Preseason notes: Steven Adams, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., and more

Thursday’s episode features more insight related to the ongoing 2024-25 preseason for the Rockets (2-1). Topics include encouraging signs from Steven Adams and Dillon Brooks; questions with Jabari Smith Jr. and Cam Whitmore; and notes surrounding the remainder of Houston’s roster.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Cheers.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Rockets fans, Welcome to The Logger Line, an exclusive podcast
from the home of the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
The Logger Line.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
It's proudly served to you by car Box Clutch City
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get Ready The Lagger Line.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
It starts now.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome aboard.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Ben Dubo's here, Powlo Alves there, Thanks for tuning in
to another new episode of The Logger Line, as always
served to you courtesy I Clutch Study logger of Carbock Brewing.
You can follow me on Twitter, slash x at Ben
Dubo's and Powow at Powo Alves NBA. You can also
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and at Sports Talk seven ninety, the official fly radio

(01:00):
station of the team. As we chat this Thursday, October seventeen,
the Rockets will wrap up their preseason slate tonight at
home against San Antonio. Jack Landale, who had a very
long summer with the Australia national team at the Olympics,
is the only guy who technically won't be available, and
it sounds like the Spurs, at least for a half,
will have Wemby playing. However, my suspicion is that both

(01:21):
teams are probably going to be fairly vanilla, maybe have
backups in by the time the second half rolls around,
because this is a unique circumstance that only is at
the last game of the preseason, when teams tend to
be a little more risk averse when it comes to
potential injuries. Regular season is less than a week away.
But also there's a unique quirk here where the Rockets
and Spurs play three times in the first couple of

(01:43):
weeks of the regular season. So because of that, I
think both teams will sort of attack and defend much
more vanilla than they would if it was an opponent
they won't see for a while. So with that in mind,
I think most of the developmant data points this preseason
are already in as we're recording this. The Rockets two
to one in exhibition play. They lost their first game
in Utah when they were minus fifteen in rebounding. Then

(02:05):
they won their next two at Oklahoma City and earlier
this week at home versus New Orleans. Brockets were actually
plus nine and plus fifteen on the glass in those games,
so perhaps that's one key variable. We'll probably touch on
that as we make our way through this episode. It
should definitely help when Steved Adams Atari Eesen are both
available at the same time and in the same game,
which tonight's preseason finale should actually be the first time

(02:26):
that that will be the case. Both of those guys
obviously were somewhat load managed throughout trading camp since they
had season ending leg surgeries last year. Both should be
fully cleared by the regular season. This is just part
of a slow and city build up, which was always
the plan. We already knew that going in. Anyway, as
far as today's format, each of us are going to
share one area of encouragement from the preseason, one area

(02:47):
of potential concern, and then, as we did in last
week's show, we'll have a few rapid fire notes on
the rest of the roster as we close things out.
Think of it as three segments. But before we dive in,
let's start with the obvious question, how where does the
Jack McVay buzzer beater against the Thunder rank on the
all time list of Rockets buzzer beaters.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
I would say probably right below the Generald Green one
against I can't remembering it was. I was about to
say those suns, but I thought that was Eric Gordon's. No,
Eric Gordons was Philly, all right.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
He also had one against the Lakers that tied the
game before the Rockets won in overtime. Eric Gordon had two,
but yeah, the walk off was Eric Gordon in Philly
and then Gerald Green against the Sons. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah, And I think I saw a lot of people
on Twitter making Garrison Matthews type comparison, saying that he
might get playing time or that he should have a
roster spot on like like, let's I know, I know,
we don't. Let's relax a little bit, Like, guy's probably
not going to seamen it's the entire season. But it's fine.

(03:53):
It's fine if you'll if people want to turn them
into into the people's camp for the season, that's fairly.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeahslutely. He's a two way contract guy at the end
of your bench who does have one NBA ready skill
in terms of his shot. So if he's a new
age Ryan Anderson that you can deploy in a pinch,
there are worse things. No, I don't think he's going
to be in the rotation barring significant injuries, but yeah,
it was a great moment. And beyond the moment, I
also think the clear camaraderie, the way his teammates were

(04:21):
still engaged on the bench and rallied around him, it
shows something about the culture that he made U Dooka
is building. As far as all time Rockets buzzer readers,
I think the top two you got to go back
a while, would be Ralph Sampson in the nineteen eighty
six Western Conference Finals and then Eddie Johnson in the
nineteen ninety seven West Finals. The Ralph Sampson shot actually
sent the Rockets to the NBA Finals, just the second

(04:41):
time in franchise history that Eddie Johnson shot. Fun fact,
I was actually at that game when I was just
thirteen years old, but Eddie's shot ended up or technically
I was twelve about to turn thirteen, but yeah, Eddie
shot tied the series, although the Rockets went on to
lose to the Jazz. So those two, because they happened
in the playoffs in the conference finals, are in my opinion,

(05:02):
the clear top two. But after that, yeah, you've got
shots like Gerald, Eric Gordon, Hakeem Ad a buzzerber against
the MAVs the season after the two titles, so there's
quite a few in Rocket's history. Jack McVay the preseason
probably not quite to that level, but there was a
fun moment nonetheless, and it sort of did even out
the record because the loss in Utah. We talked about

(05:22):
that on last week's show. Even though they lost, they
probably deserved to win because they led comfortably for much
of that game and the result in Oklahoma City sort
of offset that, and that the Rockets were trailing for
a lot of that game but ended up getting a
win because their reserves outperformed the thunder reserves late in
the fourth quarter in overtime. So Alsowald, that ends well.
The two woman record through three games is probably reflective

(05:43):
of the type of team the Rockets have going into
this regular season, assuming health. Anyway, let's dive into.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Really let me let me just I got it. I
had to double check this. We didn't mention Mario Ellie's
one buy.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well, that wasn't at the buzzer. You're talking about the
kiss of death, right, Yeah? That was was seven seconds left.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Ah, That's why I didn't. I know something had to
be wrong. I was looking at him right up to
see what else going.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
One of the amazing things about that so everyone remembers
the shot because kiss of death. It was a tie
game in the closing seconds and it was the ultimate no, no, yes,
because you would think, get the ball to your best player. Well,
Mario Ellie's open in the corner. In theory, it's the
easiest three. It's the shortest that there is. And so
he said, you know what, if you're not gonna if

(06:31):
you're going to sag down to help.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
Double them, they did not garther than whatsoever.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Yeah, then I'm going to take the shot. And he
made it. And beyond just that shot being so clutch,
and you can talk about Rudy tom Schanovic being ahead
of his time with their emphasis on spacing the floor,
that was the year that Robert Rory was the original
stretch for spacing it for Hakim. The Rockets also then
fouled up three, and so the Sun's never got a

(06:56):
shot to tie the game, and that's probably why you
think of it as a walk off. But if the
Suns never did have a chance to actually tie it,
I think they actually did get like one wild heave
with like a second left, but it wasn't a realistic shot.
The point is, after Ellie hit that shot with seven
seconds to go, the Rockets sent them to the line.
It became, you know, in exchange of free throws, and

(07:16):
ultimately that's how you should play it. I know that's
how i Udoka wants to play it. We saw at
times last season. However, the execution still angry at Reggie
Bullock for what he did in Dallas. Execution for whatever reason,
can be a little bit more difficult.

