Houston Rockets Draft Buzz, Big Trades, and Rumors!

Houston Rockets Draft Buzz, Big Trades, and Rumors!

p [Music] welcome to another episode of rockets talk got my boy roou we are back just in time for the draft and a lot of stuff going on in the NBA the Celtics won the championship um you know trade rumors big trades happening one of the key trades that just went down was a uh I guess I don’t I don’t know if it’s a massive trade or not it’s to me significant to the Rockets the Oklahoma City City Thunder just traded Josh giddy to the Chicago Bulls straight up um with no picks attached uh for um Alex Caruso one for one what are your initial thoughts on that bro it’s crazy um first of all Oklahoma City gets better right Josh giddy did not fit into what they want to do um he does not fit into what makes them better right he he he needs the ball in his hands to be effective they have Shay gilis Alexander that relegated Josh giddy to an off ball roll everybody knows he can’t shoot there’s only so much you can get out of him right it seemed like they succeeded this season in spite of playing Josh Giddy and I think they were open about that Mark dagal would talk about like you know we’re not gonna like we’re gonna we’re gonna get the Reps in and see see how this goes and try to develop it obviously didn’t work out now they add Caruso who is a good three-point shooter who is an excellent Defender um the only weird thing for OKC for me is that Caruso kind of duplicates what you know an element they already have they have L Dort um I don’t remember what he finished shooting from three this season but I think this season he actually shot well whereas throughout his career he’s not a good three-point shooter um they have K Wallace right um so to add Caruso like yeah he’s awesome and playing him over K Wallace probably is better at the moment um pending whatever you know case and Wallace’s ceiling is but anyway so it’s just a little bit redundant and that’s really the only criticism that I can think of criticism for Chicago is that they didn’t OKC’s loaded with draft capital and you would have to think that if you knew how to negotiate that lifting at least one of those picks off of OKC like they could get rid of two of those picks and not even think twice about it right they have that many picks um so to get none of them zero has to be a disappointment I do think if OKC keeps Josh well if they keep Demar D rozan and Zack LaVine I think Josh giddy could actually make that offense flow and you got Kobe white in there as well um like it actually puts Josh giddy in a position to thrive because he’s not a bad basketball player he’s a pretty good basketball player he has his flaws he can’t shoot um he’s not great at defense but he has good size he’s really high IQ he’s like a he’s like a guard point guard shenon basically um so if you give him some offensive weapons on the wing like Demar D rozan like Zack LaVine especially athletic ones I feel like it could it could work and Kobe white who had a really good season last season and also vuvi a center he can dump it down to um now the rumors are that Chicago’s going to you know put all these dudes on the market and if that’s the case then the lack of draft capital is is kind of puzzling to Me Maybe the counterargument is hey we’re going to trade these other guys for draft capital and the focus for trading Caruso was that we wanted like an actual you know player um because Josh GID is gonna enter free AG restricted free agency they’re going to be able to keep them you know match any offer that comes in so they basically get like a young prospect that that a winning team didn’t have use for so that’s good for them um that’s what I think the the last piece is I what is Caruso’s contract does he have one year left I think he has one year left I think it’s either one or two years on a very Team friendly contract very team-friendly money very very good money especially For What Caruso brings to the table um but I think it might I’ll check that but that’s the only downside um I think Caruso is eligible for his extension I think I think it’s one year and he’s eligible for an extension that’s what I think it is um and I think I saw somewhere that OKC has interest in resigning him whatever so so we’ll see how that goes um but but those are my thoughts what about you I’m going to take the uh optimistic side from both teams um I think it’s a great trade for for both sides obviously Oklahoma City you’re adding a even though it is redundant but there to me there are certain skill set you can never have too too much of and shooting and defense is one of them especially in one player and and he brings that uh watching the Boston Celtics you see that all their guys are pretty much good Defenders good Shooters when you’re making deep playoff runs having guys that you can you can’t just win with five guys like you need at least eight to nine deep of really really good Elite role players and I think Caruso gives them that ability to be able to play deep um and go deep into their bench and even kick guys like you said like H Wallace down a little bit Isaiah Joe down a little bit where they can get um more secondary minutes than having having it to depend on them for the Chicago side your tra I mean I think if they if they could have got picks um but s pry he is one of the best general managers in the NBA and very stingy Trader um he’s one of he’s developing that kind of Danny a thing where if you do a San presy trade you probably got hold uh but like if the trade went through you got hold bro like no no matter what happens uh but young player for them like you’re just resetting it’s a position of need if they did keep the current team it’s like Alonzo ball kind of insurance type deal you saw what they looked like with Lonzo um running point and that’s what they lacked you look at their team DeMar rosen Zack LaVine vvi uh random wings that they threw out in there and Kobe white who to me is a Score first guard nobody really all these finishers but no no play starters and I think um it gives them a a bit of optionality in in the way they want to build their team um as far as like with Giddy and okay see to me the interesting thing that I like about this bro is this is probably one of the first guys within the Jaylen green class that is in that top rated uh group of guys that has been moved and to me this is a precursor right uh OKC’s is about a step ahead of the rockets in their development um we’re hoping that next year will be our second uh you know first or second round exit year like they just had and because they’re a step ahead of the Rockets the decisions they have to make are about a year ahead of us as well and I think that for them looking at a team that wants to contend uh for a championship when you start having players that even though you love them even though they are players that you may have spent draft capital on and invested a lot of time in when it’s time to win it’s time to win and I think for