Shams: Fred Van Vleet out with torn ACL

[ROballer]

A lot of clueless people talking about playmaking here, without knowing how Houston operated last year.

Check Fred's assist numbers last year and watch a game or two. He was used mostly as the ball carrier up the court and immediately dumped the ball to Sengun who operated like a mini Jokic out there and did the playmaking himself.

Fred was playing off the ball A LOT.

They will miss his defense and sometimes his shooting(can get crazy hot) and that's it.

But his absence his overblown. Both Sheppard and Amen can replace what they lost with internal growth alone.

Team runs through Sengun as far as playmaking is involved.

[RHODEY]

Lol that's fair

Knicks want to keep both Shamet and Brogdon.

Well, then they need to trade someone.

"New York is currently $3.7 million below the second apron. That leaves it with enough room to sign one player with NBA experience to a guaranteed contract".

https://dailyknicks.com/knicks-just-became-a-wild-card-to-watch-on-the-trade-market-01k4zbn22hnn

Right likely one of the 2nd year players.

[LarsV8]

People keep looking at the stats are missing the forest from the trees. FVV is a glue guy, a coach on the floor, who keeps everything running (especially defensively) with all the kids. His stats are not why they had 20 and 10 win improvements over the last two years, its the leadership and mentoring, effort, etc. Not to mention, he is also an excellent POA defender.

That's not really something easily replaceable, so you have to hope FVV'isms have rubbed off on the kids, and they don't need him anymore.

I mean unless of course we can land Austin Reeves for the bargain cost of Amen, Eason, and an unprotected pick from a tanking team.

[SlimShady83]

Not much left on one of my fantasy league, I dropped FVV for Collin Sexton

[Black Jack]

Go get Trae

[Wolveswin]

Hell No!

And they won't. Lakers will pay him

I agree, however, i believe we will get outbid by another team. For the right price, the Lakers should pull the trigger. If I am the Lakers, I would consider a combination of a young player(s), salary and future assets in exchange for AR+ another player(s). I am just thinking outside the box. With what we have seen with Luka in the international play, Lakers might be more inclined to cash in AR.

Here is my first attempt with PHX in the mix:
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/trade-machine/_/year/2025/team1/hou/team2/lal/team3/phx

Rockets In: Austin Reeves
Rockets Out: Amen Thompson 2027 1st (via BKN)
Rockets get a win now player in AR and get rights to secure him long term.

Lakers In: Amen Thompson, Grayson Allen, 2027 BKN 1st
Lakers Out: Austin Reeves, Jarred Vanderbilt, 2027 FRP
Lakers get a young player, a vet and some assets

PHX In: Jarred Vanderbilt, Tari Eason, 2027 LAL FRP Pick
PHX Out: Grayson Allen
PHX adds wing depth while getting a FRP

lol. Amen and 1st for Reaves. Amen > Reaves alone.

[Mavrelous]

Nico Harrison works in north Texas, not in Houston.

[Wolveswin]

How about Garland? It would take Rockets finding a quality player for Cavs in return - enter Grizzlies. Can Griz be talked into tank/rebuild for right assets more so with Morant changing conferences?

To Cavs: Morant

To Grizzlies: Jabari/Sheppard/FVV/Cavs 1st/Suns 1st (via Rockets)

To Rockets: Garland/GG Jackson/Konchar

[JujitsuFlip]

How about Garland? It would take Rockets finding a quality player for Cavs in return - enter Grizzlies. Can Griz be talked into tank/rebuild for right assets more so with Morant changing conferences?

To Cavs: Morant

To Grizzlies: Jabari/Sheppard/FVV/Cavs 1st/Suns 1st (via Rockets)

To Rockets: Garland/GG Jackson/Konchar

This trade is awful for all 3 teams lol

[Wolveswin]

How about Garland? It would take Rockets finding a quality player for Cavs in return - enter Grizzlies. Can Griz be talked into tank/rebuild for right assets more so with Morant changing conferences?

To Cavs: Morant

To Grizzlies: Jabari/Sheppard/FVV/Cavs 1st/Suns 1st (via Rockets)

To Rockets: Garland/GG Jackson/Konchar

This trade is awful for all 3 teams lol

You would need to explain that. Morant is upgrade to Garland.

If Grizzlies are rebuilding they is a haul for Morant.

Only thing left is how does Garland fit in Houston.

[nikster]

A lot of clueless people talking about playmaking here, without knowing how Houston operated last year.

Check Fred's assist numbers last year and watch a game or two. He was used mostly as the ball carrier up the court and immediately dumped the ball to Sengun who operated like a mini Jokic out there and did the playmaking himself.

Fred was playing off the ball A LOT.

They will miss his defense and sometimes his shooting(can get crazy hot) and that's it.

But his absence his overblown. Both Sheppard and Amen can replace what they lost with internal growth alone.

Team runs through Sengun as far as playmaking is involved.