Speaker 3 (07:31):
It was about to say it spent thirty years and
heems still have not gone there.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, right, but yeah ninety five, Rudy tan Jonovitch was
out of his time, and so that's why you probably
think of it as a buzzer beater, because the Sons
did not really have a realistic chance to tie the
game afterward thanks to how the Rockets played that. Anyway,
transitioning to actual analysis here, and we'll start with the good,
which is the area of encouragement, and there's a number
of spots you could point to. I'm going to try

(07:57):
and steer away from Jalen Green and all Parin Shongoon
because for those people wanting analysis of those two players,
obviously their key storylines for the season as a whole.
Entering their fourth years in the NBA, we talked about
them a lot on last week's show, So at least
for me, I'm not going to artificially limit you, Paolo,
But for me, I'm going to focus elsewhere on the
roster for my area of encouragement this week, and the

(08:20):
clear positive for me coming off that New Orleans game
on Tuesday night is Steven Adams. On last week's show,
I shared a little bit of skepticism because I thought
defensively he wasn't moving that well in Utah. I did
add the caveat that. Look, it's his first game after
missing a year due to knee surgery. He should get better.
In my opinion, he clearly did get better statistically, made

(08:42):
all three of his shots, had eleven rebounds in fifteen minutes,
But I just thought in general he moved much better
on the floor. He looked more fluid. Postgame comments from me,
may Udoka talked about not just the stats, which are
very good for a backup center, but that because of
the attention he draws when he is crashing the glass,
it opens up the game for other guys to get

(09:02):
rebounds as well, and so we talked about Stephen being
the type of guy whose contributions go beyond the box score.
I can also tell you that at practice he's one
of the most vocal guys on the court, probably the
most vocal, right up there with Fred VanVleet. In terms
of being a veteran that's coaching all the time, he
may as well be a player coach with how insightful
he is and how helpful his teammates already love him,

(09:23):
even though this is his first year as a player
in Houston. So I had a few concerns watching him
in Utah. You always have to worry about a guy
that's in his thirties coming off of surgery. Is he
going to be able to move like he did when
he was in his prime. I feel much better about
that now, and the stats don't lie. He was outstanding
against the Pelicans, And for me, the reason I'm encouraged

(09:44):
about Steven Adams, it goes beyond simply having a quality
backup center, which definitely was a need for much of
last season. Behind all Pryne Shandhu and Jack Glandale, who
had hurt his ankle the previous offseason, got going late
in the year, but by and large the narrative it
already have been said that even Jack Landel has limitations.
Stephen Adams whin Wright is a starting quality center in
the NBA, and he looked that this week against the Pelicans,

(10:05):
So it's clearly upgrade to this roster. It should help
the Rockets be a better team. If something does happen
to all par and Shongoon where he turns an ankle
or something along those lines, then Steve Adams can fill
in and actually be a starting caliber center in the NBA.
So there's lots to like here, But beyond that, I
also what it made me think of is how it
sort of it made their blueprint from the twenty to

(10:26):
twenty three off season, which was the pivot point for
this franchise. It sort of made all of that come
together and it made that plan hole. We don't need
to go back in time and relitigate everything that happens,
but we know entering that pivot point when the Rockets
hired hem Udoka, they had all that salary cap flexibility.
The plan was to keep developing the young core, all

(10:49):
these young guys, and then sign impactful veterans in free agency.
And they had targeted three Fred Van Fleet, Dylan Brooks,
and Brooklovenz. They got two of the three. We know
what happened with Brooke and ar of him were nagging
on and going back on his word and staying with
the Bucks. But the idea was to signe all three
of those guys. And when Brooke went back to the Bucks,

(11:10):
rather than give money to a guy who wouldn't have
been as good of a fit for the role, the
Rockets said, you know what, We're instead going to turn
to guys like Jock Landelle and Jeff Greed, who were
more likely to take a team friendly or trade friendly
if you will, contracts and are going to slot a
lot lower in the hierarchy like ninth or tenth man,
more good vets for the locker room those types of players,

(11:31):
and not a clearer rotation east the way Brook Lopez
would have been. And so fast forward to last season
when all for in Shangoon breaks out, there was a
lot of talk of, oh, did brook Lopez going back
to the Bucks save the Rockets from themselves, because if
you had had both Lopez and Shingoon, that would have
been something betimes your arrangement at center and I get

(11:52):
the questions, especially in a season where all per In
Shangoon did develop into an All Star, But what I
will say is that the Rockets never looked at it
along those lines. It was never a referendum of do
we believe or not believe in all per inchon Goon.
They simply looked at brook Lopez as the type of
big man defense first that could be sort of the

(12:12):
big man compliment to what Dylan Brooks does on the
wing and what fred then Fleet does at point guard.
It wasn't meant to keep all pro Inson Goon from
developing in much the same way that Dylan isn't keeping
Tory Eason or a mentom start anyone that's technically behind
him from developing. And Fred n Fleet isn't going to
keep reed Toomp's reed Shefford for developed big. If one

(12:34):
of those guys gets to the next level and the
Rockets needed to decrease the minutes of the veteran, they're
willing to do that, and that's a good problem to have.
What the Rockets were looking for was culture setters who
would help get them off the rebuilding treadmill. Three straight
twenty plus win seasons or around twenty, I should say,

(12:54):
and so there's lots of bad habits. They needed to
be competitive for the sake of development. Fortunately, even without
the Rockets had enough between the young guys Fred and Delan,
Jeff and Jock did some things as well that they
obviously did get to five hundred and they became a
competitive team anyway, But Brooks still would have helped well.
Look at last season when things went off the rails,
which was January and February, they were largely five hundred

(13:16):
or above until the new year started and then all
pro in Shongoon. There was a little drop in his production.
I think due to the workload. He had some back issues,
but regardless, it's a lot to ask of him. In
year three his production fell off a little bit, especially defensively.
Fred van Vleiet missed a few games, Tory Easton was
lost for the year, and so they were well below

(13:36):
five hundred in January and February. They also had a
lot of road games in that stretch and it largely
dropped them out of the postseason mix. Now, in March
they were fantastic. They had the eleven game win streak.
They went thirteen and two, but that only got them
back to five hundred because of how much they had
dropped before that. And so in a Western conference where
you need to be, you know, in something in the
range of ten games offove five hundred to qualify for

