Houston Rockets Trade For Steven Adams + Jalen Green Offered To Brooklyn Nets For Mikal Bridges?

On today’s show the Houston Rockets trade for Memphis Grizzly Center Stephen Adams so what does this move do for the Houston Rockets right now what does it say about their approach to this NBA trade deadline overall since Stephen Adams is injured for the rest of the season plus the rumors surrounding

Jaylen green starting to get a Little Bit Stronger has Jaylen green been included in any trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets and how aggressively are the Rockets pursuing male Bridges we’re going to unpack all that and so much more right here on locked on Rockets this is Mission Control Houston ignition

Sequence start throw it up to jayen Green shenon here in the short row oh marike that’s the no look Jabari for three and the win look at t e Here Comes T 15 seconds guidance is internal the Houston Rocket select amen Thompson and cam Whitmore one thing I have never done

Is not made the playoffs and so we want to take that step here as well six 5 5 4 3 2 1 what’s up and welcome to another edition of locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native houstonian

And credential media member I’m also the host of locked on NBA Mondays be sure to follow along on Twitter at JT Gatlin the show of course at lockon Rockets free and available wherever you listen to your podcast including YouTube where I want your thoughts give me your immediate reactions to this Stephen

Adams trade as well as the rumors that we’re going to be tackling a little bit later on in the episode now today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more with FanDuel right now new customers get $200 in bonus bets if your best bet of $5 or

More wins visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and as always thank you so much for making lock on Rockets part of your day every single day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym thank you for being in everyday and making the show part of

Your day every single day joining us now is none other than your weekly co-host the exen o man himself alyon bani who can track down on Twitter at rocketor Insider here to break down the first Domino of the NBA trade deadline for this Houston Rockets team moving

Victor Oladipo and three count of one two three second round draft picks for none other than injured Memphis Grizzlies big man Stephen Adams now alyon I you know we talked about the rumors you know kind of around this deadline and the rockets reported interest in Robert Williams a currently

Injured Center who would be out for the remainder of this year and instead they pivoted 180 degrees and went with another currently injured Center who will not be able to help the Houston Rockets this season but I do love this trade for this Rockets team as more of a

Long-term kind of leverage play where you know if if Adams is able to get healthy and be a piece a part of this team next season that is an incredible backup big man to have coming off the bench behind Alper and shenon gives you an elite offensive rebounder an elite

Screen Setter an above average defensive big man somebody who can be kind of a rim deterrent a rim presence uh basically everything the Rockets would want out of their backup five everything that they kind of need right now and I think that kind of begs the question is to you know how they’re

Going to operate around the rest of this deadline now that they picked up more of a long-term play in stepen Adams but give me your reaction to this trade and how how you feel about it I think this is the type of trade that really bodess

Well for their core six and what I mean by that is if you look at all of their six young players Stephen Adams helps all of them in different ways so let’s look at case in point Jaylen green for example these past five games jaylen’s rebounding numbers have increased

Significantly they’ve made it more of an emphasis for him to go clear the board so other people box out he slides in he gets the rebound allows him to hold the ball in his hands push the pace and get himself into Rhythm and we’ve seen him get himself into Rhythm so you have

Stephen Adams who has done that for John Morant has done that for Russell Westbrook has done that for gar Stratus career is able to you know help guards get the offense going I think that’s going to help the Rockets really push the pace and an offensive rebounding

Obviously a key thing Jabari and tari two players who Excel on both ends offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding now you bring in a big guy who’s going to demand you know one or two Defenders to be boxing him out that opens up more opportunities for tar and

Jabor in the offensive glass and I think the Rockets will be one of the best rebounding teams in the league especially when Stephen Howen is coming off the bench and you have one of tari or Jabari paired with um Stephen Adams you can imagine all the good things out

Of that and then also ham you know amen you Al I’ll get to alpie last but for Cam and a men you have two guys who are slashers Stephen Adams is somebody who’s able to set nice flare screens has a really good body size for screens to be