what the Rockets fans can take away from this is that uh these decisions are coming down the line like I’m not saying it’s Jaylen or shenon or anybody and we’ll talk about some some stuff with shenon uh but it’s this is the NBA and I’ve been saying this for years this stuff is coming guys are GNA get moved yeah I mean look it’s funny because you see Josh giddy traded for Alex Caruso and then it makes you think about the conversations about trading Jaylen green for Mel Bridges right Mel Bridges is on the high end uh like Alex Caruso is a good player Mel Bridges is better right if Mel Bridges if the Thunder traded Josh giddy for male Bridges like whoa watch out right they’re my finals favorite had they done that right um so it’s just interesting to to you know visit that conversation because there was a lot of talk of Jaylen green being the centerpiece of a deal for male Bridges um what’s interesting though is that OKC kind of sets the market right like we’re not gonna give you a pick we’re just doing a straight player swap right so hopefully that’s in Houston’s favor hopefully that lowers the price when Houston if Houston wants to make a trade for one of these guys that that’s due for an extension to go get a winning player right like the trade they’re talking about maybe for Marcus Smart um if you saw if you saw that and we can get into that another interesting thing is I looked it up Caruso is isn’t expiring he’s expiring one year left this this 24 25 season final year on his deal 9.9 million so really good contract there also to your point about Lonzo ball I agree with that yeah they were good with a real point guard running the show right um because they have the talent but you need the piece that makes it all work um obviously Lonzo more athletic much better three-point shooter uh excellent Defender and those are three things that Josh gidd is not so that will be a drop off Josh gidy is though a more creative playmaker in my in my opinion more of a true point guard Lonzo can play point guard and he does and he plays it well um Josh giddy has more of that natural feel and like you know seeing the court manipulating the court um he’s much better at manipulating the court and executing the P so it’ll be interesting to see what they become um but yeah I mean look you you look at the finals like you said Derek white Drew holiday OKC has got a stable of dogs man switchable uh Wing perimeter Defenders who can shoot the three and if I still think they need one guy next to SGA to be like the favorite one offensive guy maybe Chad can become that um but man they they they got better so I don’t know yeah I mean they really did um one thing I’ve been hearing from from uh you know not even just Rockets fans just the NBA about the idea of patience um when they refer to the Celtics like you look at the jayen uh Jaylen Brown Jason Tatum combination and uh people try to extrapolate that to mean something for their teams and for the Rockets is like and I think for me I just wanted to say this on there like with the patience thing they were patient with a team that was a playoff Contender there’s a difference between being patient with a team that is a perennial Eastern Conference Final uh you know uh contenders and second round and Conference Finals to me if you have a team that’s getting you there then you can be patient because basically all you want is an opportunity because at one year could be your year where you get lucky and make it to the finals and win it right it’s a difference between that and a team that’s not making the playoffs and being patient so once again tying this back to the Josh Giddy and the where the Rockets are being patient um is is only valid if you’re actually winning the Timberwolves can be patient Dallas can be patient OKC can be patient right they can keep their new neutral their Central core together and flip pieces around like Boston did Kyrie Kemba uh you know just bringing different guys to come in to try to keep their core together but that core has to show you that they can win at the playoff level and for the Rockets they haven’t shown that yet so once again if if you guys hear some of these names guys on trade rumors blah blah blah it’s Anything could happen with the Rockets Anything could happen because until they can show that this is a viable playoff team um I don’t blame I’ve said this early in the summer I don’t blame the rockets for trying to turn over every Rock to try to put themselves in position to be a Minnesota or something this coming year that’s the name of the game and to your point OKC was patient and they won 57 games and got the one seed like man if if that is I think we talked about it previously that is the ideal season for a team that’s developing right a team that did not have those kinds of expectations to now achieve 57 wins one seed uh they got to the second round they didn’t get to the conference final so that’s a let down but then they they go back and land whatever they get you know the number 10 or 11 pick from from the Rockets um and they’re and and then they go pick up an Alex Caruso for one of their previous prospects that they were patient with that everyone could see you know wasn’t really going to fit um and they used that to upgrade and they’re still in position to win like that that’s the position you want to be in so I agree with you I mean you know and look part of the reason they made this this decision a big part of the reason a huge part of the reason they made this decision is because they were not going to extend him he’s up to be he’s about to be a restrictive free agent they made the decision that we are not going to extend him so had they waited had they had they tried to pull this in um the summer of next year or the trade deadline of this coming season if Josh giddy played and still wasn’t like improving you know then then every game that Josh giddy plays and does not actually improve he loses value right um and that’s something to consider as well like okay see Josh giddy did not have a great season for them he had a very up and down season for them it was pretty clear that they didn’t that they maximized their potential with him off the court um and someone else filling in as the fifth guy whoever that was right um so the Rockets came away from last season not really knowing with Jaylen specifically um and some people might still have questions about shenon so those are the two guys duee for uh contract extensions so the Rockets have to be very you know like they haven’t we haven’t heard any talks about jayen or shenon extensions and this is the summer to do it if they’re going to do it right otherwise they go to restricted free agency so just tying all of that in to your point yeah and I think that to me once again being being that playoff setting is a big deal if we had made the playoffs I think they would have they would have signed at least one of these guys uh for sure but we didn’t so that’s what we’re still here but um we did want to get into