Rockets rookies shine and should the Rockets make a big splash before the NBA trade deadline?

Rockets rookies shine and should the Rockets make a big splash before the NBA trade deadline?

Got to get it in DUS to Smith Jabari for three and the win he got it roiding stars draft I mean everything goes on I feel like I’m under to be honest Thompson we got that connection me Al me CAM it’s the same thing we are here to F Rockets news this a

Rockets field podcast of course I’m your Coast lar Binkley you can always find me on Twitter X whatever you want to call it at Binkley Hoops you always find my written work over s nation and the dream shake and before we get too far in it as

Usual I give my coach a chance to introduce himself hey what’s up y’all it’s Vader you can find me on Twitter xap Vader Sports and also Instagram for your ra news and highlights and as you saw ear in those clips where we heard from amyan Thompson and C last night after the Rockets

Big 135 to 109 win over the Raptors a team that seemed like they’re pretty much in tanking mode but however you want to put it the Rockets still look uh very good last night especially the rookies who both had career nights uh cam uh cam Whitmore finished with 25

Points Aman Thompson finished with 19 like I said both career highs uh we saw exactly why many people thought that cam Whitmore was a top five draft pick and of course we already know amen was drafted the top five but cam fell all the way down to 20 so at this point

You’re wondering how many GMS are going to lose their job because they passed on cam Whitmore and somehow the rocket were able to get two top five talents even though they didn’t have two top five picks and we saw the best of what we can expect from cam Whitmore and Alman Thom

We saw all the potential kind of come to the Forefront last night and the rockets Big Win um we also saw the Rockets dominate in the paint last night uh they had 84 points in the paint which is just insane they actually TI for the most points in the paint for any team

This season that’s the most of rockets have had since 1996 97 uh so we saw all the starters play Under the 30 minutes so it was pretty much a perfect game for the Rockets you saw the starters get rest you saw the uh young guys have

Their best games of their career and it was a blowout win so it really wasn’t too much drama uh in the second half at all so it was definitely a game the Rockets needed after coming off that that tough loss to the New Orleans Pelicans and they’re still fighting for

A play in spot so we’re gonna be course talking about a little bit more about the game and the rookies performance in the first segment the second segment we’re going to be talking all things trade of course rockus made the trade with the Memphis gz Grizzlies for

Stephen Adams so we definitely gonna be talking about that and if the Rockers should be making any more moves coming up uh in the second segment so uh Vader I definitely want to start with the game last night and you kind of start wherever you want to start if you want

To start with the rookies or just the game overall but what was kind of your impression of the of the game last night I’m start with Jaylen green uh big J you know you know you know this I’ve been a big Jaylen green fan it’s been hard this

Year it has been a rough Seas um you know anytime I try to post anything Jaylen green related I get people talking about ah he he he sucks uh Rock need to PR him uh even when he plays well and I post something uh people want

To say that he’s taken away from uh other guys on the team and it it’s you know we lost so and and it’s his fault even though he had a really good game so um I think hopefully hopefully hopefully hopefully we’ve seen Jaylen green turn a

Corner and the and the reason I feel like this looks different from some of the P the past seasons is um he went on like these really hot shooting streaks and um like this is not just high shooting you see him rebounding you see him uh facilitating you see him making

Live dribble passes on The Fast Break making good decisions he’s not a good defensive player I I will admit that but he’s trying on defense he you know I I don’t know if he’s ever going to be a guy who’s going lock up defensively but the fact that he’s even putting forth

Effort in that area as well as you know the you see the Improvement in all these other areas I think hopefully like we’re starting to see uh why the Rockets drafted this guy uh with the second overall pick in that 2021 draft I think

It was and um I think a lot of that goes back to Oka he’s been from the beginning of the Season requiring Jaylen green to do more than just be a score he wants him to rebound he he even mentioned he showed them some some film of like hey

