Around the League: 2020 Offseason

[Kobblehead]

It's kinda crazy how the Rockets PGs in the last three seasons were Chris Paul, then Russell Westbrook, then John Wall. Three consecutive hall of fame talents shuffling in and out.

[the_process]

I see Beal asking for a trade sooner rather than later.

[eyeatoma]

I see Beal asking for a trade sooner rather than later.

Tobias and Russ are friends.... Hmmm... Pump and dump time baby.

[Kobblehead]

Oh damn, I just forgot the Rockets signed Boogie.

Cousins/Wall all broken down and reunited after a decade. I kinda hope they regain some of their former selves and find success. I'll root for them.

[Arsenal]

I see Beal asking for a trade sooner rather than later.

Absolutely. He'll want out by next summer guaranteed. Morey should be ready to pounce then.

[spikeslovechild]

I see Beal asking for a trade sooner rather than later.

Westbrook is not the solution but if Beal didn't demand a trade before when Wall got inured why would he now?

It's Harden you need to worry about because Wall doesn't fit at all next to Harden even when he was healthy and he hasn't played for two years and is likely a fraction of the player he once was. I really thought due to his uncertain health he was untradable. This could easily end up being one of the worst trades of the last decade for the Rockets I mean it also matters how they got there.

They basically paid 3 first rounders to turn Paul into Wall and comically the Thunder traded Paul for three positive assets. I get the need to move on from Paul but man this series of events reminds me of the Colangelo trade tree. When he traded TJ Ford plus a first rounder (Roy Hibbert) for Jermaine Oneal. Then traded Jermaine Oneal plus a first rounder for Marion. Then traded Marion for Hedo. Then traded Bosh for the pick he gave up in the Marion deal.

[Sixerscan]

I see Beal asking for a trade sooner rather than later.

Westbrook is not the solution but if Beal didn't demand a trade before when Wall got inured why would he now?

It's Harden you need to worry about because Wall doesn't fit at all next to Harden even when he was healthy and he hasn't played for two years and is likely a fraction of the player he once was. I really thought due to his uncertain health he was untradable. This could easily end up being one of the worst trades of the last decade for the Rockets I mean it also matters how they got there.

They basically paid 3 first rounders to turn Paul into Wall and comically the Thunder traded Paul for three positive assets. I get the need to move on from Paul but man this series of events reminds me of the Colangelo trade tree. When he traded TJ Ford plus a first rounder (Roy Hibbert) for Jermaine Oneal. Then traded Jermaine Oneal plus a first rounder for Marion. Then traded Marion for Hedo. Then traded Bosh for the pick he gave up in the Marion deal.

Not now but playing with Westbrook is awful, Beal will get sick of it in a year.

Harden too probably.

[HardenToSixers]

It's kinda crazy how the Rockets PGs in the last three seasons were Chris Paul, then Russell Westbrook, then John Wall. Three consecutive hall of fame talents shuffling in and out.

not really when they just traded a bloated contract for another bloated contract one after the other. if anything it's just crazy that three washed up but formerly stud PGs are all on similar contracts and in bad situations around the same time

[76ciology]

It's kinda crazy how the Rockets PGs in the last three seasons were Chris Paul, then Russell Westbrook, then John Wall. Three consecutive hall of fame talents shuffling in and out.

The issue for the Rox for me is they can’t address their lack of flexibility.

If harden playing with a PG won’t work, why keep doing that? What’s the back up plan when you are shooting blanks in a game 7?

Why go double down by playing micro ball when they were we saw how important it is to be able to play big and small. We’ve seen the Warriors or the Lakers being able to be flexible with the size of their line-ups based on match-ups.

Anyway, Rox kind of address this issue this offseason with Woods and Boogie. But its too late.

[76ciology]

John Wall is a better shooter than Westbrook right?

[spikeslovechild]

John Wall is a better shooter than Westbrook right?

Nope.

He is a career .321 shooter from 3-10 feet. He has zero midrange game and his 3PT shot is non-existent which is what makes this trade so puzzling.

It would be one thing if both players were healthy it would probably be an even trade Wall for a slightly better Westbrook plus a protected first but noone knows what Wall is at this point or even if he can play and previously his entire game depended on his athletic ability. They basically amnestied Westbrook and bought a longshot lotto ticket.

All this talk about them not blinking and not being afraid to make things uncomfortable. They blinked.

