Blow it up this offseason?

Sengün is still under contract for at least 3-4 years, so I would give him next year as a 'final year to prove himself' also to increase his trade value.

Durant, yeah, would have been great to get 2026 prospects for him for sure.

Castle would have been great instead of Reed, just because I think 2 way players can get you more on the open market......

 

We should have kept our same team from last year.

 

I love Amen but I think him and Reed still need a year or two before full PG duties at a competitive level. Reed just isn’t confident or consistent enough. Amen defers to KD too much and need a real PG to put KD back in his natural role as a forward

I’m not even saying trade KD cause he is an efficient scorer. Not sure the kind of picks he could really bring and don’t want “bad money” in return. I don’t know much on Murphy but believe we have to do something about PG to be competitive next year. Fred ain’t gonna cut it I can almost guarantee. I’d run Murray / Amen backcourt with Reed off the bench. Murray will be a tradable expiring next off season if Reed steps his **** up and ready to start. I would also sign Murray to a smaller extension for maybe a long term bench role since he’ll be in his 30’s

Trade Tari for a respectable 3&D bench player. See what’s out there for a Sengun trade

 

Considering most stars take more than 3 years to hit their prime... including SGA in this era, way too early to tell if the current core has any true stars or not.

 

Imagine a world where we somehow packaged Jabari and Jalen while keeping Brooks. Imagine a world where this happened with a competent head coach. Ime is worlds better than Silas.. that should tell you how bad Silas was. How do we keep hiring these people?

 

At the minimum you need to get rid of Durant. Dude is literally this guy:



And a map of his previous stops.

 

Reason I'm willing to take on bad money is the same reason I don't care about losing KD next season: I don't see us as being competitive regardless, I think this season has made it clear that ship has sailed. I just want us to be fun to watch and moving in the right direction again, and if we sneak into the playoffs, cool.

 

I'd want Murphy. I would not want KD for picks and bad money if the Rockets got Murphy. It would take a really weird trade for me to want to trade KD, but still build for the short term. I get Murphy helps long term as well, but the Pelicans aren't going to trade him unless the picks they receive likely have a better long-term value.

I'd probably wait and see on the team for another year, but this has not been a good year for Amen and Sengun relative to my preseason expectations. 2027 offseason has been setup as the season to retool, but that may be a season to rebuild.

 

I see it as a timeline thing where it could be a win-win for both teams. For me, the Pelicans are a team that needs to start a total rebuild, and we're a team that that needs to re-tool and try again in two or three years. Bad money would be off the books by then. Both Trey Murphy and our "young core" will be in their prime years at that time. New Orleans, timeline-wise, will be where we were at the start of last season.

 

deserves its own imagine thread

 

I'd say Amen is entering his 4th season and Sengun will be entering his 6th next season. I get that Amen and Sengun won't be at their peaks for a few more years, but they will likely be 75-80% of the way there next season. With Amen's salary likely to jump a lot, a lot of his improvement is going to be eaten away at not being able to put other talent around him. Murphy will only have 2 seasons after next before he's at least 25% of the cap to put a team together while he's on a great contract. However, the Rockets have the bad contracts from your KD trade preventing the Rockets from making moves without sending picks out (i.e., any benefit of trading KD is gone).

I just don't buy that Amen, Sengun, and Reed are guaranteed not to improve enough such that next season is sunk, but that the following season they are guaranteed to improve by a much greater than Durant amount, such the following two seasons give the Rockets a chance.

I'd still give the young guys a chance to show they'll be good. Maybe, the Rockets improve such that trading Durant and trading for Murphy works, but it is going to take a lot of things to happen perfectly for that to happen. My concern will be that the Rockets just aren't good enough next season, but also find out next season they aren't going to be good enough the following two seasons as well. My guess is that the Rockets don't use picks to get off of vet contracts this offseason, and the Rockets see if they have a chance next year at the deadline. They likely focus on retooling in 2027 when they have more certainty on the value of Amen, Reed, and Sengun and just let the majority of the bad contracts just expire instead of paying picks to get off them.

If Amen, Reed, or Sengun become a Top 10 player, I think things will be fine long term regardless of how the Rockets proceed within reason. I just don't see that as a guarantee.