this article by Kelly EO from the athletic um where he talks about the draft and some of the not uh his notes from the Rockets perspective it’s called Houston Rockets draft notebook 2.0 Big Board debates domino effect the mo it’s going to be in the link of the description of this Potter video wherever you’re consuming it it at roou a lot of interesting quotes and takeaways from this uh this article um I think it has you know kind of a little bit of everything um my highlight is some of the things um that it talked about um I guess I I could just go off first um so to me one interesting thing that I didn’t I wasn’t you know I haven’t talked about yet earlier in the summer I we kind of knew about the Marcus Smart thing with u Memphis I think Memphis has shown interest in the Rockets third pick pretty much since we acquired that during the lottery but now we have Charlotte in the mix and Portland is teams that Kelly says are interested in moving up to three I remember I got a lot of people saying that who would want to draft a three in a week draft and I’m like bro we we talked about it like their teams are always going to want to move up their teams in different context different situations some teams like Chicago would just die to have any young prospect that they can and have give their fans some hope um to say that at least we have X andx guy some there’s a team out there that would love to have Reed Shepard they would love to have orisha Shar or one of these guys on there so the Rockets are going to have suitors that are willing to do so uh to me I like the Memphis Buzz I I I feel like it’s real because of the a mark of smart connection um uh Charlotte and Portland I’m not really sure what we would get from them but I’m I think that the Memphis thing you know I’ve talked about the smart thing I feel like him as a guard um fits what eay likes to do um he is a you know gonna be the third guard e may love to run a lot of three four guard lineups in Boston um so I don’t see that as a redundancy with Fred Van Ved whether it’s jayen the man or anybody else is there to have Smart out there playing the one two or the three um I feel like this is a thing that is actively going to happen and it does lead into another quote that we’re going to talk about in a bit but what was something that uh you thought so to respond to what you’re saying about Memphis also the Rockets have previously traded with Memphis right Stephen Adams so there’s a there’s a transaction transaction history and Chris Wallace who I think is the director of scouting with the Rockets right now he’s he plays some type of role in the Rockets front office was I think the Memphis GM or assistant GM so there there is an actual connection to Memphis and then of course Marcus Smart and Oka right so all of that together um and you know combined with the fact that in the article Kelly says mentions that they could move back for a player like Dalton connect yep um and that’s that was that’s what I’ve been on is what I was on a month month or so ago I haven’t really paid much attention but it seemed like that was a thing at one point and people just totally shifted away and got really like dialed in on like who do we take at three um for me the whole time though I was like [ __ ] move back pick up a player like that and I because he feels a need right he shooting um also athletic decent size 66 so you know has more upside as well and then you pick up more draft Capital so tying those two like tying the logic The Logical move together with the actual connections that the Rockets would have to want to make that deal with Memphis that um and then also with Memphis losing um Steven Adams and probably wanting to replace him you could see them wanting to move up to three to get like kingan or something like that so it all just to me that all makes sense that that’s um that’s what stood out to me about you know about the trade talk yeah I’ll say this oh continue n n Go ahead finish then I’ll connect well I I was gonna um talk about a different he mentioned Charlotte and I was just going to say and we don’t have to talk about it now we can talk about it later but what would a trade with Charlotte look like I was try trying to think of what that would even look like what Char who Charlotte would be moving up for I thought that was a little funny I mean we can talk about it now so Charlotte obviously they drafted um uh what’s his name uh brandan uh what’s what’s the kid name Miller in last year’s draft they have Lelo ball um they have some uh yeah they have some interesting piece young players I would probably think uh they probably want some shooting on the team I I would say that’s probably M the main thing that they would they would like out of the draft maybe they are fans of Reed Shepard I don’t see them as a clinging uh Team unless they’re they’re done with uh with Williams uh but yeah I think that the shooting and the uh potential two-way versatility at the top of the draft is attractive to a lot of teams here’s another thing that people need to factor in the salaries um for these like the the there’s a upside and down time to having drafts like this a lot of the times the draft that have a lot of high prospects you have to invest so much time into them that you almost have to take a l as a franchise for their developmental years like the Spurs are doing right now with Wendy because they’re not going to be ready um when it’s a draft fi with role players go ahead like the Rockets did like the Rockets half a decade yeah as we’re doing right now as the Rockets are doing uh but when it’s when it’s like role players they’re Plug and Play because you’re not depending on them you can go grab a dude like like a a re Shepard or Clingan he’s your backup blah blah blah right day one does you don’t skip a beat as a franchise this is they’re serviceable hopefully at that high you hope they can play right away and they’re making what 8$9 million so you’re going to get a utility player that’s going to uh contribute a lot to your team uh not on a like you have to depend your franchise on them for a pretty good contract for the next four four or five years so uh for I I can see why to me especially in this new CBA if I’m a bubble Contender or a team that wants to contend put together a nice team to try to make the playoffs getting a a rookie that can play right away is actually upside thing for me like I I don’t see why teams wouldn’t want to move up and try to get a role player well especially if they’re trying to get someone with uh potential upside like from Charlotte I could the only two players I could think of that they would want to move up for because they do have Mark Williams so I don’t think they’re in the Clingan sweep Stakes so I think for them it’s either uh it’s either or Reed Shepard or maybe Reet uh I don’t really me personally I don’t see the buzz with r um I see the highlights but I I don’t know I I I it would confuse me if a team would trade assets to move up to drave