This is Ridiculous…

This is Ridiculous…

Why is nobody talking about the Houston Rockets? I mean, this is a team that just brought in an allNBA, all world caliber, Kevin Durant. They should be a top two team in the East and instead nobody’s talking about them since late June. And I mean, sure, they give up Jaylen Green. But you could argue he’s not even in their top four of their young core because they still have guys like Alprren Shingun, Jabari Smith Jr., Amin Thompson, and even Reed Shepard. Losing Dylan Brooks stinks, but I mean this is a squad. They can compete with the Thunder now. And looking at who they bring in for the cost of just Jaylen Green, Dylan Brooks, and that 10th overall pick, would have loved to have the 10th overall pick in a draft class that was this stacked, but you still bring in Kevin Durant, one of the greatest scorers in the history of the game. And the 10th overall pick could have really helped out this Houston Rockets team, but in a couple of years, right, he’s not going to play right away. And the Houston Rockets, they are ready to take that next step. and contend. So, they go out and they make the biggest splash possible, bringing in maybe the most gifted scorer in the history of the NBA. Yes, he’s 37 years old, but he’s coming off a year where he averaged 26 and a half points a game, six rebounds, 4.2 assists, and a steal in 36 minutes. And on the US Olympic team on a squad with LeBron Curry, the NBA’s best, he was still the closer for that team. 53% shooting from the field, 43% from three on six attempts. Other than of course the final game where Steph went absolutely nuclear, but the numbers are still there. The efficiency is still ridiculous. He can still shoot over anybody and is pretty much unguardable. I mean getting to spots and hitting fall away jumpers. That’s KD’s bread and butter. And there’s not been a single person in NBA history. I mean, Kobe said it best. He was the one that he was never able to figure out defensively because KD is just so skilled. But he’s got such a mixture of the height and the wingspan where he can release it at the top of his jumper that you just simply can’t guard it. You can hope like right here, Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins, he’s going to shoot this fading away. Gets to a spot, fades away over two people and knocks down the and one three ball as Wiggins fouls him. I mean, that is ridiculous right there. Getting using his body to shield off the defender. And I mean, this is Kevin Durant to a te right here. He’s got the one-on-one on the baseline. Jackson Hayes is over in help already. Doesn’t matter that both of them are going to come and contest this jumper. He’s still going to knock it down fading away out of bounds and there’s not a thing you can do about it. Like I said, the efficiency is still elite for a guy at towards the end of his career. I want to say this is the end of his career, but I don’t know. He’s on a one-year $54 million deal. And looking at Houston’s cap situation, they are still about $4 million under the first apron, about 16.5 million under the second apron. So once you know they bring in Dorian Infinity Smith and everybody then you will still have a little bit more money to play around with. They also restructured Fran Leit’s contract so that’s really going to help out a lot when it comes to all the salary cap issues and not having to pay the luxury tax. But looking at Houston, they still have a very bright future even after giving up Green. They still have a decent amount of picks over the next few years still from the James Harden trade from Brooklyn. So I mean that’s obviously going to be a great pick. Brooklyn is kind of directionless right now. So having as many of their picks as you can get will be great. Um the 10th overall pick would have been nice like I said but it’s gone. So is Jaylen Green who was pretty good in Houston. He became a fan favorite over time because of his athleticism because of you know his ability to score in bunches and he was just 23 years old coming off a year where he averaged 21 a game with 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and a steal in 33 minutes. But I think Eime Udoko did a fantastic job of kind of shielding Jaylen Green’s weaknesses from the rest of the NBA because Udoko, he’s one of the best coaches in the league. 43% shooting from the field, 35% from three for Jaylen Green in the regular season, but come playoff time, he kind of got exposed and he also didn’t really improve from the 2023 2024 year. Yes, he averaged one more point per game. Everything else was kind of the same and the efficiency was just a tad bit better. Now, if he can make another jump in the three-point percentage next year like he did this year, then it could be big. And in game two versus Golden State Warriors, he proved that he could be the number one guy. He has number one stuff, 13 of 25 from the field, dropped 38 points in game two of the playoffs. However, the rest of the series, he combined to score just about 38 points, which is not what you want out of your start. And like I said, he’s not even in their top two of young guys anymore because Alprren Shingun is the best young player on this