Able to free up guys like that who are so quick and athletic pairing those two together and the way he likes to send those kind of angle angle screen is going to get them going and lastly Alper and shenon you bring in somebody finally who you can actually play

Alongside Alp as the one non shooter because alpie can hopefully continue to progress as a shooter and have him defend bigs right and play one-on-one the way eeme wants to play or even just bring bring up an option if alp’s in foul trouble or if alpie you know for

You know you don’t want him to but what if he misses time you have somebody who can play serviceable and actually can create his own shot on the postup he’s not like he’s not outp level Magic IC score but Stephen Adams can post up we saw that whenever he played the Rockets

With Oklahoma City so you know across the board with their course six right as we’re looking at next season becoming a pivotal year for Jaylen green Al and shenon in terms of contract extensions I think right now this sets all of them up for success and a lot of the same points

That you brought up for how uh Steph Adams would help Jaylen green a lot of those same points apply to a men Thompson as well right two guards who want to be able to rebound the ball and immediately get out in transition and run and get to the transition game so I

Think that opens things up for them considerably um I also just love it just from a like another kind of Veteran git perspective right there was uh right my understanding of the situation with the Memphis Grizzlies was that Dylan Brooks and Stephen Adams were often the adults

In that locker room they were the guys that kind of held other guys accountable and wanted to make sure that that the Grizzlies kind of stuck to some of their their winning ways and really they were the adults in the room for that team over there so and I know that there were

Some frustrations at times especially with what was going on with Jah and like all that just the the locker room kind of stuff that the Grizzlies had going on and the Grizzlies made Dylan Brooks out to be kind of like the scapegoat for like ah we don’t want him back we don’t

You know and Dylan’s got his Antics he’s got his Tendencies for sure but he is not a bad locker room presence he’s a great locker room leader he’s a great presence to have around other young guys who are still trying to you know understand and grow into their roles as

NBA players so to now bring to the adult in the room from Memphis over to Houston I I’m sure that Dylan Brooks is really excited to be reunited with his old teammate um and I think he kind of like in a weird way I think Stephen Adams is

The exact backup big that the Rockets would want it’s unfortunate that he’s not able to play this season at all and we’re going to talk about in just a moment what that means for any subsequent moves that they might make around the deadline this season but I

Also think in a in a weird way because of who Steven Adams is as a player as a locker room personality all that um as a culture guy I I think in a way it kind of makes boban a little Expendable like like I think I think Stephen Adams kind

Of checks like the uh The Vibes box if you will kind of the same way that bowon has for a little while now and this is nothing against bobon he is a an absolute radiant Gem of a human being but it kind of felt bad right to have

Like to have that whole roster spot committed to a guy that you’re not even going to try him you know in a matchup like they had against the Pelicans where yonas Valen chunis was dominating you like if you’re not going to try boban in that matchup against a oversized big man

Who’s killing you then when can you ever play ban and I think the Rockets are past the point of needing like a Vibes counselor of their 15 roster spots so maybe bobon gets included in a trade you know as salary filler or something this deadline uh maybe they need to cut him

To just make space to you know make another trade work but you know at this point there have been a couple opportunities that the rocket have had to do something with the bobon slot uh they had opportunities earlier this offseason to do things with that slot at

This point you know I think they’re beyond just having a slot dedicated to a guy who’s you know a glorified assistant coach at this point um for Vibes for whatnot so maybe they make a move with him I like the Steven Adams pickup but it does leave the Houston Rockets uh a

Little destitute as far as how many second round draft picks that they have to work with uh we’ll take a look at their kind of asset stockpile as stands right now what other move they might be able to make around this deadline uh and whether or not they’re going to actually

Make a move for a playable backup big man since they just traded for Stephen Adams more of a long-term play as well as the rumors surrounding Jaylen green and whether or not the Rockets uh potentially offered him to the Brooklyn Nets for male bridges of all people

We’ll unpack all this in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel happy Super Bowl to all those who celebrate from FanDuel America’s number one sports book because hey if you’re like me Super Bowl Sunday is all about getting together with some great friends and family finding a good