Fred averaged 5.8 seconds per possession with the ball, which was top 15 in the league. Sure a lot of that is bringing the ball up, but that is still a lot. There is a lot to be said about having a veteran PG control the ball.

Betting you can replacr him with internal growth alone seems over confident. Sheppard hasn't even proven hes deserving of rotation minutes, and you think Amen Thomson is gonna be so much better this year he will replace Fred's production on top of what he brought last year? He doesn't even replace what Fred does best in terms of ball handling, playmaking and shooting.

[Moahst]

A lot of clueless people talking about playmaking here, without knowing how Houston operated last year.

Check Fred's assist numbers last year and watch a game or two. He was used mostly as the ball carrier up the court and immediately dumped the ball to Sengun who operated like a mini Jokic out there and did the playmaking himself.

Fred was playing off the ball A LOT.

They will miss his defense and sometimes his shooting(can get crazy hot) and that's it.

But his absence his overblown. Both Sheppard and Amen can replace what they lost with internal growth alone.

Team runs through Sengun as far as playmaking is involved.

Fred averaged 5.8 seconds per possession with the ball, which was top 15 in the league. Sure a lot of that is bringing the ball up, but that is still a lot. There is a lot to be said about having a veteran PG control the ball.

Betting you can replacr him with internal growth alone seems over confident. Sheppard hasn't even proven hes deserving of rotation minutes, and you think Amen Thomson is gonna be so much better this year he will replace Fred's production on top of what he brought last year? He doesn't even replace what Fred does best in terms of ball handling, playmaking and shooting.

I agree. The Rockets half court offense last season wasn't Sengun operating out of the post as much as it was Jalen and Sengun running hand offs and pick and roll, as well as Fred running pick and roll with Sengun. And it didn't work that well. Where the Rockets will miss Fred is having a steady hand in game deciding moments. There were a handful of games the Rockets more or less won by taking the ball away from the kids and giving it to Fred who slowed everything down and made smart decisions. Amen is not ready to be a lead guard, although he can cosplay as one. Reed may not even be ready for 15 minutes a game as a NBA player. Internal development is possible, but these guys are not there yet. I wish this absence was overblown but I can say with confidence that replacing what Fred did to move this team from a lottery trajectory to a 2 seed will not be easily done.

[JRoy]

Hell No!

And they won't. Lakers will pay him

I agree, however, i believe we will get outbid by another team. For the right price, the Lakers should pull the trigger. If I am the Lakers, I would consider a combination of a young player(s), salary and future assets in exchange for AR+ another player(s). I am just thinking outside the box. With what we have seen with Luka in the international play, Lakers might be more inclined to cash in AR.

Here is my first attempt with PHX in the mix:
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/trade-machine/_/year/2025/team1/hou/team2/lal/team3/phx

Rockets In: Austin Reeves
Rockets Out: Amen Thompson 2027 1st (via BKN)
Rockets get a win now player in AR and get rights to secure him long term.

Lakers In: Amen Thompson, Grayson Allen, 2027 BKN 1st
Lakers Out: Austin Reeves, Jarred Vanderbilt, 2027 FRP
Lakers get a young player, a vet and some assets

PHX In: Jarred Vanderbilt, Tari Eason, 2027 LAL FRP Pick
PHX Out: Grayson Allen
PHX adds wing depth while getting a FRP

Absolute homer deal.

[Chokic]

Put Darius garland on that team and rockets are going to the finals this year.

[azcatz11]

If the lakers want amen they are going to have to give up Luka. No more powder puff trades.

[Scalabrine]

Can Durant and Jabari Smith play alongside each other defensively for substantial minutes?

Durant can't chase SFs around anymore. Is that what you want Jabari Smith doing?

I don't think it'll be that big of an issue.

Very few teams have 2 forwards that are too quick for KD.

Thunder he's probably primarily guarding Dort
Lakers - Rui/Vando
Nuggets - Gordon or Brown
Clips - Jones/Batum/Collins
Wolves - McDaniels
Dubs - Green or sometimes Butler (or Horford)
Grizz - Aldama/Clark
Mavs - PJ/Naji
Spurs - Barnes/Keldon

It's not really a big deal, and if it is, you bring in Eason or DFS instead of Jabari. All of those teams are gonna have a way harder time matching up to KD then KD is to them.

[Eyeamok]

Houston needs to call up the Blazers and ask them what would it take to get Jrue Holiday.

[JRoy]

I was thinking a Jrue deal might make sense, HOU fans say too expensive.

[JujitsuFlip]

I was thinking a Jrue deal might make sense, HOU fans say too expensive.

They probably don't have the contracts to match until December 15th anyways.

[JRoy]

I was thinking a Jrue deal might make sense, HOU fans say too expensive.

They probably don't have the contracts to match until December 15th anyways.

I don’t think that opinion is unreasonable. Jrue might be a better fit than Vred as well.