(13:58):
the postseason, it just ultimately not enough. If you had
had brook Lofez in the middle of that season, it
might have helped. And the way the Rockets looked at
Brooke again, it was never about how much they believe
or don't believe in all per in Shinoon, the idea
was that a defensive minded big man is one of
the biggest war razers in the NBA. If you have

(14:19):
someone that can occupy space, protect the rim, defend that area, rebound,
do the fundamentals, it significantly increases your floor. And for
the Rockets, coming off three rebuilding years, that was really
really important to them. And so because of that, even
though I'm certainly not wistfully saying, oh, if only they'd

(14:39):
gotten brook Lopez, no, I see what's happened with Shongoon.
At the same time, I understand why the Rockets made
him a priority. The one I guess bone I will
toss to the Shingoon camp that's probably going to hear
that and recoil a little bit. It is fair to
argue that if Shangoon is looking over his shoulder, if
the minutes are artificially capped in twenty to twenty five range, well,

(15:02):
twenty five to thirty, I should say I don't think
there was ever Sceario was gonna play twenty. But if
he's not given the runway that he had last season, yeah,
it's fair to say would he have developed, would he
have felt as empowered as he did to take that
All starly? Okay, that's a fair argument that you can make.
And so because of that, I'm not saying, oh if
only they had Brook Lopez. No, But what I am
saying is that now with Steven Adams, it's almost like

(15:25):
you have the best of both worlds. Now, I know
Steven Adams is not a three point shooter the way
Brooke was, and maybe there were a few lightups where
you could have done gone double big since Brooks can shoot,
but that wasn't really the point of it. For the Rockets.
It was not about the five out or the shooting.
It was about the defense. It was about the veteran presence,
It was about the sheer size, a different type of
big as ima Udoka has said in the past, and

(15:48):
yet because he would have been on a multi year
contract at twenty plus million dollars a year, there would
have been some dicey politics in terms of giving Shindoon
the runway to develop and the thirty to thirty five
minutes per game warrants now as a legitimate All Star candidate,
while also giving brook Lopez what he expects as opposed
to now you have a somewhat similar type of player

(16:09):
who can fill that role, who can dramatically raise your floor. Yet,
because he's on a one year contract at twelve million
dollars in coming off of knee surgery, Steven Adams is
okay if he's just playing fifteen to eighteen minutes a
game for most of the season in a way that
brook Lopez probably would not have been last year. So
for me, it sort of brings the whole thing full

(16:30):
circle in that while I don't think brook Lopez was
a major miss given the way things turned out and
the leap that all Parishion Goon took last season, at
the same time, I understand the blueprint, I understand what
the Rockets were thinking, and there were some advantages to that,
and now for me, it just feels like that if
Steven Adams is healthy, that's the ultimately if you've got
to put on this. But if his knee is right

(16:50):
and he's ready to go, then you have a lot
of the benefits of that original plan in which you
have that defensive big man to pair with Fred and
Delan as your veterans. Yet you don't have any of
the negatives, which are you know, what are the politics
like we tried to develop all for Ech and Doon
at the position while still trying to satisfy, you know,
the veteran war racing type. So for me, that's where

(17:11):
I get the source of encouragement. It's not just what
Stephen does in the micro he's a very good player,
but also the macro. I think he makes that plan
hole and so because of that, I'm really bullish on
what we've seen from Steven Adams and I think he
could fill a role not just in terms of what
he can do this season, but also from the front
office really bring their vision from twenty twenty three together.
So that's my source of encouragement. Paolo, any thoughts on

(17:32):
that and what's your area that you've sort of honed
in on these last couple of games.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah, I'm Steven Adams. I think she definitely brings you
something with his screening that no other player in the
league does. He's literally the best screener in the league,
which has been obvious by how Chillen brings been able
to get open drink shots just all over the floor
ever since. You know, he in the minutes that he

(17:58):
shares with him just gets to make them. But you
know that's a that's in progress obviously. And the other
thing out of town with Stephen is when he first signed,
I say, I guess the things when he first signed,
for some reason, it felt like a bigger deal than
it should have been. I don't know, maybe I've just
always added Steven Adams saying that ever since he was

(18:18):
back with the under just not just from what he
does on the floor, but just you know, the personality,
the sportsmanship. I mean, if you go on YouTube, there's
just so many clips of Steven Adams just you know,
I think I think there's there's a very distinct clip
or there's too There's one where jam Moran's about get
into a fight with someone and he I think it's

(18:40):
Tony Bradley, who's you know, y k, Yeah, he's still
in the weage. He's like, hey, he's a setter, right,
so he's not. He's a polast six eight, which is
a massive human being. And Steven Adams just picks them
up like like you said, the child and carries him
away from from Camoran and just the fights instantly broken up,

(19:00):
and and Tony Bradley just can't do anything because what
are you gonna do with Steven Adams? You don't, right,
But he's that will also be being a gentle giant.
And there's multiple clips of you know, him giving up
one place to emperor or not not emper to softened
guys's fall falls when in place around the basket. And

(19:21):
there's not a topole examples of this. Wy I've always
been a s brings a lot culture wise, even if
he doesn't play well enough. And there's things the guy
who you know was okay spending you know, ten to
fifteen million and not played last season, no one year deal,
just port the culture setters who was you know, perfectly
okay with giving Jeff Bean even though he's playing well enough,

(19:43):
but giving him ten million a year just be the
locker room guy, because I thought that was really important.
The living that I would mention is that those mithering
shots that yell and dream scinny. I haven't played attention
to him specific, but we got to see how how
rich Shepherd can get to those to those looks. A
lot of the posid memory of imman Steven Adams tracking

(20:03):
on screens has read trying to look for instead of
driving into in space and the pool the middle of red,
trying to look for the three point start instead, which
is fine, it's his strength, but I mean, I guess
so far in this preseason this strength has been more
of the middings than the poll of three. But you know,

(20:24):
just look to get him those exact kinds of books
because he's money from mid rinks and the thing does
not give itself the luxury of wasting perimeter scorers because
we don't have many. And we won't talk about kill
and Green because he's neither my bright spot nor my
kind of point of concern. But getting read going.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
P my and either way. One last thing on Adams
yet closed the loop. You can see the chemistry between
him and Della and going back to their Memphis days
and Obviously, Dylan's been a bright spot of the preseason.
I don't know if you want to talk about him,
but the chemistry between Dylan and Steven, that's another thing
that sort of adds to the whole package of my seven.
Such a good fit.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
Go on, yeah, that that's actually exactly who I was
going to pay for two reasons. You know, the game
against sut Under, he took, you know, some some ill
advised shots, you know, those mid range of balance that
he sometimes takes, which for the offensive standards that we
had last season for the first half of the season
were actually not bad because we were so terrible at scoring,

