Danielle Lerner: More Risk Than Reward For Potential Rockets Trade(s)

Houston Chronicle Rockets beat writer Danielle Lerner joins The A-Team, before the Rockets take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight. She reacts to the Rockets recent run of wins over some of the best teams in the NBA. Plus, what the Rockets have looked like, since they added Amen Thompson to the starting lineup. Also, we are about a week away from the NBA trade deadline. Will the Rockets be active? 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wex and ac with you and has promised, Joined by
Danielle Learner of the Houston Chronicle. First and foremost, Danielle,
I got to say congratulations because taking the baton from
Jonathan Fagan is not an easy thing to do, and
you have absolutely done so flawlessly. And you know you
mentioned this in your article today that the Rockets have

(00:21):
a lot of pit bulls on their squad and their
staffs are all hoopers. Some of the quotes coming out
from this the game last night, the setting, the electric atmosphere,
everything about it was so cool. But for the Rockets
to come out ahead in a situation like that is
almost like the latest chapter of this like stunning season.

(00:41):
We knew they would be better, but did any of
us think they were going to be this good?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I personally didn't. I have no problem admitting that. You know,
I thought that they would be a playoff team, but
certainly not top three in the league, you know, second
seed in the West at this point in the season.
So I think I think that a lot of that
obviously has to do with Amen Thompson's insertion into the
starting lineup, but a lot of it also has to

(01:06):
do with basically every single player in the rotation just
taking a year to year jump from last season to
this season. And that's the job that you made Doka
and his coaching staff are doing. But also credit to
those individual players for putting in the work during the offseason.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
It's interesting, Danielle, and we appreciate you joining us that
you present it that way. It's kind of something I
said to open up today's show when we were categorizing
how the Rockets have gotten to this point. They had
a nineteen win improvement a season ago, and what did
they do to the roster to have what could be
a fifteen, sixteen, seventeen win improvement this year when it's
all said and done. And the answer is nothing. It's
the same players that were out there last year to
some degree. Reed Shepherd was obviously added, but he's not

(01:45):
a part of what they're doing to win games right now.
And you've credited the players and the coaches with making
that all happen as you've watched it unfold. Are there
some individual things for a player here or a player
there with what they're doing now versus what they weren't
ready to do or weren't abable capable of doing? Last year.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yeah, I mean, I think that the biggest strides have
been made on defense individually. You know, Jalen Green is
far from the liability that he once was on that
end of the floor. He's made some really, really big
defensive plays at the end of games this season. Albern
Shangoun is another one. You know, he's really really improved

(02:24):
and and some of that is a position that I
May and his staff are putting Alpn compared to you know,
when he played under Steven Silas, he was in a
lot of drop coverages. I think that were unfavorable to him.
So a lot of that now is also May saying,
look like, this is how we want to play, and
if you're not gonna be up to the challenge, you're

(02:45):
just gonna sit on the bench. And we saw that
early in the season where Albi would be sitting during
stretches in the fourth quarter because they didn't trust him
to be out there with his defense. And he's come
a long way in that respect. But you know, to
your point about them really doing nothing to the roster
ahead of this season, it's kind of comparable in my
mind to the Calves. And this is something that I

(03:06):
was thinking about when we were in Cleveland the other
day that the Calves really have the same roster that
they did last season and they've made a big jump
year to year as well. The only difference there is
their coaching change with Kenny Atkinson coming in. And I
asked Atkinson about that and said, you know, how much
do you think that continuity plays a role in the
year to year improvement that you guys are seeing And

(03:27):
he said, oh, it's a ton You know. Obviously I
can come in and change some things about what we're doing,
but just having that chemistry within the group I think
has has really helped. And the Rockets have said the
same thing. You know, they love that their team chemistry
that they have and they really credit that with the
success that they're having.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
You're making me wonder how hard you would have laughed
if Kenny would have said, Oh, I don't have anything
to do with it. It's all me. I'm new. This
is why we're doing what we're doing. And we know
Kenny from his time here in Houston as an assistant
coach on their bench. It is interesting that those two
teams have just recently played and where they have gone
into this year and where the Rockets have gotten to
this year. The personalities on this Rockets team, and I