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Just visit fanduel.com lockon to sign up that’s fanduel.com lockon make every moment more with FanDuel an official Sportsbook part partner of the NFL and continuing on here at lockdown Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball so we kind of went over our re just our

General reactions right for right off the Jump of this Steven Adams acquisition uh the one area though that I think it sets the Rockets back in is you start to look at you know the assets that the Rockets have available and they’re running very thin on second

Round draft picks and second rounders uh especially now in today’s NBA in the marketplace you know around trade deadlines and stuff second rounders have become really important you know an integral to be able to kind of Grease the wheels on certain moves here and there so the Rockets do not have many

Second round picks available um over these next few years they’ve got one second rounder left here in 2024 they’ve got one second rounder in 2025 they’ve got a handful of second rounders in 2026 and then they’ve got one more in 202 27 and that’s it they do not have like this

Huge stockpile of second round picks to be able to throw at different you know different guys we we saw you know at last year’s trade deadline different players being passed around for like four and five second round picks straight up so I do think it leaves them

A little strapped there I like the play from an investment perspective alecon because it also I think signifies that this team doesn’t feel the pressure or the need to try and you know quote unquote win now at this deadline they’re not trying to make like all in wind down

Moves right here at this deadline they are trying to build towards something and this screams to me a kind of by low move on a guy like Stephen Adams Memphis Grizzlies is trying to clear up some cap space trying to have some Financial flexibility this off season as they

Build around their contending core of John Morant jiren Jackson Jr and Desmond Bane so they shed a little bit of salary they’ll have some Financial flexibility they have now the the three second rounders to load up on and make another move somewhere down the line and for the

Rockets they get a really desirable backup big man albeit not right away they won’t have access to him until next season and what it also does is it kind of kicks the can a little bit further down the road on that salary slot we talked about this a lot when the Kevin

Porter Jr trade first happened um that Kevin Porter Jr contract was a valuable trade piece for the Rockets to be able to aggregate that salary you know or the idea of being able to aggregate that salary as part of maybe a bigger trade further down the line now with the

Rockets moving on from the expiring salary of Victor Oladipo they keep that salary slot alive on the books so that if they want to make a big splashy all-in trade for like a disgruntled star player or whatever this off season they’ve got the Stephen Adams salary on

The books to be able to make that happen if they need it to to be a part of the uh trade down the line I I I think you bring up and there’s so many layers to what you just talked about the actually let’s let’s break break it apart there the first

Thing you mentioned about the multiple second round picks going back to last trade deadline I think Sadi Bay was five second rounders yeah D’Angelo Russell was three ruy haimura was three so you’re go you’re getting valuable role players and I’m going to call them valuable role players

For those picks in this case like we talked about in the first segment and I in a very high level I think for each young player that Rockets have Stephen Adams helps them in terms of their development also playing to their strengths and I think you just you

You’re bringing in a guy who’s a starting center on most basketball teams to be your backup big and provide some toughness and some you know just size at the center position Off the Bench but let’s look at it now from a Next Level perspective like Bo you talked about

What’s what’s upcoming next I I do have a question for you Jackson do you feel like you know they still have jock long jock Longdale contract um they still have boban like you mentioned he still have other pieces even Jeff Green’s contract do you feel like The Rock can

Still go out number one and get a impact player for this year or two do you feel like it’s better for them to be able to get a player that’s more of a long-term piece similar to what they did with Stephen Adams you bring in a guy who’s

Not going to play this year but still under contract for next year do you bring in now another need is a shooter do you bring in a shooter who can also be valuable for you next year and how much are you willing to even give up from a draft compensation perspective

Yeah so I I think I’m I think I’m torn on it because I think the problem is I think they still need a backup big this year is is the first question so not not to dodge your question about do they still go get a shooter I think the

Question here is are are they going to make any kind of a move for a legitimate backup big now maybe you do that in part right like we talked about you know you know the idea of doing a package deal where you’re able to get Malcolm Brogden