Zachary Reet so I would imagine it would have to be Alex SAR or Reed Shepard but who would the Rockets even get in that scenario like is there a like who’s the role player on the Hornets roster that the Rockets would be trading for PJ Washington previously but obviously Dallas traded for him right um maybe Mark Williams but like why would Charlotte be trading Mark Williams to move up for kingan you know that wouldn’t make sense so who would it be yeah Ian I’m not sure maybe possibly for some draft capital in the future or or I I’m I’m not even familiar with their pck situation um one thing though one thing to Pivot a little bit that kind of connects to what we were talking about with the Marcus Smart and Memphis thing is um the uh from Kelly’s article he he lists some things he says here that um historically the Brain Trust goes to Great Lengths to ensure Thor a thorough process appear per typically involves debates about individual player rankings before one comp composite Big Board is formed he says now with udoka President a significant factor in decision-making various League sources believe Houston’s Big Board planning involves three branches in addition to the other respective voices in the war room so Branch one is the upside and positional versatility angle that’s Rafel Stone rank uh Branch two is the analytical angle courtesy of assistant GM Eli whts and then now a new branch that has entered the uh Rockets uh governmental structure is the win now defensive oriented angle from udoka which is weird that I wonder if Kelly got these quotes from the organization like uh which branch are you with I mean it it sounds it sounds yeah it sounds so specific but um look if if you follow the Rockets though it seems on point um right you know I tweeted about this so go look at my timeline if you’re watching this but the Rockets took Jaylen Green in 2021 um I think that and these are all my this is my opinion so I’m just going to like this is my read of the situation when I you know when you just look at the evidence in front of you they took Jaylen green because they saw the star upside right Rafel Stone probably saw star upside and Jaylen green and was like yo Wings score you know classic archetype like we’re going to take the gamble on that they probably I think the analytics team probably wanted Evan Mobley but they didn’t see enough star upside or they disagreed on the star upside whatever it was which is why I think shenon was the compromised pick uh because if you know was it Kevin Pelton I think has his like composite or his rankings or whatever and he had shenon rated as the number one player out of that draft the analytics the the analytics grades and the data models loved shenon um which would indicate that that was a shanon pick then you look at the next year the Rockets heavily were heavily rumored to want Pao banero right um obviously they didn’t end up drafting him because they couldn’t because Orlando took him but star upside positional versatility athletic like classic Rafel Stone pick also from Seattle um and you know you could argue tar een would be more so in like the analytic mold it almost seemed like there’s been this pattern of like they take the Rafel Stone you know desired pick with their top pick because they believe in a philosophy of trying to get a star swinging for Star upside and trying to use one of those picks to get it and then they take a more measured analytical pick um later in the draft which might be why they’ve had some you know ups and downs with the the star upside type players um but they’ve gotten more steady production from the dudes drafted 16 and 17 like like shenon and tar are arguably their two best players or two best prospects as far as how they performed right so it’s interesting when you look at it like that basically the Rafel Stone Mantra which might be universally agreed upon but I’m talking about Kelly’s classifications right if you take the raell stone category that he listed the branch um then you get the the top prospects they’ve taken or they’ve been interested in Jaylen poo banero they ended up with Jabari because obviously we know we know how that how that draft went um but but Jaylen pal banero then am men right amen Thompson positional versatility um super athletic star upside like check all those boxes and then cam Whitmore I think was more of like a holy [ __ ] this dude fell to us right um so like you know we’re gonna take him but they also I think from what I know had interest in uh psky and that was probably the analytical team that that graded him well so it’s interesting when you look at it like that and now you enter the variable of em Oka which is why I wouldn’t quite 100% rule out uh a guy like Stefan Castle I feel like that’s an em Oka type pick maybe kingan could be an em like if they’re starting to really heat up for kingan if what Kelly’s saying is true it’s one of two things either they’re they’re trying to pump up trade talk and trade debate to make teams desperate to trade up because they’re like oh [ __ ] we’re g to take kingan um so if you want that spot like yo Hawks and Spurs y’all can’t just do a one 14 swap other teams if you want kingan like we’re going to take him it’s either that or mayoka is like yo I want this kid to Anchor my defense um so that’s that’s kind of how I take all but to me that was the most interesting and important piece of Kelly’s article that that’s a great Point um I want you to tell me what you think each each person’s um pick is going to be based on their branch of government they’re in so in this draft who would be the upside and POS positional versatility pick uh for the Rockets if Stone had a say who who do you think he’s picking man if if stone is picking um I think Stone and this is just me guessing uh I think stone is picking SAR if he’s available if he’s available right okay okay I mean I think anybody all three of them would probably pick s you gotta you got to tell me who goes one and two though because I could also see I could also see the Rockets really being interested in Reed Shepard I could see that as well I don’t know what the analytics on him are but he could have you know the analytic models might love him he can shoot they might also see Star upside in him um but the positional versatility is not there um but yeah but I would I would I would say SAR about you so if if I’m I’m gonna assume SAR is gone and then I’m gonna say sar’s just off the board so if if not SAR if I say positional uh versatility then I think it’s going to be a RIS share um for for stone just because of the height the shooting potential the defensive versatility potential um I think to me that that seems like a stone type of pick but that’s just me um the Reed sheeper thing his analytics are are beautiful um the analytics are beautiful my only issue with them is it’s very limited sample size and um you know it’s the context is a it’s bit kind of tricky um but um he is a if you’re going to go with to analytical pick him and clinging