One of the things i miss about the 90s is there were tons of vets who still wanted to play on the really young teams and prove they still had it and many accepted mentorship roles off the bench. Today, those guys are all on the same top 10 contenders. Former multi time all stars just rotting on the bench for a chance to get an easy ring and for what? It does nothing for their legacy. I hope we get back to the days of these vets just wanting to be valued and doing whatever is necessary. Even if we decided to go a 90s young team route, then you question all the high potential bench guys future(KPj, Tari, Cam, Usman, TyTy, Jaygup assuming you already sent out KjM, Tate, Nix). You maybe have to lose 3 or 4 of them to make room for bench vets. I can see a vet starter at the SF spot, but again, that further cuts into the young bench players development minutes. We just have too many kids. I'd hate to lose Tari or Usman.
I would say Boban had a great impact. He was fun and they all loved him. He brings a happy loving energy. Green said(Paul George agreed) that DJ was the funniest guy on the team. Those things matter for morale. Brook and FVV aren't just playing 20 or more minutes. FVV is used to 36mpg. He's not taking less than 30-33mpg. Brook not taking less than 30mpg.
Part of on court development is competition and learning how to play winning basketball. None of the rumored 2-3 year deals will hurt the Rockets when it's time to start paying the kids.
"Funniest guy on the team" lol. Not the kind of culture and veteran leadership I'm talking about... Brook Lopez has averaged 27 mpg the last 5 seasons. He's turning 36 next season. He'll be more than happy to play 24-28mpg for 60 games for us if healthy. Him needing to play too many minutes last year was an issue for Milwaukee, because with Middleton hurt and Crowder giving them nothing they lacked frontcourt depth. VanVleet playing 34mpg for us would be great. Here's a projected minutes breakdown: FVV 34 Amen 16 Jalen 34 KPJ 22 Vet 3&D Wing 28 Tari 24 Jabari 28 Sengun 28 Lopez 26 There's your 240 minutes 9 man rotation right there. Usually at least 1-2 players are injured, so individual per game averages will be a couple minutes higher at the end of the year.
I would agree if paying the average starters $100 million stopped the young core from getting enough minutes to improve or stopped the Rockets from extending players who become good enough to be a starter on a winning team. I think the Rockets can bring in 2-3 veterans on non-max deals and the "starting line up" with KPJ at 18MM+ and JG at 11MM and Jabari at $10MM will be at or above $100 mm - and the future isn't constrained at all. I agree with justtxyank that veteran presence is needed at this stage of the rebuild and will turn the "20 win team" into a league average team and allow the Rockets to improve from 20 wins to 35-40 wins.
Unless Ime is planning to play them both this will undoubtedly hurt Sengun's playing time. Brook is very good, probably a starting caliber still but the guy is 35. Being thirty five years old means that you are 2-3 years away from retirement. Brook has 3 years left in this league and we will not become contenders before 2026-27 i think. So what is this why are we making win now moves? Jalen-Jabari-Cam still has 2-3 years to become NBA level players with Brook we are gonna win probably 7-8 more games and what's that a playin team? As i said unless Ime wants to play them together like he did in Boston and is going to give Sengun 30 minutes this is a good move but if Brook plays 30+ and Sengun plays 20-25 mins that's criminal i'm sorry. That's criminal because 1) You might hurt his development. If there's even a little chance he could be Jokic or better Sabonis you should start him 2) You might hurt team chemistry. When Sengun's on the court the team looks far more organized. He essentially helps them stay grounded. It's less iso ball, less contested 3's it's more eye pleasing ball and more importantly you teach these kids how to be a team. It's scary how quickly it could turn into to iso ball when Cam, Jalen, KPJ is on the court. We need a shepherd and Sengun is that shepherd. He should be Ime's extension on the court in a way. Getting Brook is a very nice he offers sth Sengun doesn't but starting him is terrible given he's old and Sengun is promising.
Well, he's better than anyone on our team point blank. So he would absolutely make the team a lot better. The question is, how much better do we think Sengun will be next year? Can they play alongside each other? Seems strange to bench Sengun given he has a higher ceiling and Lopez is a finished product.
Maybe we would start Sengun at the 4 and Brook at the 5 but take Brook out pretty early and stagger their minutes?
Why wouldn't the hot veteran free agents go to SA over Houston? Brook can play C while Wemby plays the 4.
Is San Antonio trying to acquire big free agents yet? I was under the impression they might take it slow and try to get one more high pick before kicking it into gear.
If Brook Lopez comes into the fold, I see the most likely starting lineup to be: Free Agent - PG Green - SG KPJ - SF Smith - PF Sengun - C with Lopez backing him up. I do see a less likely possibility for: Free Agent - PG Green - SG Smith - SF with KPJ as the 6th man. Sengun - PF Lopez - C
Could work, but do we start Jabari at the 3? A lot of the same points I made about Sengun apply to Jabari too.
Wemby sounds anxious to trying to compete immediately and Pop only has so many years left before he either retires or moves to the front office.
Absolutely! Give me a lineup with an Amen-Green backcourt that can't shoot AND two slow footed centers. That's the recipe for keeping our top 4 pick next season!
That would be one possibility, or he could back up both frontcourt positions, subbing in for Lopez early in the 1st. I think he could get well over 30mpg that way.
Yeah as one of the biggest Sengun cheerleaders I would welcome Lopez even if it means Sengun coming off the bench for a year. This is a 35 year old championship experienced vet to teach the kids how to win, we are obviously not signing him to be the center of the future or core part of the team so there’s nothing to feel insecure about with Sengun. On the flip side I do want to see the offense incorporate and build around Sengun more under Udoka, and that won’t be prioritized if he’s coming off the bench. Maybe they could try a double big lineup like the Celtics did. With Amen now there’s definitely uncertainty who/what style we should prioritize going forward since there doesn’t seem to be a natural fit between him and Sengun, but that’s a good problem to have and we will see who comes out on top or whether they can mesh eventually.
Brook Lopez and FVV is very important to us because they are both professional and have championship pedigree. Both guys were on championship team and had elite defense to win a RING. We need that type of leadership on our team. Lopez will help Jabari, Tari and Alpharetta. FVV can help Jalen, Amen and Josh. Brook Lopez is not going to take stuff from KPJ or anyone else who is not hustling and not playing defense. Lopez gives us interior defense and 3 point shooting that we do not have. I would give him 44 million for 2 years. By the way, Cam Whitmore is a Star in the making. When I see Whitmore and I see Bancheros, Bancheros was ROY because he was 6’10 and 250lbs and a playmaker and Cam is 6’7 and 235lbs and has a elite 1st step. Both like to drive to the basket, but Cam is a good shooter……we have REAL talent