(21:24):
our guards were so terrible at scoring that you know,
tablem Brooks, that it was actually pretty efficient in comparison
to the rest of the offense. So even though they
were good looks, he was making them at a good
enough place that it kept us in some games that
there were legit arguments between jail And and indyland Brooks
at parturing the season where Delan Brooks was contributing more
offensively that Jellen was. But in this in this Pelicans game,

(21:48):
I think he cleaned that up. He didn't force nearly
as much as many shots. I thought he forced won
weird boast the turnaround, you know, really off balance down
the left base, down the pace on to the left
or the right of the basket, to the left of
the offensive team. That was really really bad. But other
than that, and obviously the threes are following, which is
a massive deal for him. Obviously it trailed off after

(22:10):
this injury tourin the season, but he was a good
forty forty four percent cutter for like half a season
last year and that was huge. But the more important
thing for me with him is his defense has spit
back up. And I was legit concerned because we we
saw the contract with thought that's a terrible contract, and
that he played, you know, not only up to it,

(22:32):
but he exceeded expect patients for he exceeded the value
of the contract for half a season. Then he had
that tough injury. I think it was a big injury,
if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
That's but it's been a section in effect your bility
to move side exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:47):
That and by the way, I have no so I
have so little idea what no no oblique is that
I don't know what that means In Portuguese so I
just said, you know.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
Much, you see it much more in baseball last year
ago now too, and Jordan had it, but it's it's
the mid section. It happens in baseball a lot because
it's the muscles around your abdomen and your side that
get used when you swing the bat, but also in
a sport like basketball where you move a lot laterally,
it's tougher to strain. But when you do strain it

(23:18):
and I'm not sure how he did it, because again
it's not like he's swinging abat but when you do
swing it, that's the kind of thing that, yeah, you
feel if you're asked to move side to side the
way defenders are laterally in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, I knew it was, you know, somewhere within you know,
the abdumbmalaria, but I didn't know where what jasual muscle was.
But just to say, Dylan last season obviously started off
really well. We were all really excited, and then because
of his reputation, I thought not a lot of people
were highlighting that. You know, from January on, his his

(23:49):
defense was taking a big nose Diye like she was
getting beat off the drivel. He was gambling and because
he wasn't mobile enough, he wasn't able to, you know,
make the correct physic rotations. That combined with they drew
up an efficiency. You know, it's really did the great
to close the season.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
Also, let me interject real quick one stat that I
looked up today that I think there could be a
correlation beyond the injury. Dylan shot about thirty eight percent
on threes through March tenth, and then the remainder of
the season shot just about thirty percent. Would drop the
season long number to thirty six or right below. And
what happened on March tenth, that was the date of

(24:28):
the all per in Shin Gooon injury. I do think
that Dylan's a guy who disproportionately benefits from there being
a little more structure because he's not really a creator,
so he needs his threes to be a little more set,
a little more clean, and so I think he's someone
that benefits from the Shingoon offense as opposed to post
Shdoon when it was more random and a little more freelancing.
I think that's tougher on Dylan from an efficiency perspective,

(24:51):
just because that's not stylistically where he's at his best
in terms of just how he plays the game.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
Yeah, and normally that I think. So I think he's
okay actually both cash and children pull ups, but on
pull ups for them to work, he needs to them
really slowly and really said like you said, and just
having approaching on the inside gives you, you know, a
couple of inches on the perimeter. I think that really
helps Deleanozo. I don't think it's just you know, the

(25:18):
structure of the offense. I think it's actually in changuon
draws attention, even if even if it's you know, a
guy being a step further back, because they want to
be ready to double team changing effectively or as quick
as they can. And so I think that helps the
one as well. But the most important thing that I
wanted to talk about was his defense. He's looking you know,
when he came in last year, it was night and

(25:40):
day from you know, obviously we were used to them
to the Steven Silas teams and it was nine on day.
How good he was defensively. Both had rotations communication just
getting contests off. Even if he was beat, he would
stay in place and get the contests off. I think
I think Ryan Hollins had the step about that that
Tilan Brooks was the guy put up the most compeestis

(26:01):
in the league or something, or the most effective ones.
I don't remember exactly what it was, but he said
that last game and this season he's totally back to that.
He's I think in a team that has a men
thumbs who's a great defender and torries and I think
he's clearly our best defender just because of you know,
I think maybe mental men, maybe a mind men got

(26:22):
them for what am I talking clearly one on one,
Clearly one on one he you know, the men's maybe
a little bit better because of how tall he is
and how lengthy is. But when you when you put
together one on one team defense communication rotations, I think
I think the one books is definitely our best defender.

(26:43):
And he is back at that eight plus level where
he's probably going to be the guy we put on
the best player on on on every team the game
this season. But this time and like you know, the
back half of last season, he actually deserves it. And
he and I and you know, he did. I think
he did a tremendous job on Brandon Ingram and listen,

(27:04):
Brandon Ingram is someone who you can put up, you
can put up the best contest possible and the shop
can still go in because you know, his arms are huge,
and he can shoot off balance, and he can shoot
off you know, off of the back body can shoot
basically anything.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Right.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
But and he did make a few shots early on,
but I have that regardless of the outcome, they one
was putting in really great contests and so he's been
my bright spot because you know, I know it's it's
kind of boring for us as that podcast, probably for
the listeners because we're now talking about Jayalen Orkly archives.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
But do I get it.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
Yeah, we're not talking about any of the young guys,
but we're talking about two Vets, Steven Adams and DWN Brooks. Yeah,
Dealen Brooks in specific, he has a four year construct.
It's actually a pretty massive deal that he remains a
valigable player at least through three years of that contract,
because if he were to fall off a cliff suddenly
after you know, the first season, that left a pretty
deep problem.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, it would. And to your point on Dylan, I
think there's a tendency for him to be undervalued because
of those prospects. People are so eager to see the
young guys, like a man like Tar play more that
it's easy to play up the negatives of the veterans
because you want to see them play more minutes, the
younger guys that is. But you don't want the veterans

(28:19):
to be bad because well, if you have too many
good players, and I said during the Brook Lopez slash
Steven Adams discussion, that's a good problem to have. I mean,
you can work that out later. Worst case, you've got
a good trade asset that you can use as part
of something down the line. But yeah, I think Dylan,
just because it's easy to sort of make the case,
why doesn't men play thirty instead of twenty five or
Tari play twenty five instead of twenty or whatever it is,

(28:41):
it's easy to look at the negatives of the veterans,
but yeah, we should when looking at a team that's
truly about winning now, not saying that there's no development
to it, but they are actively trying to win games
at the highest level this year and should be able
to play postseason basketball next spring, then yeah, that's a
huge part of the equation. Dylan is in eMates circle