You’re you’re not you’re you’re ball watching you know you’re watching other guys play when you can be going in there and you can actually be contributing other facets of the game so hopefully this keeps up uh because like he looks really good he looks decisive he he’s aggressive he’s attacking the basket

He’s finishing now and and some of the things that that I was concerned with him was like he’s not finishing he’s uh layups he’s missing layups he missing wide open threes and like to me these are things that are correctable I feel like a lot of it was like a confidence

Issue so man I’m I’m happy to see that like Jaylen green hopefully is B for good this time uh and the rookies like you were talking about man it’s kind of crazy to see that the Rockets got cam Whitmore and alen Thompson in the same in the same draft like alen is like

Doing some things right now that we’ve only seen uh like Kobe Bryant do as a teenager um I saw a stat today where he he did something like U as far as like the the amount of points that he’s scoring on 60% true shooting the only other uh

Person of his age to do that was like Zion Williamson we know Zion Williamson was was a was a freak is a freak a um I don’t know man like you you really see some like really good things from these two young guys and I’m just like uh I

Watched the game yesterday I was on the edge of my seat uh the way alen Thompson was getting to the basket and kind of scoring at wheel I think he started he made like his first seven shots I think it first nine shots he was for nine was

Even crazier than I thought and then like some of his passing his skit passing his ability to um you know hit the open guy his ability to get into the paint get paint touches this guy’s a six seveno guard and then like defensively he he is already he’s already A

Difference Maker on on that end the floor so like the sky is the limit for these two guys and um I’m just feeling like I’m feeling very like fortunate as a Rockets fan that we’re going to be able to see these dudes develop so those are the three things that kind of stood

Out to me was um like I said the way Jaylen Green’s been playing uh the way cam Whitmore has scored at least 17 points in the last uh five games and he’s doing it like I know Craig arrian keeps calling him uh Mr per 36 and the

Reason he’s calling him that is like the the way he’s scoring it’s almost unprecedented it’s almost unpr than and even though almond is not scoring like that you know he just contributes in so many different areas like last night I think he had 19 points seven rebounds

Four assists and two steals right so like this is a guy who and the defense so this is you know we we got two youngsters and then I haven’t even spoken about a shenon who you know we just kind of get used to him going out there and scoring 20 plus points and

Getting you know 13 rebounds and then also get in seven or eight assists and that’s what he did last night um the thing now the rocket have to be consistent um they seem like they’re a different team um on at home than they on the road and I know they got a pretty

Tough schedule coming up so hopefully they can lock in on the road because I don’t I we we got a catch uh I think we’re in 11 spot right now and so we yeah in that 10 seed to in order to get in that playin tournament yeah so real

Quick on that playin tournament so let’s be honest it’s going to come down to probably four teams for two spots it’s going to come down to the Lakers the Jazz the Rockets and the Warriors for two spots I me that’s really because I don’t think anybody’s going to catch any

Other teams above that the Kings or OKC nobody’s going to catch out of these teams so it’s going to come down to two spots now of course if you’re looking at those names you’re thinking oh it’s gonna be Lakers and Warriors Lakers and Warriors but we’ve saw how the Lakers

And Warriors have played this season and it’s not crazy to think that the Rockets can pass you know they already in front of golden state that they can still pass the Lakers I mean we saw them just beat the Lakers the other day and with the

Lakers like all over the place right now with their coaching and with some of their players I mean it’s not out of the round possibility that the Rockets can still get in that playing spot and another follow up another thing you said about C Whitmore per 36 if I’m not

Mistaken coming into the game last night he has scored 105 points in 109 minutes in last five games crazy so if you factor in y today he’s now scored 130 points in 130 minutes the last six games but it’s just like we we we’ve not seen

I I joked I called him a generational shot Checker and I know we typically like associate shot shot checking with something bad but like his his uh somebody uh dug up this stat and I was like hey let’s not talk about that put that stat in your pocket but it was

