Houston Rockets GM KW has heard enough of the criticism about his Houston Rockets squad this season. Despite steadily winning two thirds of their games, pundits across the association voiced their doubts about the title hopes of a squad full of scorers. Drafting the tantalizing Michael Porter in the lottery and signing former franchise savior James Harden in free agency added to an already potent offense, but the Rockets parted with multiple defensive weapons to do so. Then again during the season, the Rockets acquired scorer Marquese Chriss in a trade for the defensive minded Kevon Looney.
But don't tell the GM he needed more defense in order to contend. He's well aware. The Rockets courted two way superstar Dante Exum, and perennial DPOY winner Okaro White in free agency, and watched defensive phenom Kaiser Gates get snatched up one pick before them. "The goal has always been to create a defensive juggernaut, while Malik and KAT carry the offense," said KW a few weeks ago. "That had been my goal ever since I acquired them, but that just hasn't been in the cards, so we took the talent any chance we got and rolled with it. I'd say it's gone well, but can be much better."
Soon after, rumors started brewing that the Rockets had been fielding offers to bolster that defense. A deal that would've sent Marquese Chriss and several other pieces out for two terrific all-around defenders, fell flat in the 11th hour and sent the Rockets back to the drawing board.
After working out a small deal for Cleveland PG Chris Tang as a third-string ball-handler, KW went back to looking for big moves. Met with a flurry of "no's" and "lol's", while offering around a number of B and C rated assets for defensive upgrades, Houston later came to terms with the Thunder in a deal for defender Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and rookie shooter JP Macura.
Knowing that alone wouldn't be enough, KW scoured the market one last time, and expressed interest in Pacers forward Justise Winslow. After a few hours of tough negotiation, the Rockets redirected RHJ to the Pacers and also sent out Michael Porter and a number of reserves, and received three hard-nosed defensive pieces in Winslow, veteran Jimmy Butler, and rookie prospect Josh Okogie, sandwiching the Houston Rockets right below the hard cap of $90M.
As the deal is expected to become official, the question must be asked, where do all these guys fit?
Head coach Dirk Nowitzki maintains that the starting five, at least for now, will remain the same when all are healthy- starting and close with all three scoring guards together, rotating to keep two on the floor for the rest of the game, with KAT and either Bender or Chriss starting depending on matchup.
He was quick to add that Winslow would definitely see starter minutes, switching from 2-4 based on the matchup, and that Butler would also receive regular minutes in a similar role. "With most of our offense coming from guards and bigs, we're going to be counting on our wings to hold it down defensively. Between Justise, Bender, Butler, and Kemba, I don't think there's a tougher defensive wing rotation out there," says Dirk.
They say defense wins championships. The Rockets know first-hand from the 2017 and 2018 runs to the finals that defense means the world in this league, especially come playoff time. Now it's time to prove it.
emplep7 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:21 am
I wonder what the deal was that fell apart. Either way, you got a great defensive piece in Winslow and I’m interested to see how he fits.
Defense looks much better now, Winslow is a menace and Butler more than holds his own as well. Offensively there are still to many weapons in this team, we all know that doesn't translate perfectly to DDS, but we'll see what happens. This deal definitely improved Houston's shot at a second ring, exciting to see guys making winning moves now!
18-19 Chicago Bulls: CSL Champions
#1 D.Rose #11 J.Holiday #21 J.Butler #42 A.Horford #13 J.Noah
29-30 Philadelphia 76ers: CSL Champions #1 L.Ball #15 M.Beasley #23 B.Bowen #21 M.Wagner #51 K.Towns
emplep7 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:21 am
I wonder what the deal was that fell apart. Either way, you got a great defensive piece in Winslow and I’m interested to see how he fits.
Defense looks much better now, Winslow is a menace and Butler more than holds his own as well. Offensively there are still to many weapons in this team, we all know that doesn't translate perfectly to DDS, but we'll see what happens. This deal definitely improved Houston's shot at a second ring, exciting to see guys making winning moves now!
The balancing act is going to be figuring how to limit Justise Winslow's offensive touches as much as possible. It's a legitimate concern. I don't think the "too many weapons" is an issue personally. It's an issue if many of them are of just average or worse efficiency and take away from the efficient ones, or if they are all score-only players that don't do other things. They don't all play together anyway. Typically I'll have 2-3 great scorers at all times on the floor, along with lower usage guys who do other things like Bender, Mika, and now Butler.
