But I don't know what's all on the table in terms of all of the other contracts--I'm not a GM.
It would save them - The Bucks - ~$12m. Yes, the Rockets would take on that extra - If they sent out the minimum.
Giannis had an injury plagued year last year and his team was also trying to tank. So to say he cannot "stay healthy" is an exaggeration. He has averaged around 69 games per season his career. He still is arguably a top 5 player in the league and a champion. The calculus is simple. The Rockets simply do not have the luxury of getting stars from the draft so they must manufacture it through trades or free agency. The current level of play is good but not great and they need great to get over the hump. The Warriors was a vulnerable team after their loss to the Cavs in 2016, so they retooled and got a dominant player (Durant). The Celtics couldn't win with that group and went out and got stars in Jrue and Porzingis to win in 2024. And we all know what that star Celtics trio did in 2008. Shaq elevated the Heat and won in 2006. Bron couldn’t win until AD came and they won in 20. You can't win without star power in this league period.
Ok I see what you're saying. It would be attractive to the Bucks since they're sending out contracts. Bad for us if we don't match salaries more.
It’s more about the type of injury he’s suffering. Same as KD, Dame and Halliburton before their Achilles blew out. Do you really want to take that chance with a guy whose whole entire game is based on his athleticism?
He didn’t get any serious long term injury that took months or years to recover from. Saying he could tear his Achilles etc is speculation and fatalistic. SGA could tear his ACL next game. The fact is we don’t know. He’s a champion. He’s still playing at an elite level and he’s still only 31. I don’t agree all of his game is athleticism. He’s added so many layers to his game including mid range, post, and 3 pt shot.
It's not an exaggeration. He played more than 70 games only once in the past 7 seasons. Ironically, he missed the playoffs that season and they lost in the first round. The previous year, he missed 2 games in the playoffs and they lost in the first round. He will be 32 years old next year. A player like him who relies mostly on physical dominance will decline sharply. Shaq started declining at 31. Westbrook started declining at 32. You want to sell your farm to get a 32-year old Giannis? You "Giannis will save us" crowd are rationalizing trying to ignore the obvious.
last time I checked he still won an NBA championship in 2021. He’s still an elite player. What farm? By giving away inferior players like Sengun and Sheppard? To say he isn’t worth anything, old, and using injuries as an argument against obtaining him is misrepresenting his talent, body of work, and overall value. Because guess what? Sengun isn’t going to win one for us. We have no elite players. That’s why the move needs to happen.
Just because they're not elite doesn't mean they don't have value--or that the best way to spend their value is on a player like Giannis who is at the end of typical prime years for a star and has either missed games or been hobbled by injuries in virtually every playoffs since that championship season. I think it's very understandable to want to make trades to better the team, or to not have faith in one specific young player or another, or all of them. I just think Giannis would be a waste of our assets. Even if he somehow has a couple more fully healthy seasons before the inevitable decline, I still don't think we can build a true championship contender around him in that time. I think we would still be pretenders. Your thinking I guess is "we can't rebuild anymore, it hasn't worked, and Giannis is the best player available". But when the best player available still isn't enough, what other choice do we have? It's not that I'm even against trading for a star player on principle... I think it very rarely works out historically, true. But if, say, Jayson Tatum was available, I would pay a high price for him. I'm just against throwing away good assets (even if they're not superstars) for what I think would end up being nothing.
33% on 1.3 attempts per game is the most generous "added" 3 point shot of all time. I'd give the current core another year under a different coach instead of trading everyone with the same awful coaching staff for, at most, two years of contention where they still get slaughtered in OKC or San Antonio. If nobody emerges as a star player, so be it. Either way you're blowing up the team after 3 or so years, except a 27 year old Sengun and a 26 year old Amen Thompson will land a much better rebuild package than a 35 year old Giannis. The biggest solvable problem on the team is Ime. You could give him the 2018 Rockets and he'd have them leading the league in mid range jumpers while having Chris Paul leading the league in minutes.
Yeah it only works if you trade for someone entering or mid-Prime. LeBron/Bosh to Miami, Shaq to LA, Shaq to Miami, Kawhi to Toronto etc. I'm with you, happy if we trade for a real star, less so if we trade for a hobbled one on the downswing - see Katie Dickerson for reference.
I believe Giannis and a few other pieces to plug our holes would be enough to at least make a few runs. If we only win 1 out of 3 years he and Durant are together then great! If it doesn’t work then also great. We move on to the next iteration. I just gave several examples where teams couldn’t win but went out and obtained stars which led them to the title. You think Warriors would have beaten us in 2018 without Durant? Or even 2019? I am also saying Sengun is not a championship player and I think it’s very obvious and I don’t want guys like that on the team. As I said our players aren’t good enough so we need to get players who are.
Injuries happen. Durant was healthy for most of the year. Rockets still had 2 of their main 3 scorers yet still couldn’t win. Shaq was also 32 on Miami. Boston’s big 3 were all in their 30’s. Jrue helped 2 teams win titles in his 30’s
Point is he’s worked on other skills to add to his game and he’s worked very hard on shooting which hopefully will only get better. How many times do you have to go through the same cycle before you try something new? The fact is it’s not working. It hasn’t worked. 2 starting players not able to shoot more than 10 ft will never work. No coach is fixing that. What coach wants to come in with that pressure anyway?
Pretty much. That's the only reason I would send Amen vs Jabari. When you enter spotrac trade machine, Sengun, FVV and Thompson works financially. I would also dump Adams and his 12m. I can get Drummind as a backup who does the same thing for a quarter of the price.
2021 was FIVE years ago. Using that to tout him as a championship player is disingenuous. Jokic won a championship 3 years ago and some of you said he was trash. Body of work is fine. We are looking at the future, not the past. Hakeem's body of work is more impressive. Do you want him to be our starting center now? I agree that we have no elite player now. But they are all the assets we have. Trading them is "selling the farm" in our situation. We should sell the farm for a better future, not a better past.
What do I get from being deceptive or dishonest about? That’s what disingenuous means. My honest assessment is Sengun isn’t a championship level player at this time (which is a fact) and I don’t forsee him ever being one. He’s a borderline third tier player to me. The dumb fouls, the lack of discipline in passing, the lack of focus on FT’s tell the story. Hakeem also didn’t play last year at an elite level did he? Giannis is a better future and his play will open up the game for the rest of our players. That’s what great players do. I get the reservation about injuries etc but that’s overblown in my opinion. He’s a champion and elite and players like that aren’t always available
Couple years ago Stone (and Ime) lusted after a stretch C in an aging Brook Lopez. Lopez negging the deal, saved Stone and Ime from themselves. Lopez as ppl have seen on the Bucks and Clippers is pretty much cooked. What a terrible signing if Lopez ended up on the Rockets. Rockets can move guys for the right return, but some of these pursuits by the FO have been misses. And it's been dumb luck they avoided some of the land mines. I want change but I'm not confident the FO will pull it off when they go after vets. If the young core ain't it, get back into the draft or trade for a different young piece.
