Season's Pretty Much Over - Thoughts moving forward?

Wemby a top 10 player. lol. This board is absurd at times.

 

Top 10 best player in the NBa got held to 10 pts and allowed Sengun to go off for 45 btw. So is Sengun a top 5 best player now?

 

Not making the play-in(barring a huge late season surge) is a disappointment, but we have to be realistic. The 10th team in the West right now is on pace for 43 or 44 wins. The Rockets never had a shot at a record like that, especially without Tari for most of the season.

 

Not living in Houston I barely ever get to see
This team but it looked like they made some
steps from god awful to sub par. This is still a very young team that plays like a very young team. Some great athleticism, flashes of brilliance but a lot of mistakes and lack of focus. Just getting more maturity should make them better next year.

 

If Adams recovers well Sengun-Adams is more than good enough imo. But this team needs shooters enough is enough. We are shooting .347 from 3pt range this season while OKC is shooting .395 how is this acceptable in 2024? Stone needs to get his hands dirty. Get rid of Green bring in Monk, Bridges somebody who can make open shots. Brooks we don't need him if Tari and Amen are healthy. They are just as good on defensive end. What we need is a 2 way shooting guard. Green, picks, Tate and bring someone here. We are a playoff team with a shooter.

 

So do the Rockets. A 21 year old prodigy.

Just criminally undervalued STILL by "the front office" and some important Rockets fans.

 

You shouldn't use OKc as the standard for anything as they have an MVP contender and 2 other future stars.

39% from 3? You realize Ryan Anderson who we signed specifically to shoot 3s is only a 38% from 3 shooter right? OKc is so good their team average is higher than Ryan Anderson so why are you making that your standard for comparison? If we were as good as them we'd be the 2nd seed you realize that right?

The league average is around 36% and that's a lot closer to where we are now.

You even want Brooks gone brother you realize Brooks is shooting 3s higher than Bridges right? Lol wtf.

 

The Rockets have now outscored their opponents this season.

I know some people only want to look at western conference standings and point to that as no improvement, but to go from second worst record in the league to outscoring your opponents in one season is a massive improvement.

I agree it's frustrating to that we haven't found a guy we can for sure point to as a superstar foundation piece, but the doom posting about how bleak the future is has gotten well past ridiculous. The team has players with upside, just let them develop. We also have assets to trade, so this idea that our future is crushed is stupid.

 

Sengun is very good, especially in the post where he is elite - he is already an all star type player.

Do I think he will be better than Wemby (if Wemby stays healthy)? No - but that is because Wemby can impact the game in so many ways.

I am very weary of calling anyone a real franchise player until they lead a team deep in the playoffs.

Do I think Wemby will be a franchise player? Yes, if he stays healthy.

Do I think Sengun will be a franchise player? If he keeps improving like he has the last few years? Yeah, at least offensively I do. I expect Sengun to become a good outside shooter, and that will open his scoring up even more. He will likely score over 25 points a game next year.

It is very easy to get stuck in the "now" or even the close past, concerning what works and does not work in the NBA.

Some one like Sabonis for example, would never be considered a star 10-15 years ago, because they would not be given the chance to run an offense.... well he now leads the league in rebounds (13) and is in the top 5 for assists (9).

So - no it isn't far fetched to believe that Sengun can become a franchise player.

 

People repeat "BUT YOUNG!!!" like parrots any time Rockets are criticized, but can't see top 10 potential in Wemby? This board is absurd at times.

 

Um, where did I say that Wemby doesn't have Top 10 potential? He's just not CURRENTLY a top 10 player.

 

This is a fair point and a fair question.

As for Wemby, seldom does a rookie have a huge impact on winning, especially when his teammates are basically the same team as last year.
Right now Wemby isn't a superstar, but if there were a draft held tomorrow he would go in the top 10 for sure.

As for his teammates - a number of them would net a first rounder in trade.

As for expecting the Rockets to be decent - year, the Rockets have been rebuilding longer, and they went and spent a huge amount of money with the intent to improve.

Yes - the Rockets have a lottery pick in 2024, but the Spurs likely have two better lottery picks.

 

If there was league wide lottery held tomorrow - you don't think that Wemby would go in the top 10? I do, I think he likely goes in the top 5. There are injury risks, but the upside and reachable upside is huge. Right now he is certainly one of the 10 most valuable players in the league.

 

It isn't all doom and gloom for sure - I think that perhaps some people took the early season success to assume that it would be smooth sailing.

Right now - the Thunder, Spurs and Magic are above the Rockets in their rebuild. The Rockets are ahead of the Blazers, Pistons and Charlotte.

The dye is not yet fully cast though - the Rockets can potentially catch them if the draft really well in 2024 and 2025 and their players develop. The Thunder and Spurs will be tough to catch because they have franchise players and a lot of assets - but things change quickly.

I expect the Rockets to be over .500% next season with internal growth, and hopefully a good draft.

 

Nook...I usually agree with you on most everything especially baseball talent evaluation but if you think Wemby is a top ten player in the league I'm going to start questioning damn near all of your opinions. That is idiotic. He isn't top 30 right now. I think he has the most trade value. No question there and has the protentional based on skill set and physical profile to be a all timer. But when you are top ten good your team doesn't suck balls. Period. Truly transcendent talents are good enough to win 20 ****ing games. Yes I know Popovich might be the worst coach in the league. It shouldn't matter. Top ten...I mean wtf. Give me one other example of one of the best players in the league being on one of the worst teams. Even Durant with that horrible Sonic team won 20. And not a single person on earth would have said Durant was a top ten guy in the league in 2007

 

I think it is easy to conflate Wemby's potential with his current level. He is just too raw to be a top 10 guy.

If we did a playground style draft of all players for ONE season, I don't think Wemby would go top 10. But if it's picking a franchise player to build your team around, he would definitely be in the top 5. The only factor that might prevent him from being the top pick is the risk of injuries.