And Robert Williams from the Blazers now BR now Williams doesn’t help this year because he’s out for the season so it’s kind of the same situation as as Stephen Adams I think that they’ve got to find a way to address the fact that they do not have a serviceable backup big man option

And I do think that they’re still trying to be aggressive around this trade deadline using the contract of jock landale as effectively an expiring deal so maybe it means they go scoop up a guy like you know bismack biombo who’s still out there as a free agent right he would

Be a guy that you could sign to a deal have him be on you know just on a on a vet minimum serviceable backup big maybe in spot minutes where Alper and shingun is struggling in a specific matchup or if you just need some additional size or

Whatever that would be a name that I’d like for them to explore I am a little worried though that they’re not going to go get now an impact backup big right like if you have dreams or had hopes of the Rockets pursuing like a Clint capella level type backup big man that

That should be gone yeah that that should be probably off the table at this point now because you’re going to have 12 a. half million dollars committed through the rest of this season and then contract yeah so you’re you’re not going to have and and you know conceivably

There might be an Alin shagon extension that you have to negotiate this summer his rookie scale extension you don’t want to have that much money locked up to your five spot right across three different players so I think the five spot at this point the best move they’re

Going to be able to make is is buyout Market candidate or current free agent like a bismack or a throwin as part of another trade where they do acquire a shooter potentially so for me I I would like to see them still make a move for a shooter now that they kind

Of have shored up the backup big spot at least a little bit and and this play again tells me that their eyes are more set on the future than it is you know a pressing need to win right now at all costs right they could have gotten you

Know traded for some backup big somewhere and probably given up one or two seconds to get a serviceable backup big right now instead you buy low on Stephen Adams and that you know if Stephen Adams is able to be healthy next season knock on wood that is a huge get

For this Rockets team and you traded actually no you didn’t trade anybody that’s currently playing yeah you you traded a guy who’s not playing you’re not losing anybody on the active roster and again if you hadn’t traded Victor Oladipo at this trade deadline his contract would have just rolled off the

Books and you would have essentially wasted the money that you tried to keep alive by trading Kevin Porter Jr and forfeiting two seconds to trade Kevin Porter Jr for Victor oladipo’s salary in the first place now the unfortunately the Rockets are kind of in the whole a

Ton of draft picks on what was this Kevin Porter Junior contract it’s effectively costed them five second round picks um which is not great unfortunately but at the same time they wanted to keep that salary alive they’ve done so and now they’ve turned what was effectively Kevin Porter Jr into you know long-term

Extended salary for Stephen Adams but then also a a very serviceable backup big man who in a pinch can be your starting big because he’s that quality you know he’s he’s a quality player I wantan to I want to get to one thing before we get back to the shooter

Conversation you know the thing about second round picks is they’re valuable for contending teams and Jackson you when you mentioned kind of what assets the Rockets have you mentioned one and 24 down the list 2026 you mentioned two and it makes me think Jackson realistically if we’re looking at a

Contending timeline for this team and at that point contention you want to bring in good second round Talent as you know low salary kind of roster players who can you know maybe a four-year player in the second round who’s a second round pick who can you know plug in play Spot

Minutes and like Christian Braun with Denver for example or you’re looking at like and this is even a crazier example Draymond Green in Golden State um you you have guys all over the NBA who are second rounders and playing heavy minutes for playoff teams we’ve seen that happen so second rounders can’t be

A valuable commodity do you feel like the Rockets have enough to still equip themselves to do that and also will the Rockets buy a second round pick to be able to kind of fulfill this they did save some they did save some cash so they us have some cash

Available as well and all these other things but I’m just curious Jackson from your perspective do you think the Rockets are still in good shape in terms of using second round picks in the future to be able to add to their roster I think that they’ve got enough like

Second round picks in like the confetti cannon of second round picks if you will to fire off and get like maybe one more impact role player whatever if they wanted to pull together the available seconds that they have right now access to um but that’s probably about it right

Like they don’t have a ton of seconds to utilize now again there are options out there maybe at this deadline maybe they feel like they they don’t have the you know with the minutes crunch with tar E’s eventual return or whatever maybe they just feel and and the emergence of

