Also gifted Harper. Congratulations they got 2 of the top 5 prospects since the Rockets started tanking. 1. Wemby 2. Flagg 3. Cade 4. Harper 5. Chet Now the NBA "fixes" tanking. Sure, the Spurs are better than the Rockets at development and the Rockets aren't great but getting Wemby does a lot of the heavy lifting. This same organization flubbed Kawhi and traded him for DD and Poetl.
OKC probably win that series with JDub and Mitchell. I’m struggling to understand what weakness he would address. Chet?, but you would lose a great deal on defense and KD and SGA both need the ball in their hands and operate primarily from the same space on the floor (not unlike our issue with KD). It’s a non-starter, unless KD is ok coming off the bench.
Of course getting Wemby does a lot of heavy lifting, I’ll never deny that. However, they dealt Murray for a load of picks. They traded for Fox. They have drafted and developed Harper, Castle, Johnson, Vassel and others. No organization is perfect - but the Spurs from an organizational and developmental standpoint are light years ahead of the Rockets. Same with the Thunder, and I expect we will see the same with the Jazz. Do you doubt that Green/Smith/Amen and Reed would be better players had they been developed by the Spurs? I sure don’t. The Rockets can’t always control where the lottery balls bounce. However they can control the quality of their organization, the culture and drafting/scouting. Can control the decision on when to stop rebuilding, and whom to sign and trade for. As for Leonard, he isn’t their only mistake - there are a couple others… but they don’t take shortcuts, they are smart, disciplined and work hard and it shows.
we are in agreement that the Rockets organization sucks. Most organizations do. Rockets are probably about league average. Stone telegraphed taking Green and never seemed to actually give Mobley any thought. Stone telegraphed wanting Paolo and got stuck with Smith. Stone held on to KPJ until he was accused of domestic violence. Wemby celebrated not going to Houston. I think they hired Ime too quickly and shouldn't have gone for such a stubborn minded coach to fix their issues. They got short term benefits while damaging the long term. I think Green's friend even alluded to that.
You know he made those moves before we even knew Fred would be out, right? Stone made those moves knowing they'd basically cap-lock the team. As long as Tillman is the owner, I don't see us ever going into the second apron. He's never been willing to do it during his time owning the Rockets, and nothing so far suggests that's going to change.
Come on, respect you, but this is hyperbolic pessimism. The Spurs are 18 points better with Wemby on the floor in the playoffs. That number was similarly massive during the regular season. They have been a negative net rating team without Wemby on the floor. Maybe you mean they would be better than the Rockets team that played vs the Lakers with only 35% of the payroll on the court? Sure, ok. So are 25 other teams. Wemby is by the numbers right now the most impactful player in the NBA, maybe that there has ever been. If you just added him to a healthy Rockets team we’d have a +15 net rating, win 70 games, and be the massive championship favorite. And that’s true of at least 8-10 other teams. Wemby is that impactful.
That’s under rated. They Identified and got rid of their busts, instead of giving them 5 year extensions and making them a key part in what they train every day.
Question for this argument. If you swapped Sengun and Wemby, what team is winning a 7 game series? Wemby on Rockets, Sengun on Spurs, which team is better?
Right, this is how i feel. Wemby is no ordinary superstar, all due respect to Tatum and Brunson, other franchise players as they were mentioned in this thread, Wemby is on a tier higher than even those guys. Wemby is generational. This is Lebron in his prime levels of impact and it might even be greater than that which is terrifying. You add him to the vast majority of teams, they are instantly A LOT better. Not some slim margin better, but by a lot. Just like Lebron took actual bottom tier teams to the playoffs, so would Wemby.
I’m just going to throw this out there: The exact same dynasty talk was made about Orlando Shaq and Penny when they dispatched the Bulls (and MJ) to reach the Finals. Then we swept them and Shaq bolted in 1yr for major market (after MJ swept them in next conf finals) Knicks are on a historical run right now. They could sweep them, and Wemby bolts just saying Rockets fans. It’s happened before! We still have hope. Yes, I’m too superstitious for I.D.I.O.T.
Are you being serious? Castle is the main reason the Spurs beat OKC? C'mon, I'm obviously saying getting the #1 pick the year Wemby came out is luck. Stop being obtuse. But I'll play. The Spurs got lucky he dropped to #4. Even still, every draft selection is luck. How many #1 picks have been a bust, much less #4 picks? So yes, they got lucky with Castle. But Castle isn't really what we are talking about here, is it?
Harper is good, but I’m very relieved they didn’t take Kneuppel. A true Curry-level shooter, bigger, and with legit playmaking skills too. phew, we did dodge that. Thx Spurs.
If you think it's only problem about luck, you are dead wrong. Adam Silver gave Wemby to the Spurs because they have better front office and culture. Adam Silver knows Rockets organization sucks. Rockets would waste the generational talent.