[Negrodamus]

I kinda love that all the talk leading into the off-season was how the Rockets were going to bend to Harden’s will again to put him with his buddies to form a super team and instead found a way to put Wall and Cousins together.

[ankle420breaker]

Tillman declaring CP3's contract the worst in professional sports and ultimately ending up with John Wall is just priceless.

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[UcanUwill]

Hey, have you guys acquired Vincent Poirier? Latest 2k roster has him as 76er, but I completely missed that news?

[Sixersftw]

It's kinda crazy how the Rockets PGs in the last three seasons were Chris Paul, then Russell Westbrook, then John Wall. Three consecutive hall of fame talents shuffling in and out.

The issue for the Rox for me is they can’t address their lack of flexibility.

If harden playing with a PG won’t work, why keep doing that? What’s the back up plan when you are shooting blanks in a game 7?

It did work. They were a CP3 hammy away from beating one of the best teams of all time. Tillman, not Harden, was and remains the problem here. Instead of trading for a PG in the mold of CP3 but less of a dick and less injury prone, they traded for Russ. They identified the team construction blueprint but then just threw it out randomly rather than changing the pieces. Sounds familiar huh?

[Stanford]

Hey, have you guys acquired Vincent Poirier? Latest 2k roster has him as 76er, but I completely missed that news?

Looks like there were rumours of him being included in the Horford deal, but they appear to be untrue. Hard to say until the trade is finalized.

[Kobblehead]

The issue for the Rox for me is they can’t address their lack of flexibility.

If harden playing with a PG won’t work, why keep doing that? What’s the back up plan when you are shooting blanks in a game 7?

Why go double down by playing micro ball when they were we saw how important it is to be able to play big and small. We’ve seen the Warriors or the Lakers being able to be flexible with the size of their line-ups based on match-ups.

Anyway, Rox kind of address this issue this offseason with Woods and Boogie. But its too late.

I think the biggest issue with the Rockets is that James Harden doesn't have a strong work ethic or good leadership qualities so they're constantly ice-skating uphill to try to win a championship.

In terms of basketball sense, I do think they almost won the title with the Paul/Harden combo. They were the best team in basketball in 2018 and had the Warrior dead to rights and would have wiped the floor with the Cavs before Paul got hurt.

Even despite less of an offensive fit than Harden/Paul, a Harden/Westbrook or Harden/Wall combo would work in theory if Harden was a little more flexible with how frequently he played on the ball. As mentioned earlier, if Harden doesn't desire to make winning sacrifices/decisions, there's not much the Rockets can do.

[the_process]

Hey, have you guys acquired Vincent Poirier? Latest 2k roster has him as 76er, but I completely missed that news?

We have not heard that news. Of course, there’s still a pending trade with OKC that cannot be announced for another 5 days. We don’t know exactly what the official iteration of that deal will be yet.

[the_process]

I see Beal asking for a trade sooner rather than later.

Westbrook is not the solution but if Beal didn't demand a trade before when Wall got inured why would he now?

It's Harden you need to worry about because Wall doesn't fit at all next to Harden even when he was healthy and he hasn't played for two years and is likely a fraction of the player he once was. I really thought due to his uncertain health he was untradable. This could easily end up being one of the worst trades of the last decade for the Rockets I mean it also matters how they got there.

They basically paid 3 first rounders to turn Paul into Wall and comically the Thunder traded Paul for three positive assets. I get the need to move on from Paul but man this series of events reminds me of the Colangelo trade tree. When he traded TJ Ford plus a first rounder (Roy Hibbert) for Jermaine Oneal. Then traded Jermaine Oneal plus a first rounder for Marion. Then traded Marion for Hedo. Then traded Bosh for the pick he gave up in the Marion deal.

Beal and Wall did not get along but respected each other. Wall actually played as a initiator.

Westbrook is a stats guy. He will pass to Beal in the first half to get his 10 assists. Then Beal won’t see the ball for the entire 2nd half. Beal will tire of that quickly, and it will take everything Leonsis can do to keep a trade request off of social media.

[Kobblehead]

Pourier is interesting in that he can be a neutrali-ish defender in the frontcourt and rebound a little bit.

I'd rather get Ty Jerome added to the deal, though. Jerome is a big G that can pass a little, defend a little, and shoot a little. Strong skillset.