Cam Whitmore maybe they feel like they just need to move on from J Shante right he’s kind of the odd man out of the rotation I think at this point if everybody is healthy and there are plenty of contenders that would love the services of a Jan Tate so maybe there’s

A team out there that you could conceivably flip Jan Tate to for like three second Rounders or like a late first or something like that I but I I think in a way getting say three second rounders that are a bit further out is almost better value for J shant at this

Point than say a late 2024 first because then you know if you if you’re stuck with that first round draft pi and you get to the draft it’s the same you know kind of problem that you’re in right now with the Brooklyn Nets 2024 first- round

Draft piic that you have you don’t want to make that selection because then it’s like driving a brand new car off the lot it depreciates 30 35% in value it’s not a liquid asset anymore so I do think think that the Rockets have ways to kind of restock pile those seconds and right

Now they probably have enough to make one more significant move but will we see them you you know make that significant move right here at this deadline I don’t think so um the one team though that they are very heavily linked to there’s a lot of rumors a lot of reporting out

There is the Rocket’s interest in pursuing male Bridges and how would they go about doing that what would the offer look like and did they or did they not offer Jaylen green for male Bridges we’re going to unpack all that here in just one moment first today’s episode is brought

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Easy and final segment here at locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now we’ve got some some reporting some intelligence about the Houston Rockets and their approach to this year’s NBA Trad deadline and there’s a reason we know obviously we’re going to react to

And and share our thoughts on on the Stephen Adams trade and then kind of what that maybe signals or or what maybe that changes in how the Rockets are approaching this deadline but a little bit of the reporting that we have out there about the Rockets is there have

Been some some reports that the Rockets have had some calls with the Brooklyn Nets focused on one guy M Bridges right and it makes a lot of sense male Bridges would be a fantastic addition to this Rockets team now I believe it was Mark Stein who basically put it out there

That uh even if the Rockets included jayen Green in these talks that it wouldn’t be enough to to get M Bridges and to me that screams that the the the Nets are just trying to drive the price up on male Bridges they’ve they’ve dug their feet in on M rges through last deadline

Through the off season now they’re digging their heels in again this season um and there’s there’s some additional Intelligence on Jaylen green that we’re going to get to here in just a second but alecon the first thing I’ll say is I I love the idea that the Rockets are

Being aggressive with trying to make a trade happen with the Nets even if the Nets are are too stupid to realize that it would be good for them to get their picks back um I love that the Rockets are doing this we’ve talked about you know for the last couple years on this

Podcast that it makes sense for the Nets to be a trade partner with the Rockets because those picks have more value to the Nets organizationally than they do to any of the other 29 teams in the association less them controler Destiny Jackson 100% And so from a negotiation

Standpoint the longer the Rockets wait to do something with those picks they they continue to lose value because I I what I worry is going to happen is I worry that the Nets and their front office are going to make some you know slap Dash decision to try and stay on

The treadmill of mediocrity because they have they have zero incentive to be bad right now they want to be you know fighting for the play in and whatever with the core centered around M Bridges is a number one option and Ben Simmons if he’s ever going to play basketball

Again or what and it makes no sense to me but that’s kind of where they’re stuck so if the Nets make some kind of a a dumb trade with another team and they stay on that treadmill of mediocrity those Nets picks aren’t going to be worth much right they’re going to be

Okayish picks at best whereas if you force their hand if you are really aggressive in these trade talks I think this is the Rocket’s best chance to cash back in on those picks and get back a very high quality player in a male Bridges type and I I don’t think he’s

Actually off the table I think this is just the Nets trying to drive up the price um so if you’re the Rockets do you offer more right do you do you go to the extent of maybe offering a Jaylen Green in this trade and I say jayen green

Because there was the reporting the intelligence out there dropped by good friend of the program Kelly EO in partnership with Sham Sania over at the athletic and there was basically an article that uh at least Kelly’s understanding of the situation is that uh the Rockets are open to trading