 

I see a lot of people blaming Stone for the way this rebuild went, but we just got unlucky. Cade, Wemby and Cooper weren't there by the time we picked. Or hell, for that matter Kon Knuppel. We just didn't have a chance to draft a franchise guy at where we picked. And so, unfortunately, I agree with OP. Our core isn't about to come a championship contender because they don't have that guy. We've got to go back to the drawing board. Hell, I'd trade our four or five best players for a top 4 pick in the 2026 draft. Because until we have a guy, nothing we do matters.

 

I agree with this. I just see a next to zero chance of that. I guess there is still hope that Reed can be the next Steph Curry? Sengun and Amen are just too flawed.

 

Trade for Giannis, trade for Kawhi, make a godfather offer for Ant…
Back to the trade market, just like for every other star that has walked through here.

None of these bums are it.

We literally just had a superstar here, a real, legit superstar, MVP, top 5 player for 8 years and we’re like “Build around the guys who can’t shoot despite the singular goal being to put the ball in the basket and outscore your opponent” and “Build around Jabari” and “Build around Reed” and “Build around Tari” and “Amen is our superstar” and “Sengun is our franchise player”. The **** they are. Trying to recreate the 2009-2011 Rockets. Ohhh we’re not contenders but at least we’re a fun little try-hard, scrappy team!

Smaller, worse, more inconsistent Jalen Green
Agent of Chaos, who when it goes bad looks like a full ****ing r****d (and it’s bad right now!)
Freak athlete who can’t shoot. (Funny how so many of you were and still are anti-Westbrook/anti-Simmons but want to build around that same type lol…what Rockets red colored glasses will do! But but but his defense!)
Mr. Consistency 16&7 (honestly, for all the **** he’s gotten(myself included), might be their best 2nd best “prospect”?…but still not someone you build around. But he can fit any team. Don’t have to worry about fit/shooting/defense like the other 3 guys)
Baby Scola

Yeah, back to the draft so they can draft more Jalen Green’s and Josh Christophers and guys who can’t shoot. Haven’t drafted a true, homegrown franchise player since 2002 and before that 1984. Can’t draft or develop for ****. No wonder Evan Mobley & Wemby wanted nothing to do with this franchise. And know what we talk about? How guys get worse here. How guys lose their shot here.

In 6 years, who the **** has gotten better here? “Oh Amen has improved his FT shooting! That’s a start!” lol get the **** outta here.

Where the Thunder find an undrafted Lu Dort, where they find Isaiah Joe off the waiver wire, where their 2nd round picks Ajay Mitchell(38th) and Aaron Wiggins(55th) look better than our top 3 picks “franchise players”

Where their GMs don’t come out and say “Maybe it’s just not our year?”

Where they don’t come out and say “We’re not a developmental team anymore” and “You know what, we have too many good players, too many draft picks, we’re too good, we don’t need to be in the draft anymore.”

Despite not being able to pass, despite not being able to read a double, despite the double/triple teams, 7 can still put the ball in the basket. Can’t say that about any of these other bums, even when left dead ass wide open.

 

I think there is a small chance that a team could win with depth without that guy. I'm fine with the Rockets trying little things to win while searching for that guy such that they don't change the odds of the Rockets getting that guy. I didn't see the Rockets trade for KD changing the odds of getting that guy. I didn't see FVV signing, Capela move, DFS for MLE, and Adams signing changing the odds of getting that guy.

I get that this is a very unpopular opinion. Those moves look like they have failed, but they ultimately did not change the Rockets' chances of getting that guy. I'm much more concerned with Amen, Reed, and Sengun not being good enough than a hail mary pass failing.

If one doesn't think depth even has a small chance to win or that trading for that guy is likely not going to happen, I think one should be for blowing up the team as it is hard to guarantee picks are great without tanking.

 

Rockets were unlucky, but tbh as much hate you have for Amen Thompson and Sengun. These are still 2
good players that can develop to even better players, possibly stars. So you just roll with it.

Wait on developing them, let these playoffs with durant give them the exp they need. Take FVV and Durant money
once they leave in 2 years and put it around your 2 guys.

Once again your 2 main guys are still 23, 22 respectively. No need to really panic like you guys are doing. They are winning
and you people act like they were .500 or below and losing lol.


It is starting to get sickening in here about the whining, bunch of losers on clutchfans.

 

At this point I'd explore trades for everyone other than Amen and Reed. OKC and San Antonio are going to own this conference for the foreseeable future. We had a very narrow window and it's been slammed shut.

 

I don't think Minnesota would pick up the phone about Ant if they know they're going to the eastern conference in two years.