kind of fit that M okay so so I I’m guessing you’re thinking Eli whts would take Reed Shepard if he had the third pick no no excuse me I’m thinking Eli whis might take actually maybe yeah maybe re sheeper re re sheeper yeah okay so you got SAR re sheeper and then I’m going to say with the analytical it’ll probably be re Shepard I think he is all the models true shooting and the vorp all that stuff he’s he’s top s but once again I watch basketball I watch context to me it’s a lot of it is Cap but uh the third I could also I could also see I could also see Stefon Castle randomly checking that box not that his game is efficient offensively but just like measurables versatility that whole thing grading out well kind of like tar probably did just a guess that’s yeah he is in that mod I I would say okay for the win now one defensive oriented angle from dooka I’m not gonna say clinging on it I know that’s what a lot of people I’m gonna go first I’m gonna I’m gonna say that’s gonna be castle castle Yeah because he’s the he’s the most honestly positional versatility is there he can play the forward and the and the guard um can defend probably one two three possibly four um to me he is very Marcus smartish not as offensively gifted as Marcus Smart um a lot of people forget that when Marcus was at Oklahoma State he was a Hooper like dud was their guy like he wasn’t just a like a defensive anchor he was a go-to guy so I don’t see that that potential um yet in in Castle um but I’m yeah I’m gonna go I’m gonna go with Castle there on the three who’s your uh win now so it’s either excuse me it’s either Castle or Clingan um just depends on if you want that player to come as your big or if you want that player to be your your wing um the thing with me with Castle is that that’s a we talked about OKC duplicating right something they already have with Caruso I think Stefon Castle duplicates something the Rockets already have I mean they have tar een you know 67 72 wingspan huge hands switchable strong all those things they have amen Thompson who is like you know a defensive Swiss army knife um and super athletic uh you could even throw jaon Tate in there you know he’s 6’4 he’s got surprisingly long arms 69 he’s not ideal but he is someone you can just kind of put out there and you know make them switchable Jabari to a kind of a lesser degree but still like 611 positionally versatile can guard one through four one through five depending on the matchup um so the Rockets have a lot of that and those guys aren’t great shooters um I think they’re better Shooters except for a men I think Jabari and tari are better Shooters than Stefan Castle but but that’s my worry with Castle um but yeah I think if you’re going defensive win now it’s got to be either kingan or castle and and with the castle thing that’s my only thing about him is the offensive uh the shooting which the article does say that’s a premium the Rockets are really really looking to improve which does beg the question about um what the you know I kind of Buri the lead here that the Rockets probably the their top prospect in this based on the article like you alluded to is Donovan kingan and then it naturally leads to the questions about the matchup with shenon and and um interestingly enough it says they have the same agent and if if you know the politics behind that is is kind of funny because if you’re the agent for shenon and kingan you’re basically if you’re you don’t want your guy to go to a team where he’s taking plate food off a plate of another guy or a team where the other guy is better than him so you know he can’t eat as much as he wants so I’m sure there’s a little kind of like thing there where I may he may just not want to be on the Rockets just because of Al shenon um where he can go to a team that’s going to use him more and feature him as a primary now can they play together I think yes I I don’t buy the uh uh you know Clingan is going to be a shooter I mean that’s cool that he’s hitting them in in practices and stuff like that but in the real NBA game probably not I think the onus is going to be on alrin to become a better shooter and I think the reason to me that’s not a problem because to me for him to reach his upside he has to become a better shooter um so that’s something he has to do regardless um the fit would not be great and um I I just don’t not because of anything I think Donovan Clingan is is going to be good if the Rockets can get him as a backup then you probably have to trade Stephen Adams or because I just don’t see a need for having guys like Adams and and uh lale on the roster when you have a young but Adams could be their vet you know what I mean that could be a vet so probably either lale or Adams one of those guys have to go um but I’m not mad at Clinging On the Rockets I actually think once again even though some things are redundant if you can do something the question with Al PR shenon you would asked this about you know people have questions about Jaylen I think Alp has some questions that we can only answer in the playoffs for guys like him that aren’t Elite Defenders as as good as any big man is unless your offensive game justifies you being on the court in a high leverage moment in the playoffs you are not going to be on the court in the high leverage moment in the playoffs there are times even Rudy gobert Defensive Player of the Year four five times whatever how many times should not be on the court because he’s a defensive liability that’s just the nature of being a big man at the end of the day big man just you know they have their roles and but for a player that is a offensive suround you’re the team’s offensive engine like a yic do you does is your offense good enough at that level to justify the team supplementing your defensive issues and I think shenon has to answer that question and to me that’s the biggest question he has to answer for the Rockets uh because otherwise um you know to no-brainer obviously you go with him and you try to build a team around him that helps them win he still does have to answer that I think having a Clingan does give them some versatility I don’t see those things as like they’re connected in in in a way R real quick before you go there’s an ironic situation just happen I don’t know if you saw this Brook Lopez uh some reports about The Buck saying that they want to move on from Brook because they need more defensive versatility or want to play a different style uh more flexibility on defense which is ironic that the Rockets were twerking for Brooke and the team that he finessed them for is basically like uh you know what we kind of are good on him like that was funny to me hilarious I mean look let me just touch on that first the Celtics just won the championship and Chris DS porzingis missed what more than half of the playoffs he miss two whole rounds right and barely played yeah yeah two whole rounds and then part of the finals right um now they had a weaker run to the finals so that’s you know that’s