Any of the core six but then inside the article you dig deep and it says but Alper and shingun has emerged and he’s like awesome and all this stuff and it kind of you know covers how great alp’s been in his role so he’s not getting moved amen Thompson

And cam Whitmore are off the table except for in a trade for a star player so they’re off the table they’re not available and then it also goes on to say and jaar Smith J and tar e aren’t being moved so you go through all it was

Kind of a convoluted way of saying jayen Green’s available in trades so you start reading between the lines on some of this reporting you start looking at it do we think that jayen has maybe already been in an offer for Michel Bridges at this point you know have the

Rockets had that discussion right have they have they gone that far and I don’t think they have I don’t think they’ve put him you know firmly in an offer for male Bridges to the Nets whatever I think they’re still very much in that negotiating phase where they’re trying

To make something happen I’m sure the Nets want to get back access to all of their picks and the rockets are maybe like H we’ll give you 2024 and maybe we’ll remove the swap right on 2025 and they’re kind of negotiating on that currently because the Nets also in the

Past said hey we’re not trading James Harden we’re not trading Kevin Durant whatever we’re going to stick it out with these guys and then both of those guys got moved so I think M I think the male Bridges posturing is very much in that same

Vein I I I I don’t think jayen green was offered and if if you were to ask me Jackson if the scenario was would you be willing to part ways with Jaylen green if it meant you get Mel Bridges my answer to that is no and there’s

Multiple reasons why and I think I want to plug in our podcast from um last week where we did mid-season grades on Amen cam Jabari tari and we spent some time on Jaylen and I talked about the nuances with jaylen’s growth and development and how I’m still wanting to see him have

Some time to kind of go through um what he’s been going through and that that podcast can discuss those nuances but in the sake of our conversation today if you were to ask me that I’d say no because number one I think Jaylen plays extremely well with alerin shenon I

Think right now we can both say aleran shenon is the best player on this team and somebody you already know as your building block number two eay udoka has said multiple times the importance of having multiple ball handlers and shot creators on the team and if he’s one of

Your best shot creators right now is Jaylen Jaylen green and he’s actually showing himself to be a good passer as well I’ve seen some good skip passes I’ve seen some good kind of processing in the beginning of the Season obviously processing you know was there but the

Execution was not he was missing around the rim shooting was not going well recently in this small sample size we’ve seen the processing there and we’ve also seen the execution there and so you know I’m seeing it starting to be put together I think it’s sustainable

Success and I I I think right now you go in one more year with your core six obvious obviously op shenan and Jaylen green are those first players who were going to have to figure out if they deserve a contract extension or not and I still think that you still need to

Give them some give the team some time and a and one additional reason why I’m leaning to where that’s the Rockets kind of perspective is because they started for Stephen Adams who’s not a win now necess early player he’s a win next year player and not only is he a win next

Year player as we talked about earlier in the show Jackson he’s somebody who compliments all of your young players and he adds to their strengths and and he does things to be able to kind of help them there and I think the Rockets right now are still wanting to gauge and

Figure out how can all these young players be successful together and which one of these will we eventually have to consolidate right and let’s figure out if they can fill our plans and play within our scheme and play with each other moving forward yeah and that’s you

Know this this year was it’s eem’s first year with this with this group of guys it’s his first year kind of getting his feet wet figuring out what he has you know and and for the organization identifying which of these guys do we feel confident in building around moving

Forward going into this year they had kind of a pseudo Vision which was just you know inject a bunch of veterans have the veterans teach these young guys how to actually play winning basketball and I think so far that’s been a success this season yeah they’re floating a

Little under 500 right now they’ve had their their bumps and bruises over this last stretch of you know few weeks of the schedule you know kind of a reality check a little bit if you will after some early successes um I do think that this

Deadline is going to tell us a lot about where this team is headed right because like you said the the Steph Adams move that’s a move for next year or that’s a move to potentially it kicks the salary down the low down the road so you can

Maybe make a trade this off season with that salary it gives you the backup but not right now it gives the backup big man for next year he’s a great complim piece all that I think if you’re the Rockets you know if you want to if if

