i agree we will need depth but there are ways to get role players. we only need 3 bench players for the WCF. what if we do ego/tucker/pick for butler? we can follow up with knight and a pick for james johnson, sign chandler to vet min after a buyout. trade chriss and nene later in the season for a backup guard like johnathan simmons. its possible to replace role players. even amazing one's like tucker. but its rare to get an all nba player that does it on both ends like butler.
Who gives a damn about team chemistry? That doesn’t matter. Who cares that Jimmy Butler needs the ball in his hands to score like Harden and CP3, and D’Antoni will need to stagger all three of their minutes to maximize their effectiveness and productivity? Who cares that P.J. Tucker chose to play here as a free agent with his childhood friend, played his part well on a successful team and his reward is to be traded the offseason after he was part of a 65-win team that made the Western Conference Finals. That stuff matters, believe it or not. Analytics and data is nice, but it’s not everything. Look, I’m all for getting Jimmy Butler for Eric Gordon, first round picks, etc, and I love Butler’s two-way game. But the Rockets need P.J. Tucker and his Draymond-lite defensive qualities to beat the Warriors this season. The end game needs to be adding Butler and keeping Tucker at the same time. Putting together a championship team isn’t the same as building your dream roster in NBA 2K. People actually have to know how to play with each other and get along on and off the court. For example, you are correct, that on paper, James Johnson looks like a good Tucker replacement. However, Johnson doesn’t have the personal relationship with CP3 that Tucker does, and there is no guarantee he can be as good in Tucker’s role as P.J. was last season. The reason the Warriors big 4 works is they are all unselfish team guys, and other than Durant, are not ball dominant scorers.
a bunch of Wolves fans I see online (Twitter, Realgm, Reddit) want to remain a competitive team...Gordon is probably the best win-now player they’re gonna get...gives them a floor spacer next to Wiggins/KAT and a starting SG to replace the SG they’re about to lose...I mean, last I saw they were rolling with D-Rose as the starting SG in camp...a Teague-Rose backcourt doesn’t compliment each other on either end of the floor Wolves can’t even get Mia to part with Richardson...I feel good about our chances I’d love to see Scoop B get some shine
Glad to see that he’s saying the offer is Gordon plus fillers. Hopefully that means we’ll get to see a starting lineup of CP3-Harden-Butler-Tucker-Capela. A lineup that is more than capable of taking down Golden State.
Rockets fans think Gordon+Tucker is too much, Wolves fans think Gordon+Tucker isn't enough. Means it's probably a fair trade at this point and we're treading in the right direction. Morey did say Harden and CP have big pull in signings/trades and are heavily involved in the process, and idk if I can see them (especially Harden) signing off on trading Tucker. Gordon+Nene+Zhou Qi+picks makes a lot of sense. Rockets about to have a logjam at backup center anyway.
Popped some benadryl, gonna be up bright and early tomorrow for the news -- whichever way it goes. Just ready for any trade to happen at this point!
I feel like every time I hear "rockets are the front runners!!!1one" we get royally screwed. Recent history has been better, but...I have PTSD.