I see it the same way. It never hurts to have a few scorers more than needed. Keep the ball out of the hands of the not effective guys is the goal.
I thought the weak spot of the team was D and addressing that with adding one of the elite defenders in the league and Jimmy, who is still an good defender himself, should help on paper. No to forget the D ace Kemba.
Up to Kyrus now to let them do the dirty work and get the ball to Harden, KAT and Monk on O.
Is one defender going to be enough to get this team over the top? Time will tell but Winslow is a defensive monster. Hopefully the plethora of scorers around him will limit the shots he takes.
Career Accolades: - GM, Cleveland Cavaliers [2013-2018]
- GM, Brooklyn Nets [2018-2030, 2031-Present]
- 0 CSL Championships
- 0 Eastern Conference Championships
- 0 Coach of the Year Awards
- 0 GM of the Year Awards
Rizzo's Hall of Fame Players: - oCSL Marcus Smart
- SG P.J. Hairston [2015 CSL Draft, Pick 1.16]
- C DeAndre Ayton [2022 CSL Draft, Pick 1.3]
- PG Shai-Gilgeous Alexander [2025 CSL Draft, Pick 1.1]
Rizzo wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 1:34 pm
Is one defender going to be enough to get this team over the top? Time will tell but Winslow is a defensive monster. Hopefully the plethora of scorers around him will limit the shots he takes.
Winslow, Bender, Kemba, Butler on the wings, KAT and Mika up front. All well above average defenders.
The interesting thing to me is that you could’ve gotten Okaro in the off-season, but you chose to draft Porter instead. And then you ended up trading Porter for Winslow.
GreenBear wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:37 pm
The interesting thing to me is that you could’ve gotten Okaro in the off-season, but you chose to draft Porter instead. And then you ended up trading Porter for Winslow.
Okaro would've cost me the cap space and the pick. The pick essentially turned into Winslow, and the cap space became Harden. I'll take that duo over Okaro alone.
GreenBear wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:37 pm
The interesting thing to me is that you could’ve gotten Okaro in the off-season, but you chose to draft Porter instead. And then you ended up trading Porter for Winslow.
Okaro would've cost me the cap space and the pick. The pick essentially turned into Winslow, and the cap space became Harden. I'll take that duo over Okaro alone.
As good as Harden is, a team of Monk, Kemba, Okaro, Bender and KAT with whatever you can have off the bench is GG.
That's a team with fantastic offensive balance and defensive presence, and Okaro is a very underrated offensive player.
18-19 Chicago Bulls: CSL Champions
#1 D.Rose #11 J.Holiday #21 J.Butler #42 A.Horford #13 J.Noah
29-30 Philadelphia 76ers: CSL Champions #1 L.Ball #15 M.Beasley #23 B.Bowen #21 M.Wagner #51 K.Towns
GreenBear wrote: ↑Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:37 pm
The interesting thing to me is that you could’ve gotten Okaro in the off-season, but you chose to draft Porter instead. And then you ended up trading Porter for Winslow.
Okaro would've cost me the cap space and the pick. The pick essentially turned into Winslow, and the cap space became Harden. I'll take that duo over Okaro alone.
As good as Harden is, a team of Monk, Kemba, Okaro, Bender and KAT with whatever you can have off the bench is GG.
That's a team with fantastic offensive balance and defensive presence, and Okaro is a very underrated offensive player.
100% agree. That's why he and Exum were my 1a and 1b targets with my cap space. In any case, Winslow is probably the closest thing there is to Okaro defensively (offense is a totally different story, I know), so to get him and Harden instead of just Okaro, is a definite win.
In a perfect world I would've drafted Gates AND signed Okaro, but I'll take what I can get.
Wonder how the starting lineup is gonna look. Awaiting the inevitable KAT at PF & Justise Winslow at C in the Playoffs lineup... 44 STLS in one game later Biz will say "Ah I was just experimenting, I didn't know he would actually play well"
ORLANDOMAGIC:
PG L Ball | SG A Edwards | SF D Bane
PF S Barnes| C M Williams
WillyJakkz wrote: ↑Thu Nov 28, 2019 2:08 am
Wonder how the starting lineup is gonna look. Awaiting the inevitable KAT at PF & Justise Winslow at C in the Playoffs lineup... 44 STLS in one game later Biz will say "Ah I was just experimenting, I didn't know he would actually play well"
I wasn't going to but nice idea
Doesn't matter though, I've got actual centers that need minutes. Winslow will be a 3/4 and an occasional 2, like he always has been
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