I don't get it....everyone has pros and cons to their game. I'm not complaining about FVV, I just heard FVV had a major ACL injury so how he actually performs for the 2026 season is still a big question. Do you think FVV is guaranteed to better than any of those examples I gave?
I got no problem with guys like Fred, KD, or Adams and the value we gave up for each of them was worth the price but you won't see the problem looking at this from a player to players perspective - you have to zoom out to the overall roster level to see that we have an over reliance on the services of Fred(ball security), Stevo(cleaning up our bad shooting), and KD(only guy who can make buckets regardless of the defense quality) to supplement what the young guys don't really do AND that as a roster we have an over reliance of key guys who are likely not going to be available. . That makes us weak as a team because regardless of age ALL of those guys have been mostly unreliable in recent years. In reality, the reason why it cost so little to get those guys is exactly because their availability and evidence of age related decline had already started to set in for all of those players. There is a big difference between 'injuries can happen to anyone' and Fred having played 64% of available games his games since he became a starter in the league in 2019.....and KD has been even less reliable in that same time period with 61% of available games and Stevo even more so with playing in only 57% of available games in that same time period. At the end of the day the Rockets had - what 70% of our cap space sitting on the bench during the playoffs? We aren't good enough in a competitive West to spot the other team $100million+ of cap space just sitting on our bench. ...and just to take that math all the way - without factoring in age related decline or impacts to healthy, there is a 22% chance that those 3 will be healthy in the same playoff series which means the odds are much greater that one or more of those critical players will not be available. There is a 43% chance at least two of those are available - so less than a coin flip for two...not factoring in they may be playing while impacted by age or injury based decline. Fred's defense and ability to create has been decreasing for years now - he never was a top athlete to begin with so his profile figures to be more impacted by a loss of athleticism. However I think fundamentally we are saying similar things - everyone needs a little health luck to truly compete. The Thunder lacked a healthy JWill/Mitchell the Celtics lacked a healthy Tatum, the TWolves lost Donte for the year and Anthony Edwards was banged up playing through a knee injury in the playoffs, the Lakers lacked Luka, Embid was a hobbled difference maker for the 76ers(no surprise but worth mentioning), and the Cavs had the burden of having the GOAT of playoff chokers in their starting lineup(LOL, I knew they were cooked the moment I saw James trying to close out games for them)....the point is we need health luck for players who at this point have a proven track record of not being healthy in the recent past. The odds are significantly higher that guys like Ajay Mitchell and JWill will be healthy when you need than they are for Adams, Van Vleet, and Durant....and we haven't even factored in Tari Eason's ongoing health concerns...
"Any good" seems a bit hyperbolic. Murray was an average PG with an average streaky shot before the Pels and Achilles injury on 1/2025. Maybe he can still be average. Herro is just a gunner and would be a good offensive punch (when healthy) and he's on the bottom of a FVV replacement.
Not the right fit and average as you say. Average isn’t good. Herro isn’t a point. Maybe worse defense than Sheppard
Funny that you equate Harden to an injured player. Sounds like it's in our culture to be amazing in regular season and hope for a miniscule chance that everything comes together perfectly for us in playoffs (including Harden growing a pair) In that case we're doing just fine. This is a nothing burger
I would say we have progressed - it went from frustratingly hoping for health from a giant who's body couldn't actually support his size, to frustratingly hoping for the health of a real athlete who refused to take care of his body, to frustratingly hoping for a healthy superstar to not crumble mentally in the biggest moments. If you look at it that way, maybe Amen is here to break the "Heart of a Champion" curse....instead of our actual hearts....or maybe he is just part of those Stevie Francis, Jeremy Lamb, Bonzi Wells transition phases.
This team has a ton of injury prone players, they are not contenders even if 100% healthy, but I can see them missing playoffs all together as well. Fred coming back from a major career altering injury, Steven Adams coming off a season ending injury, KD was not even playing in the playoffs due to injury and is pushing 40 years old with injury history, Tari has pretty much gotten injured every year the last few seasons. The chemistry is way off on this team, Tari is annoyed, KD hates everyone, Ime and his staff are being outworked, slander in podcasts from Ex Rockets, this team is likely going to start off really slow and then the injuries will come and I can see them just shutting it down, won't be surprised if Sengun demands a trade by deadline and we get pennies on the dollar for him. Hopefully I am wrong and Marcus Smart changes the culture somehow like Dillon Brooks did, but it feels unlikely.
