[Poll] Trading out of the 2026 draft, terrible mistake?

I always find it hilarious people who are anti-draft picks also never offer an alternative. Ok so draft picks dont work. We know trading for star doesnt work because Stone just traded for one and failed. We know FAs dont work because Stone picks players who are either injury prone or simply suck. So what do you suggest? Just sit on your ass and pray next year half the contenders lose all their top players to injury? Hell even that didnt work cause Lakers beat the Rockets silly without a top-5 player in the NBA.

 

You’re right…. Every 15 and 16 year old elite prospect pans out…. lol.

Is Cam Boozer this can’t miss prospect even this draft? Today?

 

I'm obviously more bullish on what KD bring. He played 78 games last year...waaaay too many minutes though. It was unfortunate he was out for much of the playoffs, but c'est la vie
Durant has adjusted his game and regimen...along with the insane genes...he's a freak.
To a contender, with the right pieces in place... he's among the best closers in the game...one of the greatest shooter/scorers of all time...and giving you insane efficiency.
Being able to move him for a lot at any time...assuming health was always a built in factor.

In moving KD and Sengun, I would want back -

#5 or #6
A freshly signed Ayo
+
more quality players and picks....
Obviously, an athletic 5 ...who can block shots, finish , and perhaps stick the J.

 

LOL… so trading Durant means we can’t trade for Mitchell, Giannis, or whoever? Didn’t know that was a rule…

Sounds like you are just learning it’s actually really hard to be a contender, unless you are the Lakers. Proud of you!

 

I think this is very true!
As aforementioned, one could say Alpi's "treadmill of mediocrity pick " has delivered greater dividends than any of the lotto picks that we tanked for...
Kobe was #13... Shai was 11
Obviously #1 has the greatest potential impact...
but beyond that... what are we talking? a 5-10% chance at a superstar at 2-10? with a 2-5% at 11-20? or something? I'm just guessing... I wonder if anyone's ever run the #s on hit % on a a draft slot by slot basis...
Doesnt seem worth throwing away years to go from a 2% chance to a 5% chance...

 

I know there are lots of people who disagree - but I think, that whether they accepted the Bridges deal or not, the Nets would have made moves to improve their team and win as much as possible if we had their pick. I think it's silly to expect the pick to be as valuably as it currently is if the Rockets possessed it. They'd have no reason to tank, so they would have traded and signed free agents accordingly. They also would have optimized their existing roster to win games as much as possible, which they didn't do because their objective was a top pick. In the weak East, it's not too far fetched to imagine them being a play-in team with the right moves around MPJ. And then none of you would even be that upset.

 

I don’t think you know what “generational” means….

 

I'm not saying that u abandon the draft and dont take your allotted shots... I'm saying that u dont purposefully tank and serve up a sub-par product to your fanbase simply on the premise that being bad is going to net u some generational talent in the draft... and if u do tank - trade that inflated value asset for a proven commodity... bc the draft is a crapshoot.

I'd say our best player since the championships was Harden... we didnt draft him...

How many guys coming out this year are going to be better than Dillon Brooks? We picked him up as a free agent....

 

I voted "Yes" because hindsight is almost always 20/20. However, I understood why he was making the deal, I just didn't think he squeezed enough juice from Jersey to justify bailing them out.

With that said, it's done. What are we going to do now? Looks like Stone and Ime are safe for another year at least. So what's the magical move we can make to propel us into contention?

Personally, I don't think it's Giannis and really don't want to add another aging star. So who can save us? I like the idea of still trying to build through the draft probably best. Yeah it's a crap shoot, but they're ours to mold. Need to build Rockets version of SWARM mentality.

 

You really trust this brass to develop another young guy?

 

One key is--we need to get rid of the veterans. All or almost all of them. And it's not just to recoup assets (some of these guys aren't worth much anyway, or even have negative value right now like DFS). It's to open up playing time opportunities for future draft picks, including the two 2nd rounders we're about to make, or if we trade back into the 1st round. I don't mind being a play-in team for a couple more seasons, especially with the new draft rules coming up.

Nope, not at all. But if a guy is going to be a star he usually won't be held back too much by bad player development... as long as he has playing time to show his stuff. Whether it's this front office or another we need to get re-aligned around building organically through the draft and other means of acquiring young players.

 

Stone hasn’t found an all star caliber player in the lottery anyway

 

the Pelicans had no incentive to tank and were still garbage

y’all need to stop the cope like the Nets would be some 40 win team if they didn’t have their pick

even if that pick was 7th or 8th, I’d gladly take it because in this draft, that’s a better prospect than 3rd pick Reed Sheppard or an asset to try and trade for a good player

 

Welp….

2025: BKN #8 and PHX #10
2026: BKN#6

All that crying over that…. Some of yall hate everything

 

So how did the rockets end up?
Are we in the green or is it still a mess up?

 

@Aruba77 @Reeko

 

I mean its obvious it was a bad trade. But oh well now.

It just sucks because he made that move to gain leverage on the suns stars.. and turns out we didn't have to do that anyways.