You’re at a place where you feel confident enough in identifying and leaning into Alper and shenon as your best player and the player you want to build around right now I think you make the move if it’s on the table if if if that’s kind of like the if the trade is

Is Jaylen green for male Bridges and like the 2024 first and like maybe you remove the swap swap rights on 2025 if that’s the framework of the trade plus whatever salary filler jock landale I think you do the trade right now if you’re ready to fully commit to

Alper and shenon yeah I don’t think you do the trade just for the sake of moving off of jayen green or because you want a an immediate win now upgrade to that slot I think you only do the trade if you really are going to lean all the way

Into hey we need to build a team and and we need to put players that are going to compliment specifically Alper and shenon because that’s the guy that we feel like is going to be our ticket to the promisel land and and we’re ready to start making moves right now to identify

That I don’t think that they’re there yet is is where I’m and and this trade deadline’s going to give us those options right we talked about that it’s going to tell us number one is Alper and shenon are they fully comfortable with him being that franchise Cornerstone and let’s do

Everything we can to build around him which I still think Jaylen green has that picture and but I know what you’re trying to say in terms of like is are they going to make moves and could Jaylen potentially be included in those moves to be able to build a a a you

Know a sustainable contender stainable Contender but an optimal I was looking for the word optimal an optimal team around Al shingun for his strengths right or are you willing and where I think the Rockets are leaning is towards figuring it out over time to see what you still have and not still being

Satisfied with the data that you have on your current team I I I do think I mentioned this earlier in the segment eme okas word is important he mentioned I think it was before or after the Pelicans game the importance of you know having a back of big who can help them

You know Center depth stuff like that well they went ahead and got Stephen Adams right eay udoka has a lot of influence a lot of things he says you have to pay attention to and he’s talked a lot about the concept of shot creation which I mentioned earlier but then he’s

Also whenever Jaylen is brought up is very high on Jaylen and says that he’s working with jayen and having conversations with jayen and he’s actively talking about whenever he’s answering questions in the media about his relationship with Jaylen I don’t I don’t think that by accident I think

That’s on purpose to show that he is dedicated to helping Jaylen become and reach his true potential and he always mentions the concept of Jaylen reaching his true potential so for that reason in my opinion and how much I think E’s influence is in the organization I just

Don’t see Jaylen getting traded and just and more so I just don’t think that right now where this team is at you go out and get a Mikel Bridges to and try to kind of win now assess where you are going to the offseason and figure out

Out from there you know what is your next Five-Year Plan looking at you got Jaylen and alpie one summer you got alpie sorry you got Jabari and tari the next summer then you have Cam and amen after that figure out what is your route looking like in terms of being a second

Apron team and being a sustainable Contender I like it no and again they they they don’t have to make the choice right now but it also that that was my main point right out of the gate was just it feels like they’re running out

Of time to cash in on the Nets picks and this might their best opportunity to do it and again one of the reasons there might be a hold up on the deal is Rafel Stone could be trying to you know bully the Nets into a corner and get male

Bridges without giving up jayen green which is a possibility right they’ve got they’ve got expiring salary they could maybe make a trade happen if the Nets are desperate enough and want those picks back and want to be able to bottom out and have control of their own

Destiny then maybe that’s a trade that we say take place and Jaylen doesn’t even have to be a part of it if if raell Stone pulls off a master class uh you know ahead of this NBA trade deadline but we want to know from you guys would

You guys do this Michel Bridges trade the one that the one that I offered up how do you feel about Stephen Adams and the trade that the Rockets made with Victor oladipo’s contract giving up three seconds to bring in Steph Adams not for this year but for next season

Let us know your thoughts on everything we talk about in today’s episode but alyon you know the drill let everybody know where to track you down at you can follow me on Twitter Rockets Insider and make sure you’re following us here on lockon Rockets one more question for our

For our listeners curious to to hear which young player of their core six will Stephen Adams help the most that’s going to do it for another edition of locked on Rockets as always thank you so much for checking out the show if you haven’t done so yet please consider

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