SGA is a good counterexample. He didn’t look like a no-doubt superstar immediately, his real leap came around years 4–5. Giannis was not a superstar early either. Kawhi was a very good role/star-support guy before becoming a true franchise-level player. Even Jimmy Butler is another example of someone whose offensive ceiling took time. That said, Jokic, Luka, Wemby, etc. were different, those guys showed elite franchise-player signals very early. For Amen, I think the reasonable position is somewhere in the middle. He is not a sure superstar, and the shooting concern is real. But saying “he’s had 3 years, he ain’t gonna get it” is too absolute. His non-shooting impact is already way above a normal role player. The question is whether he gets just enough shooting/half-court offense to unlock the rest. I’d put the “build-around guy” breakout odds around 10–25%. Not top-5-in-the-league odds, but good enough to be one of your franchise pillars. Those odds drop a lot if he looks basically the same next season, because most major superstar leaps show up by years 3–4. Players can still improve after that, but the odds of a huge leap get smaller.
Generally fair enough. But my point is that in today’s league, your big needs to do at least one of those two things (obviously ideally both). And Alpy, for as good as he is, does neither. Your point about guards shooting is totally fair, though. I just think Amen’s tools are louder and he does so many other things well. But I don’t really disagree.
The numbers overall from a longer sample size doesnt match that. I was expecting Amen to be a superstar and way better than Alpi who is a 16th pick. Its disapointing that they can even be compared. If we're talking potential Amen beats Alpi by a mile but if we're talking who has accomplished more for a longer period its Alpi and thats disapointing. Jabari is a bust to me and Reed is approaching busty if he doesnt make a big leap and Amen isnt on track to be a superstar just an allstar. Stone should be fired. bad picks failed rebuild, failed trades. Our biggest issue is our GM.
SGA looked great early which is why OKC demanded him in the Paul George trade. Giannis and Kawhi both developed over time - will give you those. But until our guys show they are worth building around, you have to be willing to churn anyone if a TRUE Superstar breaks loose. DD
Ime is a bigger problem than Stone right now. He cant coach his way out a paper bag and we're expecting him to know to take talents and turn them into a machine. He can only take whats already given and give it 46 minutes a game. He would *never* have been able to make what Kerr did. Im not even sure he could even do what Mitch Johnson has done or the Knicks. Castle and Brunson would never have been given the time of day under Ime. Issue is that the Fertitta's also dont foster an environment for people to be creative. The reason Stone is around is because he's the GM equivalent of Tom from Succession. An obedient punching bag you can throw scraps to every once in a while. The Fertitta's dont respect him and his wife probably doesnt either.
LAC would not have traded SGA if he was already a star. He showed signs. He got hurt.* Amen and Sengun show signs. * I will say, SGA always seemed to be hurt early in his career when I tried to watch. Some of it was tanking. His stats looked good. He looked okay when I did see him. My recollection of him was that people talked about his potential and how good he would be a long time before his potential was realized.
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/4278073/shai-gilgeous-alexander SGA played ROOKIE year in LA, then was traded and immediately went to 19ppg...and then from there on up....he showed a lot of signs early, wasn't injured for the most part, and LA didn't want to trade him but OKC demanded he be included. DD
"The KD trade was a mistake" is an opinion, not fact. You frame that statement as if it is common knowledge. That's just your opinion. You don't need to go on a personal attack against me and suggest I don't have "brains" because I don't share your opinion. Let's keep it on the up and up. What I imagine you and I can agree on is the season didn't end as we hoped. However, I don't agree that the failure was due to the KD trade. It isn't KD's fault: 1. FVV got hurt 2. All the backup PGs on staff under delivered 3. Stone refused to make a trade to get another backup PG 4. Ime's plan at PG was to play KD out of position and turn him into a primary ball handler Also, your narrative that KD is old is simple. Afterall, the team that knocked out the Rockets have a star that is even older. So you are saying a young guard is what would have saved this season? Tell us, who is that young guard that would lead the Rockets past the Spurs this season.
No mention of the texts or the Rockets standing and chemistry plummeting after the texts. Because you are biased for KD. Just like you made the trade seem like it was Green for KD because thats the only way it looks good lol. Im not new. I know how you KD stans operate. Im not wasting another minute debating a terrible trade for a 37 year old now 38 in the middle of a rebuild. You do that with yourself. It was always gonna end like this cuz he is a mental case. And the longer we keep him the longer the nightmare will continue and people like you will blame everyone and everything but him just like I predicted last year. Cant wait til FVV to come back so no more excuses and we still suck and look worse than before we got him. You can reply I wont be reading it.