a legitimate argument but they they beat the Mavs uh with Chris porzingis coming off the bench and then not playing and they beat him uh what they one to one in the games he sat out I think and then he like barely played or you know played a limited role in that last game after coming back from the injury before that came off the bench played like 20 something minutes in the first game my point is um the Mavericks I’m sorry the Celtics took the Mavericks out without a rim protector for over half of the playoffs and they won it all right uh positional like the Rockets the the warriors on the Rockets people thought that they were going to be the blueprint for offense and it was going to be like oh this is it’s always going to be you know this way offensively I think more than anything they were the the blueprint for the new defense of the NBA right the Rockets people focused on the Warriors offense and but they were Swit they were switchable one through four at all times usually one through five but you know Steph wasn’t Steph was able to get away enough defensively to make it work and then they had KD phenomenal Defender Klay Thompson phenomenal Defender Draymond Green you know alltime Defender right um and who what Andre Iguodala like phenomenal Defender right so like yeah so you know or had sea Livingston with great length or whoever it was right so and then the Rockets obviously countered that and and you know if you remember the Western Conference Finals in 2018 it was a slugfest there were a couple blowouts but the the important games were slugfests like 95 94 type games those two pivotal games the Rockets won um to to take the 3-2 lead so and then how’d they do that right Trevor arza PJ Tucker Chris Paul um James Harden was able to you know fit in the scheme defensively Luc bamu obviously got hurt but he was there throughout the regular season so and cl and click capella was playing some of the best perimeter defense of his career um and it was a switchable big so it all worked um anyways my point in all of that is to say Rim protection is a niche it is not the game it it is something you probably you definitely want on the roster you want the option to have Rim protection but you don’t have to build around Rim protection you can be a championship team that builds around around Rim protection the Bucs were um certainly can be my point is it’s not imperative B basketball is a game more so than anything than any other sport in my opinion basketball is a game of styles and you can dictate the style if you are the best team because there’s different ways to do it um The Game’s gotten homogeneous in a lot of ways today with the three-point shooting and all that kind of stuff but at the end of the day you can dictate the style that’s why you see the fluctuation right Denver won it last season with joic and then the Celtics win it with like five Out Wings you know so um anyways say all that to say that that you can take a you can take a klling in and I think that having a klling in would help um I think that klling in and shenon can get along together on the court alpie is gonna have to be able to shoot but one thing that he can do even without the shooting is he’s a gifted passer and he can actually break break Defenders down off the dribble so he can create he doesn’t have to be fed right we saw him a lot like take it from the elbow or the top of the key like face up has a little goofy you know slow off the dribble um so if kingan is able to like catch the ball and finish at the basket I feel like that can work you can run inverted pick and roll or you can have Al Alp switching uh or I’m sorry taking it off the dribble from the wing drawing an extra Defender and then like up fake dropping it off dunk you know like there’s ways it can work obviously will be super enhanced by Shang gun’s ability to shoot a three if he’s able to um and then defensively if if kingan is able to do you know the things that he’s advertised to do there will certainly be lineups that you can play them both against so I’m not worried about that you got to also remember Stephen Adams is coming off an injury there’s no guarantee that Stephen Adams is going to be healthy this season you know he’s supposed to be healthy but like we don’t know how his body’s going to hold up you know uh he had a knee injury he’s in his 30s now he missed I think like a whole year and a half um so don’t take that for granted and then Adams is expiring Jack landale is expiring I think Jack lale’s deal is somewhere around eight n mil something like that um and then Stephen Adams I think is somewhere around like 12 million a year I’m not sure but the point is it’s just aggregated expiring salary that the Rockets can use in a trade um to make it attractive to a team that wants salary off of its books and then you have clinging right there as as your um as your insurance so I think it could work let me ask you this if you have the number one overall pick for the Rockets who are you drafting like who do you want oh it would be S yeah it would be S yeah I still think the you still I would I think the model the the Celtics used um with Al Horford on that team is still a good model for shenon because um I I like his defensive IQ now his ability may not always be there but one thing about him when you watch him he understands the game of basketball and I if if if I had a a player type I want an athletic guy playing that low man or that weak side help um instead of Jaylen or Jabari you know what I mean because in our defense that position is so important because because honestly a lot of times you want to funnel guys into that that help and rotate off of that um we just didn’t have the the body types to really play the type of defense that we want to with with uh playing that high hedging and all the stuff that Emil duck wants to do to me the reason remember they started off the season playing a lot of high hedging and then they went back to Shang gun playing more of a drop I don’t think it was because of Shang gun I think it was because of the the weak side help wasn’t there so because if you’re going a high hedge you’re leaving everybody else asked out and if you’re not going to have somebody to clean it up back there you’re just cooked so I so I think that they need to address that um and teams are smart because they forc us into alignments that make us have to put a weak person in that because the NBA is smart guys they watch film so they know all these things and um I think having a guy like SAR back there um allows you to do so much defensively allows shangu more freedom I want shangu navigating in the middle of the pick role making the decisions like being that middle linebacker in the middle of our defense while you have all these athletes around him so he can know when to funnel who to step up on I know he watches film he knows all this so those are things I want to see so I’m I’m going SAR for sure yeah I think I have to agree just because and for the record I’m not thrilled