I hate giving up our prospects for a shot on a title with KD and declining injury prone Giannis, but this at least gives us a shot. Trading both Amen and Alpi without giving up any major picks is a move I'm actually willing to make. Again, WE DON'T HAVE A FRANCHISE PLAYER. There ain't no way we're beating the Spurs or the Thunder with our boys in the next 5 years. A gamble on Giannis having 2 seasons left in the tank is way better odds than giving Amen near max money, both can't shoot but Giannis is a top 5 player at least if healthy. A pretty big if, but Amen for sure ain't it. If we keep him and give him that kind of money, we're done IMO. But then, I don't see any way Stone does this, so whatever. Also, if we trade one of Alpi or Amen + picks for Giannis, that IMO would be the worst case scenario. We would still have major spacing issues and would jeopardize our future rebuild when the window inevitably closes.
It would be a race Injuries vs Injuries..... you bet on your old players to not get injured and hope that the Top MVP players of ur opponent suffer injury blows..... This is the Worst Tactic of Clutch City history ever.....under a Coach that runs you to the Ground.
If Sengun wasnt in the painted area, he could get all the way to the basket. Rockets need to get bigs who can spread the court.
If Giannis is a top 5 player even though he can’t shoot, why can’t Amen be that, especially since he is 23 and is showing progress in his mid-range? Both Amen and Jabari have frames that will support a lot more muscle. Folks are just being too impatient on those 2 guys. I understand that it may be time to move on from Sengun, because I think his physical limitations will prevent him from being an adequate defensive player.
My response would be: The odds are better that Amen, Sengun, or (very unlikely) Reed or Jabari step into top 5-7 player status than that the Rockets win a championship with an FVV, KD, Giannis core. Those three are not going to stay healthy and give us peak production for a playoff run before one of them retires and/or has a career-ruining injury. And even if they somehow beat the odds and did, we still wouldn't be in the top tier of contenders and would still likely lose out to OKC, San Antonio, or in the Finals to whoever comes out of the East. If you think Amen is not going to be worth the money, trade him for picks or a young player you like better. Don't trade him for f***king Giannis. That's just throwing away your best trade asset for what will 99 times out of 100 end up getting us nothing, absolutely nothing. But I challenge you to find me a deal that makes sense in that case. The only thing I could maybe envision is if a team like Indiana where Amen would be a great fit likes Amen better than their lotto pick in this draft class. But even then, IDK if both teams pull the trigger. In all likelihood you're just going to have to live with Amen getting a big paycheck, like it or not, and get onboard with the rest of us in hoping he improves enough to justify it. Hopefully that won't be the full max, but it probably won't be incredibly far off. I still look at Sengun's deal as the benchmark here.
If there was a Flagg or Wemby in this draft I might consider the top pick for Amen, but no one in this draft has superstar potential in my opinion, so you would just be trading potential with proven NBA elite skills for potential. Any trade of Amen needs to bring back both a high pick in this draft and all-star level talent. Of course, that’s just my opinion.
These are my thoughts as well. We are fortunate to have them, both. Let’s let what we have develop and grow. The coaches need to keep focus on development. Everyone player we have is better than season start less Tari. I want more but the players are more talented than savvy for sure.
Yeah injuries could easily turn that into a losing team during the first half of the season. That would be kind of an outlier opinion, in this draft class there are at least three guys that analysts seem to believe are in the general vicinity of Cooper Flagg. (They might not be quite as good, it's arguable.) It's a very strong draft. No Wemby, of course, he was once a decade or better prospect. That said I do personally think Amen has value that is at or near the level of a true tier 1 draft prospect at this point, due to what he's already shown plus future potential.
It’s just a matter of opinion. I do think this is a very deep draft, but I don’t think any one player sticks out as a sure fire hit like Wemby or Flagg. Dybansta seems to be the consensus no. 1 pick, shot 33% from the college 3 pt line and averaged 3.7 assists while playing 35 mins a game. Flagg shot 39% from 3 with 4.7 assists at 30min per game. I don’t really think they are in the same stratosphere. Of course, he may end up better than Amen, but it’s a big gamble with what we’ve seen from Amen at the NBA level.
True, but Dybantsa is also at a different level as a scorer. 25.5 points per game as a 19-year-old freshman is just ridiculous, and he did it efficiently too despite the lower 3P%. (Flagg averaged 19.2 at the same age.) It's always going to be somewhat subjective though evaluating these draft prospects.
Giannis is a 6'11 freight train and can generate unassisted baskets like no one else? I just don't see what you guys see in Amen, it's crazy to me that people think Amen can reach Giannis type of MVP production. He's a defensive wing with limited potential due to average handles at best and poor shooting with no alien like offensive talent like Giannis has.
I can understand your point of view for sure. I would certainly entertain trading them for future picks, I just don't think it's realistic to expect that from our front office. As I said before, it's clear to me the best course of action is to tank and rebuild again, but I'm working with the assumption the FO will not do that. And between having Giannis or trying again for years with Amen and Sengun, including giving Amen a near max contract, I would pick the first option. But yeah, like you said, most likely I will have to accept Amen getting a big paycheck and just hope it works. I'm no player only fan and would gladly eat crow if things go our way. In the end, we're all Rockets fans and I'm going nowhere either way.
Giannis doesn't have an alien offensive game, he is an athletic outlier and genetic freak just like... Amen. Amen doesn't need a great handle or shot, they both have to be average for him to be a superstar because his speed, strength, bounce combination along with his iq will allow him to make plays no one else can. Giannis is bigger and stronger, Amen is quicker and bouncier
This. Amen has a few moments each game where he drives in for a score, but just a few. More often he settles for a jumper in the paint or he just pulls it back out to hand off to KD or Sengun. People here would have you believe he's the next Dwyane Wade, that he puts all this downhill pressure on the other team, but I don't see it. I bet you other teams are more concerned about him as an offensive rebounder and lob threat, and are probably thrilled to see him with the ball in his hands.
A 6'11 athletic outlier is completely different from a 6'7 one. Amen can't bully his way into the basket nearly as effectively. IMO they're on completely different levels.
It's got **** all to do with positivity, he's actually being realistic as opposed to the Amen fanbois thinking a career 21.0% 3pt shooter is going to become in any way competent at that task. THe most hilarious thing is how many Amen die-hards were super anti-Jalen Green who's a career 33.9% shooter because he'll "never become a consistent shooter." So Amen consistently being absolute garbage every time he tries to shoot is better? Make it make sense. Pay him as a defensive specialist, super limited offensive player or move him for picks or players before the league spots the fool's gold.