Something about him having a like very low historically low assist percentage like you know what man like he also is like scoring at a generational level for for a 19y old so like I don’t want to hear about him his his passing because uh he’s efficient like who is he got to

Pass to that has a better shot of better shot at making the shot I’m like y’all go get it off the backboard and and uh I know uh me and some of my friend we we’ve been joking about like he has this uh this little voice in his head that’s

Like hey man you’re open shoot no matter it might be two people on him but like he has the Gerald Green I us rational confidence that you want to s in the resort and it’s sometimes it looks bad but like sometimes he he is a he’s already one of

Those guys where you’re like no no no no yeah all right good shot and and and um the one thing I will say about him is his his confidence is unwavering he’s a guy who I’ve seen like even when I was watching him back in the G League I saw

Him like Miss like seven shots in a row and then he went in the fourth quarter and then he made like seven in a row and that’s what yeah he does not care like um the way that he he uh got into with Lelo ball you know a few games back and

Then the way that he kind of got into it with LeBron not you know he kind of and know he idolizes LeBron it’s not like it was he didn’t mean it as a disrespect but um he handed LeBron the ball after he scored you know you don’t see that

From from a 19y old the Lakers also passed on him so he definitely playing with a chip on the shoulder in that game yeah and this is a dude who’s 6667 230 pounds he’s he’s built for this and so it’s been fun watching him uh kind of

Like EX and the role that that Emy yoka has given him with the absence of tares and and then Jabari being out he he took advantage of it like he could have easily came in and and struggled and you know the the moment was not too big for

Cam Whitmore and so like I think you see sky’s the limit with him yeah and next person I want to talk a little bit more about amen is I want to talk about his relationship with Ain if you’re a rookie trying to get minuts is there a better thing you can do than

To attach yourself to the best player on the team a player that’s going to get you the ball in any certain spot is there a better way to do that than become a really good cutter they they when they Lo when KJ Martin was straighted away they lost their best

Cutter and now bring that up I I don’t think that it’s kind of I don’t think it’s exaggerating that Alman is probably their best cutter anybody on the team and he plays really well in the dunker spot I asked coach uh coach about that last night he talked about you know his

Height at the point guard position being to play in that dunker spot there’s not too many point guards that’s going to be able to stop him when he’s down in that dunker spot and also frees him up to also get the offensive rebounds I think when you is talking about talking about

Am man’s Prime he’s going to be averaging seven eight rebounds a game just because he’s goingon to be able to jump over not just point guard but any guard in the lead no no guard’s gonna be able to keep him off the a block but now he’s built that relationship as you

Heard that clip where he says it’s aler and Thompson he’s built that relationship with um shanon and he even said it during that interview he said that we don’t even talk about it we haven’t talked about hey you need to be in this spot you need to be in this spot they

They haven’t practiced it at all he said they just talk about it briefly on the bench and they they’re such um they’re in such a good place with each other that they just know where each other’s going to be at on the court and to have

That already as a rookie man that’s that says a lot about your basketball IQ and I think people need to talk a lot more about amen’s basketball IQ because to me that’s the best part of his game it’s funny because like about a month and a half ago around this time people were

Saying did we get the worst twin uh that the Rockets draft the right guy and so we kept having to go back to like osar Thompson is a great player like and and but he’s a he’s more of a role player he’s like a super role player right he’s

Gonna go out and he’s gonna do all the dirty work things for you but like Alan was being asked to play the point guard position he’s asked to be a facilitator he’s he’s being asked to like create offense for others you know and so like now that he’s been getting actual

Minutes I think you’re starting to see like last night who’s who’s keeping a 67 200 and something pound point guard who has over a 40 inch vertical and a 7 foot wingspan how are you keeping this guy out of the paint and then when he gets in the paint he makes great decisions

It’s not like it’s not like he’s a freak athlete with a low basketball IQ he also has a basketball IQ to go along with it he’s making passes that like honestly the the only like speaking of Alfred shingon the only other person on the team who can probably make these passes