about SAR I think he’s got some holes in his game he looks potentially like like a bust might be drastic but he just doesn’t look like he can’t rebound very well for how how big he is his shot blocking looks just from what I’ve seen and I don’t really know much but it looks like um he’s more of like a weak side type shot blocker instead of just like face up Rim protection Rim deterrence um he’s a little slow of foot at least from the highlights maybe maybe that you know maybe I’m tripping maybe it’ll translate correctly to the NBA but it just looks like he’s like a little slow to be like the guy you know um but I like that he can shoot I like that he does have some IQ with the ball he can create a little bit with the ball and pass you know he has some playmaking potential um he has shooting potential so if there are and he’s obviously got incredible size 71 75 wingspan so if he can put the upside and the positives together he could be basically I would draft him for the potential um after him though I really don’t know yeah like who I’m you know what I mean um I after him it becomes okay what do we want do we want Rim protection and size and rebounding Donovan cling do we want movement shooting trade down Dalton connect do we want to take a swing at potential at a potential star and be prepared for a bust if he’s a bust read sheeper you know um do we want a safe pick someone we can see contributing to our rotation Stefon Castle defensively okay um do we do we want to try to get to take another swing at the six foot1 you know finesse scoring Wing yeah mat Zachary ree you know so it’s like or or yeah right so that’s how I see it it’s kind of scary which is why trading out is fine is fine with me but at the same time I will say more than any other draft that we’ve been through in these last few years in these last few years I really don’t care they’re playing with house money we were not supposed to get the number three pick so like whatever you know I would I guess having said that out loud I would take the whoever the analytics model thinks has the most upside right I would take that because the Rockets internal analytic model seems to be pretty on point so I would pick the player that or I would strongly consider the player that that model values that’s that’s a great point I would say I would say that too and there’s to me there’s no there’s really no wrong pick um that there isn’t yeah it’s like all of these guys have this to me the same the difference between the one two three four five it’s not really that much it’s just really at this point this is a draft you have to draft for fit um in my opinion and just pick the fit that you think makes your team better uh like the most out of everybody else now one thing before we do get off um in the article Kelly did say um that the Pelicans called the Rockets about a potential trade involving Brenan Ingram and uh he said it’s a rumor let me throw that out there and Al changon and the rockets declined uh straight up what what I found interesting about that is um one that one the Pelicans W wanted would want alron shenon I’m not sure if to pair him with Zion which would be a weird incredibly weird fit um two I for the record it would it would there’s a lot of potential with Zion’s athleticism off the ball and Shen’s creating but defensively and just like it would just be weird that would be terrible uh terrible defense there um now yeah offensively that’d be nuts now to me okay Pelicans want shenon or they value him to me it also does and and I’ve seen this and I think the same I saw this my my friend Mike on Twitter pointed this out and I totally agree with it it does set a baseline it sets a marker to show you where the Rockets perceive Alon shenon in the open market and if you remember you were saying bi is like that lower tier starish all near Allstar All-Star type of player they think maybe they just don’t like him but I think they’ve liked him in the past but I knowing that they value op shangu more than him tells you where they feel like his Market is going to be if they were to make a trade I don’t think it would be for a player like bi I think shenon is clearly in my opinion the Rocket’s best Prospect um because of the reason they wouldn’t take a bi for him because bi is just a play finisher right he he’s a play finisher the hardest thing to find a scorer yeah he’s a scorer he’s a scorer pretty onedimensional you know uh Emil Doki used the term play starters and play finishers um I think the rarest uh thing in NBA are guys that are both a guy that could initiate a play and finish it um which is mean you can set up your team and go get a bucket yourself that’s a rare combination bi is not that shenon is that right and he’s 21 so that should just tell you guys the value once again some of these discussions people have I think they look at it from different angles just from a asset standpoint having a a young player that can be a hub of a offense no matter how anemic it looks sometimes even the potential to be a hub of a offense and also be a guy that could be one of the best centers at scoring on his own is a pretty special player and and I think it was interesting that uh they just said n straight up to to be yeah no that’s a great Point um and if they’re not bullshitting right which you would assume that they’re not but for credibility purposes around the league if if it’s widely known like y the Pelicans really did try to engage the Rockets about shenon and the rockets were like no we’re good um then yeah it kind of sets the marker for like yo if you want Alper shenon it’s not it’s not going to be a bi you know we’re going to be talking something a much larger package um and if not then we’re totally fine keeping Alber and shenon so so I agree with you on that point um and I and I agree with you that like yo he can initiate plays and he can finish them now there are different tiers of of these types of players there’s the luk you know what I’m saying there’s the Luca James Harden and his prime LeBron like there’s the elite elite and then there’s guys that are not as good but are still pretty damn good at it right now shenon is in that category not as good but still pretty damn good at it and then obviously he’s only 21 and there’s crazy upside potentially so um so I agree with you man um it’s interesting though because like how do they build this out I really don’t know like at this point you know they had a successful season people are happy but the expectations like I was thinking about it today and we can we can do this in a later episode but I was thinking about it today I was like what are my expectations for this team in terms of wins losses you know we talking 48 wins 49 wins like like what do we what is success for next year’s team um because you’re trying to think of building the team out right now and I still think it’s just wide open that that’s I mean that that would be a great episode to do I I honestly and to your point yeah definitely there’s different