(29:03):
of trust and that actually leads into my I don't know,
area of concern might be too strong, but let's call
it an area of further monitoring, which is JABORI Smith Junior.
And it's correlated with the Dylan situation because if you
noticed in that third game against the Pelicans the closing
lineup of the first half, and again I think that

(29:25):
Pelicans game the exhibition is probably the closest thing to
address rehearsal that we'll see. Because of the timing of
the fourth game being so close to the regular season
and the opponent the Spurs, who played the maton early on,
I suspect the Rockets won't treat that anywhere near as seriously.
And so we know going into the year there's at
least two guys on the bench and a men Thompson
Andari Easton that are starting quality players that the Rockets

(29:47):
want to play more. Maybe there's a third if Reed
Shepherd as a rookie proves worthy of more minutes. I
thought he's looked a lot better the last couple of games.
But there's always this question of Okay, if they're gonna
play more minutes, if they're gonna play the highest leverage
minutes late in a half or late in a game,
alongside the other starters, who are they going to displace
For a lot of last season, For example, we saw

(30:07):
Chari Easton actually when he was healthy, displacing Jalen. However,
I think the Rockets believe that Jalen going into year
four is looking better at a better spot in his career,
so that's less likely to happen. Some people say Dylan,
but number one, Dylan is just one guy, and you've
got at least two on the bench that are worthy
of starters minutes. And secondly, I think Dylan is clearly

(30:28):
in ima Udoka's circle of trust for the reasons that
you just laid out, and he's playing very well. So
if Jalen and Dylan are both better, then we saw
them for a lot of last season and they are
both earning the trust of ime Udoka. Side note, against
the Pelicans, there were three guys who I saw I
may call a time out to sort of chew out
for defensive lapses, all pro in Shongoon, Jabari Smith Junior,

(30:50):
and Kim Whitmore. It was actually notable to me that
in a game where emy was clearly trying to set
a tone and taking it seriously. He never chewed out
Jalen Green, who was guy that a year ago actually
chewed out a decent bit, And so I think that
reflects Jalen becoming more professional a lot of the stuff
that we talked about on last week's pod. But in
terms of Jabari, Look, I said that on last week's show,

(31:11):
I don't think that the preseason format is suited for
him because he's more of a half court guy in
these games can be a little bit more ragged. And
it's not like that there's been no improvement. For example,
he had five assists against the Pelicans that showed a
little bit more vision and playmaking. His defense has been okay.
He does look stronger, and even though his stats haven't
been good, look, he's just missing shots as soon as

(31:32):
the shot look turns, and he had a good shooting
season last year. He's high IQ. He's gonna be a
very solid player. So I'm not saying that Jabari is
looking bad by any means. It's not that. However, just
as this time a year ago, we heard from John
Lucas former assistant coach down in the front office that
it was probably year four, not year three, that Jalen

(31:55):
was going to take the leap, so to speak. It
just sort of feels like from watching this that a
year from now is more likely than now that Jabori
takes that leap into let's call it Paolo ben Cairo
superstardom or stardom, because I don't know if Paolo's truly
a superstar. I think that's the guy that obviously Rockets
fans compared Jebori to same draft class, and because most

(32:15):
of the time people expected ben Caro to the Rockets,
including you know, I know it's a sore subject for you, Paolo,
but I just think you know Jabari. And this is
not just based on watching a few preseason games. This
is also based on, you know, some off the record
conversations I've had with people inside the building at Toyota Center.
They'll point out that they are very bullish on his
long term future, but they will also caution you that

(32:37):
he's one of the youngest guys in his entire draft class.
In fact, even though we think of a Men as
a lot newer, because in terms of NBA experience, he
is drafted in twenty twenty three, and Men's actually several
months older than JABORI. So Jabari is still very young.
He's still growing into somewhat of a new body compared
to how he played at Auburn and in high school.

(32:59):
And so there's just a lot of things for Jabari
to sort of get accustomed to. And so I don't
think I want to be cautious when I say this.
I don't think that his game is comparable to Jaalen
a year ago, because the formula for Jalen is inherently
more volatile. Jabari the floor is a lot higher. He
will make an impact with his defense and shooting. But

(33:19):
I think Jabari is closer to your three Jalen than
he is to your three Shingoon in terms of is
he going to make a leap into you know, all
star considerations. I think you know, the Rockets aren't going
to for close that possibility. Neither am I. But I
think it's something that they're not counting on. If something
like that happens, you take that as a pleasant surprise.

(33:40):
I think the Rockets are counting on, you know, a
little bit in growth from Jabari, but nothing major. And
if that's the case, if Jalen is a lot better
in your four and Dylan is healthy, then Jabbari might
be the guy who, as we saw against the Pelicans,
gets booted from the lineup at times if a man
or Tari has it going on a given night, and

(34:02):
that's not necessarily the end of the world. Jabari is
a young guy. He knows that they're all competing for minutes,
and you could argue that from a business standpoint, maybe
that's even better for the Rockets because if Jabori doesn't
break out until you're four or year five, then maybe
when he's extension eligible next summer of the Rockets can
get him at a cheaper rate and lock him up
long term, ends up out performing his contract, and it
becomes easier to keep the entire young core together. That's
the optimistic scenario. So Hello, I know you want to

(34:25):
jump in on the business angle.

Speaker 3 (34:26):
Yeah, it's just really quick. I think you make a
really good point on that, because there's a very big
difference between you know, extending Shingle early and extending Tabari early,
which is listen, if you can get to if he
tells somebody was bent or isn't you know a starter
makes him, you know, say a seventeen to twenty million
dollars a year deal on the long term, that's not

(34:49):
nearly as risky for the Rockets as it as somebody
like Shingle r Jail And it's just because the floor
is a lot higher. Listen, Javari has been useful for
anything that we build. If he is, you know, she
just gets twenty percent better at shooting, and not twenty
percent shooting percentage, but at shooting and defense than what
he is right now, and he'll be a very valuable
role player for his entire career. It's perfectly fine to

(35:11):
extend them on going into a thirty year she can
get a good value. It's not as boom or busts
as not really saying good, but more Jalen is And
so I think you make really good idea, really willing
to explore, and it's a part of excession next off season,
especially if if those scripts that you're saying, you.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Know, yeah, rely, And it might make sense to explore
a Tory extension as well, because if Chari's minutes are
artificially capital a little bit, both in terms of coming
off the bench and the leg issue, then you might
get him for cheaper than its rate. If and when
he becomes a full fledged starter in a year or two.
So both of those guys, unlike Jalen and Shinhou, you
could be in a situation with both Chabari and Tari