(04:06):
do think it feeds off of what you're saying. With
the improvements and the decisions made by the coaching staff.
Players have to be good with what they're giving and
how the coaches are reacting to it. I mean, even
in last night's game, I think Jalen Green was taken
out of the game with about three minutes to go
with an eye on, well, this is going to be
a short defensive possession here off of this foul, So
we're going to get him right back into the game,
And it just didn't happen until way way late in

(04:28):
the game. And I think the way that Ema has
been able to handle the personalities and here's why we're
doing this with you, and here's what we want you
to do so you can get back out there. Even
Tari with his return, how do you think e May's
personality has helped him deal with the personalities on this team? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Man, I think he's just very much a no nonsense guy,
and I think you kind of need to be able
to be that sort of disciplinarian when you have a really,
really young team and at the same time, you know,
Ima has said he gets a lot of help from
the veterans that they brought in, you know, from Fred
and from Dylan, from Jeff Green, even guys who don't
play that much, who can you know, kind of help

(05:07):
the young guys maybe understand the reasoning behind what the
coaching staff is doing and tell them, you know, hey,
this is normal and this is something that ultimately is
going to pay off in the long run. And so
they've all been willing to buy into that and make
that sacrifice. I think because the vet's kind of help
explain it, but also because em is just very, very

(05:30):
blunt and direct in the way that he communicates with people.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
That's funny, you're leading me right into what I wanted
to ask you about next. And we're talking to Danielle
Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. Rockets getting a win in
Boston last night. We've got it back to back in
Atlanta tonight. I was asking Wex, I said, hey, did
I miss anything in the chronology of the Rockets coaching
history After Rudy tom Jonovic. Everybody's gotten four years, that's

(05:56):
all you get, and then you move along and I
feel like for a number of reasons, not the least
of which is, you know, the trajectory of this team
in such a short amount of time since he's taken over,
I feel like Ima is going to be the guy
that blows that out of the water.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Next Yeah, I mean, I don't know. It's hard to
You can never really predict in this business. I think
how long someone keeps their job, So, you know, I
don't really see it as being something that you need
to talk about right now. I think obviously he is
elevating himself into a conversation for Coach of the Year,
and it all kind of depend on how they finish

(06:31):
out the season, what happens. I think their potential and
ceiling now is viewed as higher than it was even
a month ago, and with that, you know, the critiques
are going to be harsher. I think if they, let's say,
make the playoffs but losing the first round, I think
it depends on how far they go in the playoffs.
I think it depends on how well those individual games

(06:54):
in the playoffs go. But I think that the Rockets
in general have shown with players that they are willing
to reward good performances, but they don't want to do
it too early on. You know, they waited until kind
of the last second to give Alpi and Jalen their extensions,

(07:14):
but they were rewarded in the contracts that they got,
so I think they might operate that same way with.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Email quickly here as we roll through the final full
eight days before the February sixth trade deadline, will what
I said about them doing nothing to the roster still
be true when February sixth comes and goes.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
I think yes. Rafel Stone, in all of his public
comments so far, has said, you know, we're very happy
with where we're at right now. We don't feel the
need to make any big splashes or big changes. And
I think at this point you would have more risk
than you would have reward by making a major move
before the deadline, because, like I said this, the chemistry

(07:55):
of this group is such that you've got seven players
the starting current in group and then plus Tarry Easton
and Jubari, who are really untouchable at this point or
as close to untouchable as you could get with that
mean the Rockets would potentially listen on offers then involve
some of those players. Sure they're not gonna put down
the phone on anybody, But they're not going to seriously

(08:17):
entertain getting rid of any of those seven guys. When
you look at some of the expiring contracts that they have,
then yeah, you could see maybe one of those guys
getting included in a smaller deal, But I don't think
there's going to be any blockbuster trades happening because if
you bring in that type of superstar that you know,
I think some Rockets fans would be excited about a

(08:39):
darn Fox type player. Where does that leave those seven
guys who are really the core of how well they're
playing right now, somebody comes in, somebody's going to be
left out in some way.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
It's going to be interesting to say it all unfold. Danielle.
We really appreciate the time, appreciate everybody who has been
following your coverage at Danielle Underscore Learner right there on
the chronicle. Thanks for joining us today on the eighteen.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Thank you