Is you know is alond Thomson and then it’s Al Shinu and shout out to cam Whitmore man because like that behind the back pass we talking about his assist percentage like and I had joke I’m like um he’s been trolling us the whole time people talking about cam Whitmore can’t

Pass he can pass he just like I’d rather shoot it because that behind the back pass off of a live dribble uh you know going speed you know that was pretty special too you know in its own right and so shout out to him for that but

Yeah just getting back to like if you’re talking about basketball IQ and guys who going to do those little things are going to contribute to winning I think the two the two best examples of that on the Houston Rockets right now is I’m and Thompson and and Al shenon those guys

Those guys are just kind of like you know you know how you can kind of like think two steps ahead they’re like two or three steps ahead sometimes with some of the things that they’re able to see on the court and so like yeah that connection is going to be really special

If they if they can continue to cultivate that and that’s a perfect seg wave because I want to talk about aler Shang before we wrap up the first segment and of course talk about him not making the allstar team we kind of thought it was a long shot um especially

As a starter but even as a reserve as we start to kind of look at some of the Legacy names that were on the list and I actually asked a about that is it any extra motivation um not making the All-Star team and of course he gave a

Very you know Alfred and shenon answer which is actually a perfect uh response to it no I was never focused on there you know I’m still young uh I have a lot to do and it’s going to come one day I don’t care about that uh I just care about

Winning and the play in or playoff so you know long time to go and as you see he says he’s focused on winning that’s exactly what he should be because Al Pro Shang goon we keep forgetting we have to keep reminding everybody and he’s only 21 years old so

He still has many years in League he hasn’t even came close to his prime yet and I think that he’s already being considered for an All-Star Game and he hasn’t even hit his prime yet he definitely will be making many All-Star games all NBA teams going forward so

That’s like the perfect response that you know you could tell that he’s focused on winning games he’s focused on getting in the playoffs this season and that’s exactly what you want to hear from your best player I I love when they interview him because he’s a team guy

Um he when they ask him about Jaylen green he he always has like positive things to say about jayen green they ask him about like some of the other guys on the team he he’s all he he builds other guys up and and it’s not just oh it’s me

Me me uh he he’s always looking at the bigger picture and like no matter what he feels internally because of course I’m sure like there’s a small part of him that’s disappointed because he probably feels like he deserves it because he does but um at the end of the

Day the main focus should be winning that should be keep your eyes on on on the big things right and then I think I think that’s what he’s doing and and if the Rockets continue to win and um these other guys continue to grow around him he’s going to make all-star teams uh

Like this is kind of his first year being on the scene and being mentioned with some of these other guys who made it and that are perennial Allstars and so it it a lot of guys don’t make it that first go a lot of guy This Is Not

Unusual right and so I think you know next year if he just continues on the path that he that he’s on and he keeps getting better uh he he’ll definitely make an All-Star team or you know several all-star teams for that matter even if he was in the Eastern Conference

I think there are guys on the Eastern Conference team who he would have made it over um yeah and you know like Al shinon um I mean what is there really not to like about this dude this is a guy who um you know under the previous

Coaching staff um I I know they felt like he was a talent I know they felt like um you know he was going to be a good player but it’s they still weren’t they still did not seem like they were sure what they wanted to do with him and

You know he was he was coached hard you know he was benched a lot and look at him now um you know he he’s he’s taken all of those uh you know setbacks and he’s actually improved his game and so there’s there’s still more to come there’s there’s a lot better ahead for

Afan shingun yeah exactly when you said that you love when when he’s interviewed uh he’s definitely the best interviewer on team and anytime he comes up to us he always says hello and anytime he leaves he always say have a good night and you know that may not seem like a huge deal

But you you can always tell that some players like and understandable you just play the game you don’t always want to talk to the media not one time as he ever had anything negative to say or you know or you could tell that he didn’t want to be there he always you know