(35:50):
to where you can get them a little bit below
what their actual rate would be if another team was
playing them, you know, thirty five minutes per game and
letting them all out, so to speak. Anyway, I don't
say any of that to be negative on Jamori because
I still believe in the guy long term, and so
do the Rockets. I think of all the young guys,
Javori is the guy that the Rockets probably feels is

(36:12):
the safest, like they would be shocked if he's not
at least a top fifty player four or five years
from now, maybe even a top thirty player. So it's
not that they don't believe in him, and I certainly
do as well. It's just when does the larger leap
take place? Is it this year or next? And I
don't think even if it takes until a year or

(36:33):
two from now, I don't think Jamori is the type
of guy who's going to let it affect his confidence.
He's a very hard nosed grinder type. He's going to
take it as a challenge, and so I'm not so
much worried about him specifically and his development. However, what
it means for the team is that if he's the
guy who goes out, he's the one guy in that
starting lineup who actually has above average height and length

(36:54):
for his position. So it's very noticeable against the Pelicans
if you have Fred, Jalen Dylan a men and it
was basically a men at the four operating something out
of the dunker slot. It felt a little bit like
the end of last season because even though Shingun was
out there in a way that he wasn't in last year.
Shingoon could often operate beyond the three point line high posts,
so you can still have a men either in the

(37:14):
corner or at the dunker slot something like that, and
doing a lot of stuff off ball. So they often
said necessarily function all that differently than when we saw
men late last season. But when there's no Jabbari, the
lack of length becomes very glaring. And so Fred is
one of the smaller guys at his position. Jalen a
little undersized. Fred and Dylan aren't very explosive. Shingoon is

(37:37):
supposive in some ways but not as much in others.
And so I do worry if Jabari's minutes take a
little bit of a hit based on trying to get
you know, more a men and Tari, And I'm like
last year, Jalen isn't the guy that gets pulled as much.
Then do the rocket suffer a little bit against teams
that are you know, bigger or longer, or I guess conversely,

(38:00):
does Gabori maybe not take as much of a hit
because they need his leave. I don't know, it's just
an extra consideration. It just it felt notable to me
because I think for a few reasons Jabori might be
the easiest of the five to remove in ways that
for last year it was largely Jalen occasionally Dylan. But
there is sort of a length and athleticism component to
think of as well. People don't think of Jabori as

(38:21):
a top shelf athlete because he's not the most explosive,
but he is very long, very asule for his position
can occupy a lot of space. And so that's just
a little thing to think about, not a major concern.
It's a good problem to have because you can sort
of mix and match the lineups. But it's just something
that you know, when I was looking at the minutes
and thinking who might go out in order to get
amen Atari those high level drops that I know a
lot of people want. Jabari could be a guy based

(38:42):
on what I've seen, Again, not too negative on him,
it just doesn't look like to me by the eye test,
that he's going to take a massive leap, at least
not right away. I would love to be wrong on that,
but I just think there's some interesting implications that potentially
come from that. So that's my sort of area of concern. Pallo,
what were you thinking in terms of that lens?

Speaker 3 (39:00):
Yeah, I just don't go on because I what just
just said about the height. I've seen a lot of
people say it, and you know, obviously everybody agrees that
the league's getting smaller and smaller. So actually, I just
booked up the average NBA hid by position and just
quickly the one I call us from twenty twenty two.
For four four point guards, it's six two and a half.

(39:22):
For shooting guards six it's six four and a half.
So Jillian is.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
Yeh okay, and obviously Trillan is an explosive athletes, always
a men, so that sort offsets set a little bit.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
Yeah, I think small forwards, we aren't really concerned. It's
six six and a half. I think Dylan is six
six if I'm not mistaken, and power forward is six
eight and six eight point two, which you know thirty
is six eight. I'm pretty sure. So we'd actually, you know,
if Starts is the one that swots in, we will
actually probably be fine. High twise, we'll still obviously be

(39:53):
out matched because you know, we aren't playing the average
team every game, so we're going to Yeah, and besides
that center are are pretty big team. And I also
we wanted to use that to say that I genuinely
think that Kevin looks bigger this year, and I mean
as well. Yeah, I don't know, but maybe it's because

(40:14):
he's bulk it. He looks bigger than the four lookstart
I think the first two seasons. To me, he clearly
looked six to four. She doesn't look short of me
right now. But whatever, that's just off a field. Obviously,
I have no proof to back this up, but ultrasssion
into into my kind of you know, area for concern,

(40:36):
which is not really too concerning, especially because it kind
of makes decisions easier for email Yudoka, but kem wit
marees not being great, juting up not making them. You
know when he came into when he was promoted from
the league last season, he came in, you know, you know,
really hot. If it's a scoring puts that we really needed.

(40:57):
But right now both offensive NBFN. I'm just you know,
not sold he I don't know if anybody told him
that it was it was unlikely that he was going
to get a big role. And maybe he's just you know,
he's increasing the variant. Say maybe if I make a
lot of shots, they was he able to you know,
they'll have to give me a role. It's I'm gonna
shoot a lot. He also shot a lot last year,

(41:18):
so it's not doesn't make too much sense to say
it speacause of it, but he hasn't been great and
I was really hopeful for him to become a Tyllan Browns.
I've means obviously, you know, he's plenty young. I think
he's nineteen still. Obviously it's fine. But if I had
to put a point something that's not been going as great,
first of p I would agree with it was in

(41:39):
she took that one. I would go with Cam, and
I'm pretty confident that he'll see some season again.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
Yeah. And I was having a conversation with someone in
the building this week and they made the point, and
I think they're probably right that the presence of Reed
artificially makes or well, not artificially, it's just short of
a byproduct of having both those guys playing at largely
at the same time. It makes some of Cam's shortcomings

(42:05):
more apparent because Reid is someone who, even for a rookie,
it's so advanced in terms of processing. Fred said postgame,
he's already one of the best guys in terms of
how he reads the floor and the decisions that he
can make, and so having him on the same unit
with Cam going off the bench and seeing what Reed
does contrast it against Cam in terms of just the

(42:27):
decision making. And we all know that as the rotation tightens,
those guys are going to be somewhat in competition with
each other for playing time. It does make some of
the mental things with Cam stand out a little more.
And that was this person's point. It's not so much
to say that Cam can't overcome them, because obviously he's
way bigger he's way more athletic. He can do things
in transition that Reid can never dream of doing. So

(42:49):
it's different skill sets. However, in terms of let's call
it being raw, the processing side of Cam's game and
the decision making, then that stands out a little bit
more when they're there's another young guy that he's somewhat
in competition with for minutes that is a little bit sharper,
and so that's not so much to say that Cam
can overcome it, but it's a new challenge for him

