Dumb. Remove Wemby and this statement is no longer valid. It's much easier to build a team around one player who happens to be a generational talent. Tell me, what is the one player that the Rockets should be building around right now?
aside from the obvious in OKC and SA, this team as it currently stands is also not beating Denver, LA, Wolves, or healthy Warriors in a playoff series Blazers are linked to Jaylen Brown…if they get him, Rockets aren’t beating them either last year we were down 3-1 to the Warriors…the series was essentially over atp we were down 3-0 to AARP Lebron and a bunch of castaways there’s a reason why once all the injuries started piling up, all you heard was Lakers fans saying they must get the Rockets in the 1st round because that’s the only hope they have of winning a series and buying time for Reaves and Luka to recover and no, it’s not just because we have Ime as coach we have very little shooting. our bench is pathetic, and ain’t nobody scared of old KD, Sengun, or Amen KD is 6-13 in his last 19 playoff games including 2 sweeps Amen can’t shoot a lick and doesn’t have to be guarded outside of 10 ft Sengun can’t shoot, is soft, exploitable on defense, and easily bottled up on offense Lakers were comfortable telling Ayton to go and handle Sengun, and he did…same Ayton that was unplayable the very next round against OKC
Remove Wemby and they have one franchise talent (Harper), one future all-sttar point guard (Castle) and Fox. This trio is still better than Sengun-Amen-Reed-Jabari.
They are positioned really well. They have the #20 pick this year, Atlanta's frp next year. Dallas frp in 30 and all their own. Fox will be a tradeable contract in two years at most. The only way to derail the Spurs is if Wemby turns into Embid. Wemby will get a supermax extension starting in 28/29. Castle will get probably Sengun type extension starting in the 28/29. Vassel is FA in 29/30. Harper's extension will start in 29/30. They will be a 2nd Apron team for sure by 29/30, but have the ability to add plenty of youth in the mean-time if they don't foolishly trade away their draft picks and unload Fox somehow. With luck on the injury front both SA and OKC are WCF dynasties for a decade.
. Trading for stars is more easily said than done. Chasing stars is what did Morey in. Gutting the youth on this team to try and steal a championship with a 38 year old Durant against, not just one super team but two, is the real overreaction. In order for us to have a chance at even making the WCF with Durant and Giannis, it would take catastrophic injury to top players on both OKC and SA and nobody else in the West getting much better. It's big time fool's gold.
I agree with this. We have a problem with flexibility with a Narcistic head coach that has proven time and time again that he is inflexible. We have a FO that has evidently bought into his narrow view of how to win in the NBA and has built a roster incompatible with today's NBA. I'm not in favor of panic trading our youth or draft picks, but there is no "KD" window. This team has land mines at every off-season step. If you stand pat, you've wasted another year of development time spamming KD and FVV to 52 wins and a first round exit. If you trade KD for nothing or a middlin pick, the team will in all likelihood, take a step back in wins and give Stone/Ime another lifeline to say "I told you so" and get another iteration of the same sh*t. I can't for the life of me understand how anyone of sane basketball mind can think gutting our future for the ghost of Giannis will put us even in the conversation with Okc and SA. We shot our wad a year early with the KD trade and the Ime extension. Not to mention the medvac brigade of Adams and DFS. Amen and/or Sengun developing outside shots or some team making a Luka level mistake is our only hope for the next 5 years or so.
They also have the 6th man of the year and Vassel and good draft picks going forward. Wemby makes them a dynasty, but even without him they are well-positioned to be competitive. I doubt Wemby will have an injury free career, but it is not unrealistic to think he can stay relatively healthy for at least 5 years. If SA drafts well (20th pick this year, Atlanta's 27 frp, Dallas 30 frp, and others) we are really screwed.
It is our only realistic option, unless Sengun develops a really consistent 3 point shot and they you could add him to the core.
C'mon, a team anchored with Harper, Castle, and Fox is not beating this OKC in 2026. Durrant-Sengun-Amen >>>>> Fox-Harper-Castle. They got lucky with Wemby. They got lucky with Castle. Fox was a great trade but is a vet and an all-star so you comparison isn't apples-apples. The difference is Wemby. Keep it real. Stop drooling over the Spurs. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than smart. I had the same response about the golden boys in GS. They got super lucky in the draft with Curry, Clay, and Draymond.
Are you comparing Jabari or Amen to Wemby? Look, the Rockets took a gamble and lost. They tanked for 3 seasons and didn't get "that guy". They didn't get an Edwards, an SGA, a Wemby, a Flagg. Sucks but the Rockets have a staff full of championship caliber role players. They don't have an alpha.