tiers and what I was saying earlier about Shang you need to find out what Terry is on to me the only stage you can find that out is on the playoff stage um as you guys see the playoffs is different Brandon basketball than the regular season and I know nothing about anybody on this Rockets roster till I see them in a playoff setting um that’s the only thing End season Tournament game so he Ked calling but nah the the Lakers won that championship did they did they even make the playoffs I don’t think they did um but um no no they they lost to Denver I think they did first round yeah yeah yeah they got they got uh they got destroyed um but you know so that that is something that I like the build it’s wide open I think I trust once again I trust eay I trust the rockets that they have enough people that have seen enough basketball to know what’s real and what’s fake I’m at the point I’m at the point in the rebuild where I’m open to all options um like I said when I said earlier about patience I think you have to put yourself you have to try to get to being a playoff team as fast as possible and then you wait and then you wait over the years to all the heartbreaks and the losses because those prepare you to get your shot but if you’re just look on the outside looking in it’s it’s never you’re never doing anything because OKC is getting a Alex Caruso and there’s teams W’s getting better there the NBA does not wait for anybody you can be as patient as you want if you’re patient and bad teams are just going to pass you up so the Rockets they have to do whatever to get to the point where we can be in the in the discussions as a playoff Contender but what were you going to say I mean look yeah W windows are as fluid as they’ve ever been you know it used to be like yo you have the team that you have you have the Baseline like you have four or five years to figure it out now you could pop off and then disappear right like the Mavericks are in a tough spot because they have crazy expectations now and I I’m not sure that they’re a finals team next year so it’s like what do they do um but what I was going to say is it’s interesting if you look at all the other drafts right the Rockets previously had been very tight lipped I’m sorry no previously had been very transparent about their desires right like I said it was pretty widely known that they were taking Jaylen green it was pretty widely known that they were very interested in Paulo B Caro and thought he was going to fall to them at three they’re interest in the men Thompson not a surprise right this time around we don’t really know and we haven’t heard much until today with the Clingan stuff and it seems a little coordinated which is fine um but it just feels a little bit different right um we’ve heard nothing and then now we hear from Kelly six days before the draft right it’s like huh that’s interesting um previously it was filtering out like months in advance and so that what I’m trying to say is that leads me to believe and to to guess my opinion that they are really are interested in trading this pick in in previous drafts I think they were taxing they were like yo yeah we’ll talk trade but like we’re taxing right because we like this guy amen Thompson right like we think this guy’s awesome so if you want the number four pick you really got to give us you know something serious um but this time around it’s like they’re it just feels like a coordinated effort to create trade buzz and people I think really don’t know what the Rockets are doing and so that could make teams behind them nervous and anxious to be like man we got to trade up and you know basically I’m saying I think that they’re playing it right because I think they really do I think this indicates to fans if you’ve been paying attention for the last four years that they really do want to make a trade um and they really want to go get a player out of that pick which probably comes from imodoka um and maybe it comes from everyone maybe everyone’s on the same page but I I have this feeling that em odok is like yo I don’t give a [ __ ] about a prospect like I’m trying to win especially by the way now that he just watched the Celtics his previous team win the championship I’ll bet you more than anything that more than ever right now he’s like yo I don’t give a damn I need to like I need to win you know he’s a competitive guy so um yeah so basically I think that they are signaling or if not s they’re not they signaling but if you’ve been following then you can read the tea leaves and see oh they really are interested in trading that pick this time so I think they’re going to try to get a deal done just my guess I’m with you I’m team trade I think it’s the to me it’s it’s it’s not a no-brainer but it it just makes sense I mean I wouldn’t there’s no player in this draft that if the Rockets didn’t get him even if they turned out to be good that I’d be like damn unless all six of our prospects just but all they all bu um so I think you have to factor in so many things um and I’m okay with they trade back if they draft a player I’m cool with that and if if they go trade and try to trade out for a star whatever they want to do I think like you said house money um with that said we can end it here we got the draft coming up on next Wednesday June 26th um not as uh uh exciting to me I mean it it’s interesting to see what’s going to happen but our franchise isn’t writing on it so which is kind of a different take to look at um I get and you’ll be doing I think you’ll be doing a a u on on uh playback you’ll be doing a a draft stream is that correct um I I think so I think we’ll do a uh a Rockets watch for the draft um if you have the time if you’re not busy Frank could join me yeah yeah I’ll probably be able to come through and I’mma put it in the uh in the community channel for our Chop Shop members so you guys can come through and check it out and hopefully next year we’ll be doing some uh some replays of certain games in in the uh in the playback app as well so we’ll get you guys initiated into all that but appreciate you bro I know it’s been a minute but it’s a summer we you know we got real life uh we’ll be chopping up with you guys either before or right after the draft see what the Rockets do if you’re new to the channel make sure you hit the Subscribe button if you like this video hit the like button keep rocking with The Chop Shop we going to keep dropping that fire [Music]

In this episode of Rockets Talk Roosh and Frank discuss the draft buzz surrounding the Houston Rockets, some big trades in the NBA and rumors. We also review Kelly Iko’s new article about the Rockwts from the Athletic. #houstonrockets #nba #podcast #alperensengun #jalengreen #amenthompson #nbadraft

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Read Kelly’s full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5574543/2024/06/20/rockets-draft-notebook-donovan-clingan/?source=emp_shared_article

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