(43:11):
in a way that wasn't there last year because there
wasn't another young guy competing for the same minutes that
also has high upside, but is a lot more advanced
as a processor. All Right, I'll use that to transition
into the rapid fire notes as we close out the
pod with Reed. We said this last week when he
had a subpar game in Utah, it was just because
the shots didn't go in in a little bit of
nerves with him playing his first game. He looked very,

(43:33):
very good the last two and in large part I
think it's that contrast we just described against Cam whitmore,
Reed just looks beyond what he can do in terms
of his passing and his shooting. He just always makes
the right plays, gets guys the ball in the right spots,
and defensively, even when he gets caught against bigger guys
on switches, he has the IQ, the hands. We saw

(43:54):
him rip Brend and Ingram yesterday. It's very reminiscent of
Fred van Vleet. There's a reason people keep making that comparison.
And just as Fred's limited size doesn't often hurt him
as a defender because he's so smart and anticipates to
overcome it, the same hold true with Reid as well.
So very encouraged by Reid, and I think it's pretty
clear that he's ahead of Aaron Holiday in the hierarchy.
We noted that at last week's show that it's definitely
held up reed Sheppard will be in the rotation when

(44:15):
the season opens next Wednesday. That's one hundred percent a
done deal, assuming health, in my opinion. Beyond that, it's
been interesting for Jalen Green. You know, we talked about
him in the last week's show. The first day he
came out red hot. That felt like a continuation of March.
The last couple of games, he's been a little bit
more in a supporting role. They've run more offense through
shin Gun pebe O. Shinegun didn't get a ton of

(44:35):
shot attempts against the Pelicans. I felt like he did
get a lot of offense run through him. It just
so happened that the Pelicans, you know, chose to double
and trap and do a lot of things early in
the shot clock, and so Jalen was sort of a
secondary release foul and we saw him doing I compare
it to c. J. Shroud, just taking what the defense

(44:57):
gives him, and it didn't feel like that a year ago.
I felt like a year ago, ja One was either
boom or bus. He was used a very cific way
and either he would go off as the photo bore
on the offense or he would retreat. We seen him
play with a little more discipline this preseason and that
he's made some catch and shoes, but beyond that, okay,
he's willing to sort of bide his time and then
when there's a switch or the defense is scrambling, when

(45:18):
he gets a big on him the way you know,
the drive and the third quarrel last night when he
had that great footwork against Jeremia Robinson, Earle he was
just very patient and attacked the rim and when there
was a mismatch, he attacked. It doesn't feel like he's
forcing the issue nearly to the extent that it was
last year, which often made his game very boom or bus.
Do the step back threes go in? Do they not?
And if they don't, well, it takes a toll on

(45:39):
everything else. It feels like a more calm and when
we're sure more patient Jalen Green, it's that really to
him being a superstar. I don't know about that, but
it significantly increases the floor. So Read and Jalen are
two that I felt pretty good about. Jalen and Power
excuse me and he thoughts on Jalen, I know he's
someone you're watching closely, and any other guys that you're
watching on the roster.

Speaker 3 (46:01):
Yeah, Joanna, As I said, I'm neither up nor down
with with what I've seen from this bar Uh. It's
spinning consistent. I think you can claim that you know
he's shooting with different confidence, or he's you know, not
as boom, more bust or whatever it is. To me,
it's just too small a sample. I've been heard many.
I've been heard too many times to start believing again.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
And I've been throwing the obvious disclaimer that we did
at one of the last spot. But yes, we know
it's a small sample. It's just all we have. So
that's why making the big deal out of this proceed.

Speaker 3 (46:32):
Yep, I'm I'm in waiting see Molde with everything. I'm
more willing to overreact to the all the other guys
I would point out, it seems like Fred van Vliet
is Fred Atwitz's shop. Diet is a lot of difference. Obviously,
the a lot of difference. He's not playing as much
as many minutes as he was of the last even
of course, but it took you know, this took seven

(46:55):
shots on twenty four minutes last game. He took two
shots or something ridiculous like that in fifteen minutes against Juta.
Just something to look out for, if you know, we
saw a lot of Fred shaking Lula pick and roll
that Canadad. A lot of shots are Fred, obviously because
the rest of the offense was so bad that you know,
it was our last result and a lot of a

(47:15):
lot of times. But seeing how Fred steals within the
offenses something that I'm looking for.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
So I will say the ball movement really suffered that
game that Fred sat out in Oklahoma City. It was
very apparent that, you know, people love to call him
the training wheels for the offense. Yeah, they're not so
advanced the primary guys that they don't need the training wheels,
especially against a really good team like Oklahoma City. So
I thought that game, even though the shots haven't gone down,
you mentioned the shot diet changing, that's all true in
terms of the ball movement, the initiation, bread's still very important.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
Well, yeah, I'm understanding with you. I'm not saying he's,
you know, right as the one.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
I'm just seeing he might.

Speaker 3 (47:49):
He might be important in different ways the season. He
might be ball more of the training wheels and less
of the art gay that he had to be at
points during the last season. Imylucas said that we could
see some of the rotation patterns, obviously not specifically these words,
but he said some of what the rotation would look
like in this game against the Fight and some mistake

(48:11):
And he couldn't confirm this right, but no, he did,
But it.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
Didn't quite feel it felt like we're yeah, all blown
line changers. There were a couple of minutes here or
there where he played fred Ree together and that looked good,
but it wasn't sustained, like there were just very brief stretches.
For the most part, it felt like, you know that
that was att overblown. He was just trying to do
line changes and you know, just to dabble of something
here or there.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
Yeah. So the only thing that I was going to
take away from it wasn't I didn't pay too many
attentions to and exactly saw this she because listen, it's
one preseason game, and within the right season game, guys
are playing twenty two to twenty five minutes the main guys,
you can't really tell any patterns. I was only going
to mention that, and these games are late for me.

(48:55):
Hopefully I didn't mess us up. But I'm pretty sure
Jeff been played in the first half, and that was
I noticed it is I was out. Yeah, I was
playing attention to the guys who you know, since we
I was trying to pay attention to the rotations. It
was very very confusing. But something that did stand out
was within the fur staves speaking.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
Of so when Jeff came in, there was very briefly
Now again, all this stuff was like two three minutes.
It wasn't sustained. But there was actually a lineup with
Shabari at the three. They brought in Steven Adams and
Jeff Green as the backup. Four and five are no,
actually it's Steven anders in, so they brought Shinoon back.
So it was Shinegoon, Jeff Green, Shabari at the three,
and Reading Cam as the backcourt, and it went Okay.

(49:35):
I think they did it because, like Brandon Ingram is
a type of three that Shabari is fluid enough that
he can, you know, handle really well. So the matchup
was there, but yeah, just the fact they were willing
to use Shabari in that way was was sort of interesting.
So maybe who knows, Maybe that's the way that Jamori
can sneak a few extra minutes here or there.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
Yeah, and so I just wanted to note that, you know,
there's a possibility that Zeph Green is a part of
the rotation in this.