Willingly talks to everybody he answers every single question and I mean I don’t think you can have a better face of the franchise uh and yes shanon is the face of the franchise I don’t think you have a better one than somebody like Aon shenon so like you said he’ll make an

All-Star team I wouldn’t even be surprised if he if he makes If he if he makes All-Star team starting next season that’s how close he is already so you know like you said I’m sure there’s a small part of him definitely wanted to make it but I don’t think that’s his

Main focus and as you heard there he’s focused on winning Rockets are really close to a playoff spot and I think that’s all the you know everybody on the team should be focused on um and you know if you win winning winning is going to get guys on the AAR team because like

I feel like when it comes down to it unless you’re like a super mega star and he’s get he’s he’s he’s hopefully getting to that point but you know when when you look at some of the like you said the the Legacy names on there those

Guy those guys are more known so if it if it’s gonna if it’s close statistically and it’s between you know a guy on a you know barely you know barely 500 team or a sub 500 team up against another guy who has that big name already they’re going to go with

The other guy and so the more the Rockets win um and the better he gets the better the guys around him gets uh he’s going to put himself in a much better position for they they can’t deny it at that point you know if the Rockets were you know if the Rockets were

Probably like you know in the playoff picture as far as like a top six seed right now he’ probably be in the game because sometimes it kind of works that way too yeah yeah exactly and and uh one of the things I want to talk about in

The second segment that’s kind of I think have an impact on if the Rockets um win more games and actually make it into the playoffs is the trade trade deadline that’s coming up next week I definitely want to talk about the Steph all trade of course that was already

Made and we will be breaking down whether the Rockets should be looking to make a huge Splash or if they should be more conservative and possibly just bring in some more help Off the Bench so we will definitely talking about in the second segment so please stick around

And welcome back to the rocky fuel podcast presented by the believe Network and in the second segment we’re going to be talking about uh all things trade deadline as the rocket has already got a head start on the trade deadline by trading away uh Victor Oladipo who

Didn’t play for the rockets at all this season and probably just like Stephen Adams probably won’t play one minute this season um for Stephen Adams who came to the Rockets the Rocks also sent out three second round picks two in 2024 and one in 2025 uh so again this trade is

Definitely more looking for in the future as stepen DS will not be playing this year he had a season ending injury at the beginning of the year he also had an injury last season um that kept him out a big chunk of the season so he’s he’s been kind of injury-prone lately

And so it’s it’s a little bit of a risk I know some people would like our second round piics who cares about second round picks um but just my thought initial thought was I would prefer if they would have held on to those picks not to you

Actually go into the draft and draft anybody because yes the rockets at the point they don’t really need to be drafted anybody in the second round because they’re not going to play but to possibly get a better deal or a better trade either closer to the trade deadline or next season because those

Second round picks do come in handy when you’re trying to uh make bigger trades um but I understand what the Rockets were trying to do Ma you could definitely tell when he was talking about Stephen Adams you could definitely tell this was a ma guy that Ma had his

Fingerprints all over this trade because whether people know it or not Ma has a lot of say a a lot more than coach solid had when it comes to roster construction and any trade that happens I really think has to go through ma first and you

Can definitely tell that Ma had a big part of this so I understand the appeal uh Stephen Al is one of the best screeners in the league he brings the toughness the Rockets don’t have at in the front court right now he’s one of the best even at this age right now he’s

Still one of the best rebounders in the NBA and he’s an enforcer something else the Rockets don’t have in the front court so I understand the appeal there a little bit of a risk just because he hasn’t played a lot of basketball the last two season and he is injury Pro and

He’s on the back side of his career now not to say that he’s washed up but he’s definitely on the other side of his prime years so it’s a little bit of risk doing that and like I said it won’t have any impact this season um but next

Season if he can come back healthy then it’s a great trade it’s absolutely home run trade you make that trade 10 times out of 10 um but what’s your thoughts on the trade U initially and has it Chang uh since you had time to think about it