roster. Amen. Thompson is number two. That’s not really up for debate. Shingun is coming off a season where yes, he may have averaged less points per game than Jaylen Green, but he also averaged 10 and a half rebounds, five assist, one steal, and almost a block per game. He can hook you on the low block. He can take you out on the perimeter. Really does whatever he wants. Shot 50% from the field and 23% from three on about one attempt per game. So, the three-point efficiency is not great. And against Golden State, he was all right. He averaged about 21 points, 12 boards, 5.3 assists, and two steals. You might be thinking, man, those are some great stats. What do you mean he was all right? Well, he was getting guarded by Draymond Green. So, his efficiency went down. He only shot 45% from the field as a seven-footer. And I call that the Draymond Green effect. Kind of got introduced to that. But as he continues to grow and develop, he will just continue to get better and better. He’ll just be just 23 years old next season, which is kind of crazy to think about. And next up is Amen Thompson, who is downright untouchable according to the Houston Rockets front office. He was off the table in any potential Kevin Durant trade. And for a guy that is 6’7 with a 7 foot wingspan that can defend the way he can defend, but can also score the way he can score. Man, Am Thompson is truly special. The development of him has been very nice to watch over the past couple of seasons. Averaged 14, 8.2 2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. And he did that while shooting 56% from the field. Also shot 27% from three on two attempts. Now, the cutting is fantastic. He does have a semi awkward fit, but like I said, he’s a fantastic cutter alongside of Fred Vleet. He’ll eventually take over the starting point guard role, I feel like, although they’re using him more as a wing right now. But he has played the point guard role in the past verse Golden State in the playoffs. He averaged about 16.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 stocks per game. Like I said, he’s a fantastic cutter. Watch him right here in the corner. The pick and roll is happening at the top of the screen between Shingun and Fred Van Fleet. Jared Allen’s guarding Amen. And as Jared Allen goes over, Amin’s just going to cut in right behind him and get the easy dunk. And then this is why you love a man in Thompson. There’s Kevin Durant right there. Now teammate on teammate crime getting the block. Once again, great rim protection for a guy that is 6’7. His athleticism is off the charts. He and his brother are top 10 freak athletes in NBA history. I mean, watch him right here. He’s going to steal this pass. They try to hit the slip in Jaylen Duran and he’s just going to jump it and take it the other way. That’s elite basketball IQ defensively. Then he’s got Cade right here on an island. Picks his pocket. That’s not easy to do. Kate Cunningham is fantastic. Then Anthony Edwards loses it. Eman Thompson picks it up. Says, “I’ll take it.” Ends up soccer dribbling it down the court. Same thing right here. He’s got to work on picking it up with two hands, but once he gets it, he can go. Watch him come over to help double bam Adabio. Once again, beautiful basketball IQ on the defensive side of the ball. The Rockets also have guys like Reed Shepard, who we talked about earlier could be in their top four young players on the roster. And now without Jaylen Green, he probably is one of their top four prospects. He is I’m looking forward to a full year of Reed Shepard this year with some of the minutes freed up by the Jaylen Green departure. Jabari Smith Jr. is coming off a year where he averaged 12.2 two points a game and seven rebounds with one assist and.7 steals in 30 minutes. Shot 44% from the field and 35% from three on five attempts. Can he pick it up a little bit? Because if he can, he can be very, very dangerous. And I think this is the perfect fit for him playing behind Kevin Durant because he can start to grow and develop a little bit behind KD. He’s 6’10 with a 7-1 wingspan, so has very similar body types. Not quite 7 foot, but I think this is a perfect situation for Jabari Smith Jr. to grow and develop. And then you of course have Dorian Finny Smith as well who they bring in. Perfect free agent edition. Only two years of his contractor guaranteed. Love that ad. Perfect 3 and D guy around everybody else here in Houston. They needed a little bit more shooting. They bring it in. But bottom line, they get their alpha score in Kevin Durant and come playoff time, they shouldn’t have problems generating buckets in the half court. With that being said, that’s going to be it for today’s video. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure the like button, leave me a comment down below, and hit that subscribe button if you did enjoy any point. And with that being said, thanks so much for watching today’s video.

This video looks at the Houston rockets and how they stole Kevin Durant and why nobody is talking about it
Other Channels:
Backyard Blitz: https://www.youtube.com/@BackyardBlitz33
Backyard Betting: https://www.youtube.com/@BackyardBetting
Socials
Insta/Tiktok: LukeStaten3