Speaker 1 (49:57):
Although there was no Charrie Eason in that game, so okay,
keep in mind.

Speaker 3 (50:01):
Yeah, I guess I guess that's the reason because you know,
in my mind, I don't really view them as competing
for minutes, but considering what just they sort of.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
Are, and to your to your larger point, Jeff Green
is still in the circle of trust even if he
doesn't regularly play. I do think it shows you that
he's still a circle of trust guy.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
And then my last note would be, you know, I'm
not seeing too much difference in the way we're running offense.
There was a couple, you know, a couple of different
walks to what we saw to what we did last
season with Steven Adams. We in the Steven Adams minutes,
but rather than that, I didn't see anything too groundbreaking.
I was expecting that to be marching in the way

(50:39):
that we run the offense, especially in Marchington centric stuff.
But then again, she was getting double teamed a lot,
so it's it's hard to say it's obviously going to
be matchup dependent because you know, you can play through
the post against every team in the league. But I'll
have that play. I took place two from momentums and
the give and go with not really given go, but

(51:00):
you know Adams, you know, sets the screen gets the ball,
passes on the start throw too, and me and Thompson,
who's driving to the rim. That was That was really
cute and then the three that I meant he smoped
back to back, but within the same minute possessions a
man took a very confront three from the top of
the drilla plan and thrilled it. So obviously er actually

(51:21):
small sample size, but you know something to look out for.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
Speaking of small samples, all Pern schan gu in eighteen
to twenty from the free throw line, and he talked
about an interview with I believe it's Adams Splane that
had this back and forth with him in which Shinoon
said he worked a lot with Cam Hodges in the
off season, Rocket assistant coach typically on that and getting
his mechanics right, having his shoulder adjusted relative till last year.
And so it's not just flucish even though it is
a small sample, when it's something that was a point

(51:46):
of emphasis in the offseason as well, that leads me
to believe there could be something there as well. That's
how he's gonna shoot ninety percent. But even if you
could just bump the sixty nine percent from a year
ago to a more nice seventy five to eighty percent,
that would mean a lot for the Rocket as a team.
And this offense functions. The last guy I want to
throw a shout out to because there could be some
roster implications. Jashun Tate in a small samples looked really

(52:07):
good last night. He was a plus sixteen and seven minutes.
I believe, and we know his story. He's a high
IQ guy, He's good at defense. He's just blocked here
in terms of a path too minutes days entering the
last year of his contract. I do wonder if there's
a small chance that maybe a deal pops up over
the next week or so as teams are starting to
finalize their rosters, because he could help a lot of teams.

(52:27):
There's just no pathway here, assuming health or anything close
to health. And unlike guys with larger salaries, you know
there's some guys like Jeff Green and Jacques Landell. They're
close to ten million dollars a year, and there's options
in Landale's case, beyond this season that make it to
where you need them for flexibility down the line. Tate
in the final year, if it's existing deal at a

(52:47):
smaller I think it's six point something million, there's not
that much of a hit to your flexibility if you
lose them. It just comes down to, you know, do
you get offered sufficient value and a deal. So with
him playing well, I'm sure other teams are watching film
as they try and set their rosters. I do wonder
if maybe they're the deal you wouldn't be, you think major.
But if you can get a second run pick or

(53:09):
two and a plash or stockpile a little bit, maybe
that's something the Rockets Shoo considered.

Speaker 3 (53:13):
How about a different deal? I mean, I wouldn't mind
giving him the same cultract he had he got. You know,
it's a three year three last year's a team off
in second years. Don't guarantee you keep him as a
humid yeah exactly, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a great
culture guy. Probably a great guy to having practiced, just
to to how many different positions he can. He can

(53:33):
defend and be tough defending, can play multiple positions if
injuries you know, to come up. You know, I've not
been sciencing that he's frustrating when he plays because sometimes
he has television. Sometimes, yeah, he unnecessary files, you know,
the subbar shooting. But you no, you're not gonna roster
spots twelve through fifteen in the NBA, are you know

(53:56):
the standard, it really isn't that high. So and that's
the team.

Speaker 1 (54:01):
Yeah, and I know he's worked on his shooting. It
has better, albeit the obvious asterisk very small sample. So
it's just something I'm monitoring. Again, it's not that the
Rockets are desperate to move him, and they don't need
to be. He could be an asset as insurance as
salary feller down the line. However, if something pops up
over the next week, his teams are getting more serious
about setting the rosters. I could see the Rockets exploring

(54:21):
it because just from a math perspective, he's that it's
essential to keep around as the other guys and he
has a little bit blocked they you not.

Speaker 3 (54:28):
And I'm just gonna throw this into into the either
not really, it's not really sure if this is something
that can be done or not. But till twenty two
twenty three, he had two years left on his still
back then, okay, I was wondering if if something like
what happened with mouth stud or would be done where

(54:48):
you're renegotiated, you inflate how matist mentioned this year, you
pay him all up this year soon probably not going
to use the space anyways, not the space of it.
You think I need cap space, that's right.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's it. We can ask David
Wiener to confirm once we post the episode, but yeah,
I think you're right. I think that's what was different
about that.

Speaker 3 (55:09):
And the basis had a cap space. That's how he
did it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm pretty shitty. Yeah I
was missing, but they would be that.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Yeah. The larger point, it's a week in which maybe
the Rockets could be creative because he's showing he can play.
There's just no path to playing time here, so who knows.
Maybe that presents, you know, sort of an interesting leverage
point that something could happen. Stay tuned. Roster cuts around
the NBA are due, I believe Monday, a couple of
days before the regular season starts. That's also the extension
deadline for potential contracts with a fourth year players ahead

(55:39):
of their restricted free agency in Houston. Obviously that strealend
Green and All for instant goodness, we're recording now. There
isn't a deal with either of those guys. Obviously, our
next episode will know the resolution, so we'll talk more
about that once we see what happens at that deadline
on the twenty first, but that's also the roster deadline,
so we'll see what happens with Jay Shaun Tate and
a few other situations around the NBA as well. Not

(56:00):
saying that Tate could be a roster Cutty absolutely will
not be, but just that the process might open up
some opportunities and so the Rockets may have some creative
things that Rafelstone can consider. Anyway, I think that's where
we'll wrap it for today, and if you want more
content before that next show, which should be again after
that October twenty first deadline, unless there's breaking news before then,
then the best place to get it before is of
course online, where you can follow me on Twitter or

(56:22):
x at Ben Dubo's at Palo ALP's NBA and this
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(56:43):
those links and you can enjoy their content as well.
All Right, with those plus complete, we'll adjourn for today
for Pawlo. I'm Ben, Thanks always for listening, and please
come back soon for another new episode of the Logger Line.