Um initially I was excited about it because it’s Stephen Adams Then I remember that bro was hurt no for real like that was my I was like oh we got Stephen Adams we got Stephen Adams and then I remember and I had asked him one he told me I’m like

Isn’t Stephen Adams out for the season and they were like yeah and so then like my initial excitement waned and then I started having to you know delve into the details right um You traded Victor Ola Depot that’s not really a huge loss I know they were hoping to like flip

That contract for something um essentially you get Stephen Adams so like maybe you couldn’t get anything that you wanted right now for Victor Ola Depot and so you push that contract back another season and maybe you can use it next year um you gave up some second round picks and like you mentioned

Before like three three second round picks I saw guys like the last trade deadline um getting moved for you know a handful of second round picks that were act actually useful players guys who were like contributing to playoff teams and you know coming on The rosters and

And like actually like doing things to help those teams win so like a second round pick uh face value doesn’t seem like it’s worth much but when you package uh several of them together sometimes you can get a Difference Maker on your team that can make a difference

Between like a Houston Rockets team who’s kind of on the borderline on the outside looking in at the 11 seed maybe you can get a guy that can come in and help you get to the ninth or 10th slot and um actually be you know in a

Situation where you can play for for a playoff spot so um there there I have mixed feelings about it uh I am very excited about the trait if he can actually play because I’ve been a big Stephen Adams fan I followed his career because um and ironically uh the the way the Oklahoma

City even got Stephen Adams in the first place is because of trade right he was one of the picks that the Rockets had I think sent back to OKC in order to uh get James Harden you know it was a package of you know Jeremy Lamb and and

Kevin Martin some other things like that so I’ve been watching Stephen Adams like I’m a huge fan of his because I’ve seen what he can do uh like you said he’s an enforcer he um is an amazing screener like I think a lot of Russell Westbrooks

Uh Su success uh in OKC can be traced back to the fact that Stephen was on the floor with him uh a lot of J Moran success you know with the Memphis G Grizzlies can be um you know traced back to some of the stuff that Stephen

Stephen Adams will get you open and so I’m thinking like I’m in Thompson uh Jaylen green this guy sitting screens for cam this gu setting screens for guys like that who can kind of get downhill and get to the rim like you have to love that but this is a huge

Dude this is a dude that’s over 7 feet tall he’s like 300 lbs he’s had L lower body injuries so I I do have some concern there uh because like we’ve seen you know with ya Ming and some of our you know big men in the past like when

When you’re that size and you start getting lower body injuries it’s kind of it’s it’s kind of a signal that it may be time for you to to retire so hopefully they they did their homework they looked at his medical they felt pretty confident that he can come back

And and actually contribute because if they can get on if he can get on the floor he’s exactly what the rockets need from the perspective of a hard know dude who’s going to go in there and fight for every rebound set screens um be be be a

Be a presence out there and I also feel like he can teach Alin shenon some things that alrin maybe not has had a opportunity to learn like who who who has alpie really had that can teach him you know anything in in the post or teach him like the little nuances and

Idio secrecies that come along with being a big man in the NBA you know he’s had Fernando yeah no no he’s had Bruno Christian Wood he’s had like U ban who you know by all accounts is an amazing guy but like let’s be real he hasn’t had

A guy like Stephen Adams so like on the surface level if Stephen Adams can actually play I think it’s a good trade if Stephen Adams is just a contract then I I like to trade a little less because of the fact that you gave up three picks

And also we have to also consider um how you got Victor olad Depot you had to trade kpj and two two picks to get um Victor Depot so now we’re looking at like we’re looking at five second round picks in totality if you really look at

It in in that way and so like five second round picks man I I put some value on it when it’s that many um that’s pretty much how I feel about it if if Steve if if Adams can actually play it’s a it’s a good trade it’s a