I accidentally voted for Amen, lol - but I meant to vote for Sengun. In truth, I reject the idea that they can't play together. But you absolutely can not build around Amen - he doesn't have the handle to be a primary offensive option. I'm not saying you can definitely build around Sengun, but he wins this by default, because it is impossible to build around someone as far away from having the handle of a primary option as Amen is. All that said, I love both guys, and I think if we played in the right offensive system (one with off ball screening and cutting), that Amen and Sengun could fit great together. You put three shooters around those two, get Amen to screen and dive/ screen and short roll for Sengun, get him offball screening and rolling for shooters (maybe Reed), we could really have a dynamic offense with two high IQ guys in Amen and Sengun. We do need Sengun to fix his finishing around the rim for that to work though.
Yea, there are definitely some bad looks re: KD. No dispute. But to "blame" a 52 win season on KD? The dude was 3rd is MPG (pretty good for an old guy) and was top 10 in PPG. So if you wanna blame him for that, mmmkay. Seems a little displaced. ...and yes, the signature pieces of that trade was KD for Green. We are all adults and understand how trades work. But as a true Rockets fan, I will never wish my team collapses just so I can go back to some internet dude and yell "I Told Ya So". But you do you.
I'm okay if the Rockets move him but they need to replace his scoring. As of right now, who on this team is averaging 25ppg? and/or they can move way up in this draft. But dumping KD for nothing more than drafts picks and filler means the Rockets take a big step back next season with the hopes they can finally land a generational player. They failed 4 years running on getting that player so far.
Sorry to burst your bubble but we don’t have anyone to build around for a championship team. Playoffs we can do but nothing more at this point
I think we should be willing to take a step back. We need to see what the young guys can do when the team is on their shoulders so we can start making real decisions about the future of the org (whether to trade Sengun or not, how much to pay Amen long term, can either be the main guy on a good team or not, what is Reed, etc). We have all of our own picks now, plus the picks from the nets and suns. In the new lotto model, if we end up mediocre by testing what the young guys can do, that's fine, we may win the lotto and draft our franchise player. Not only do I want KD gone, I think they should listen to offers on other vets like Fred and Adams - but only make the deal if it is good value.
19 ppg is not a star. He hardly played his 3rd year. Amen put up 18 ppg last season. If LAC didn't want to trade him, they wouldn't have. You do not trade a guy that young if he's already a star or is definitely to be one.
Unfortunately, I think we know what the young guys can do. They might get a little better but that's probably about it. This team is full of championship role players but no championship star. KD is the closest thing to that star and they have a 1-2 year window on that, maybe. The Rockets MIGHT be a decent PG, some chemistry, and injury luck away from being a contender with the current team in 2027. Or the Rockets could dump KD and try to move up in the draft. Only way to know for sure is run 1,000 simulations. My take is THIS team, with tweaks around the margins, is good enough to compete. But I understand age and injuries are a real thing so who knows. What I know right now, is the Rockets, as constructed were competitive in the West for the past two seasons. I don't think you flush that down the toilet on a hope/prayer that you might land the next big star who pans out and several years later you might get back to where you are right now. It's a lot of IFs just to break even. But hey, maybe Stone/Ime know this team's health is unrecoverable and they get an offer that is too good to pass up. As a GM, you listen to all offers and always upgrade whenever possible. I'm fine if they trade KD but I hope it's part of a legit strategy. Don't just dump him. He still has real value.
I think that's a bit hasty considering how young they are (I think our young 5 guys of Sengun, Jabari, Eason, Amen, Reed was the youngest starting lineup to win a playoff game ever this year), but agree to disagree, I suppose. It wouldn't be flushing what we have to tank for a high pick. With the new lotto rules, you don't have to hard tank anymore for a shot at a high pick - in fact, you have less of a shot if you do. Trading KD is just about seeing what the young guys can do when the offense is built around them instead of built around KD. Maybe they're better than expected and we make the playoffs again, maybe they're just role players like you say, and we miss the playoffs - but we'll have gained great insight and info into that question if we test what they can do. Agreed on that - but I think he will net a good return. Even something like Wiggins and pick 13 is quite a good return, imo (and Wiggins is a solid role player, or potential trade candidate himself)
I agree. The Rockets are still rebuilding they are just too dumb to realize it. KD is 38 and we are nowhere close to a chip. Why on earth would anyone want to keep him. Makes no sense.