Really good trade yeah I mean absolutely that’s what it comes down to if he plays next season then yeah it’s a no-brainer you make that trade um but if not then basically just gave away even more second round picks for another guy that’s not going to play and honestly

Nobody knows um outside of Stephen Adams how he’s gonna even Stephen Adam may not even know I mean coming back for that type of injury so it’s definitely a little bit of a risk but I understand what the Rockets are trying to do uh they’re thinking big pitcher they’re

Thinking Beyond just this season so I understand what they’re trying to do so it’s just really nobody really knows until we see him on the court next season so it’s one of those kind of wait and see type trades um that teams don’t always make most teams don’t make trades of for players

Um that won’t be playing at all until the following season especially for that many draft picks so it’s really kind of hard to say whether it’s a good trade or not because we none of us really know until he’s out on the court and and it’s funny too because we made this trade

Right after that game with the was it the um who was it that game where where valent chunis uh kind of he kind of bullied us right and um it was the the last game before this and yoka came out in the media and he he basically said

Hey I feel like they kind of like bullied us and and so then you go out and get one of the biggest bullies in the NBA I’m G tell you what when when uh Stephen Adams puts his puts his body on you then like you know he’s there if he

Says said pick on you like you’re finished so uh like uh some of the stuff that like ma was complaining about in that in that post game presser um you if if Stephen Adams can actually get on the floor for 15 minutes per game you have

You have addressed a lot of those issues with toughness and rebounding and and and defense he’s a good Defender yeah I mean one thing you should everybody should know about ma is he values toughness he values hard nose play and he values people that can play defense of course he wants people that

Can score you’re not gonna win the game if you don’t score but he’ll look past if and I know what people are going to say they don’t like Jan Tate I stand you know he’s probably going to be the one that’s going to be the odd man out when

Ty comes back but that’s one of the reason why uh jante keep playing For Better or For Worse he keeps playing because he he’s tough nose he plays good defense and he always plays hard so that’s stuff that ma always talks he talks about that more than anything else

More than offense uh more than flashy dunks that’s what he cares about above anything else so the fact that they went out and got Stephen Adams I nobody should really be surprised because that is the exact type of player that like ma loves to have on his team it’s a player

Like Stephen Adams um so before we wrap up the show definitely want to talk about um the trade deadline is coming up Thursday we’ve saw the rumors fly around about possibly tra trading Jaylen green for Mel Bridges or Jaylen green for this guy or you know making a big splash you

Know trying to bring in a star- level player um but just from my point of view I just see the rockets doing that number one Jay green is still under a rookie contract the Rockets want to see how all this plays out with their core players

Like jayen green like Jabari Smith um Al shenon all the guys that they just recently drafted they want to see how that plays out and on top of that just specifically talking about the Brooklyn rumor me I just don’t see that Mel Bridges is a top 20 top 25 player for

You to give up Jaylen green and multiple draft picks for him don’t get me wrong he’s a good player he’s one of the best two-way players in the league and he definitely will approve the rock is perimeter defense and they shooting but is he that much better than Jaylen green

To where you’re willing to give up draft picks on top of trading him now if you’re talking about one for one deal then okay then that doesn’t sound as crazy but to me you giv on Jaylen green and multiple picks for a player like Mel

Bridges that’s kind of hard for me to uh the stomach I mean if you’re talking about and not that I want to trade for Donovan Mitchell but if you’re talking about somebody the caliber of Donovan Mitchell then okay that makes more sense but Mel Bridges is a maybe borderline

Top 30 40ish player somewhere in that range so I just don’t see them doing that I I really think they’re gonna stay Pat try to go out there possibly still even try to go over to get another Center um even though they did just trade for Stephen Adams but they

Definitely are looking for another shooter I I I I probably would guess that’s probably their number one priority right now is try to find somebody that can come off the bench and that can shoot and yes I know cam can do that but I think they’re still looking for somebody else that that’s

Their that’s their specialty is as a knockdown shooter so I think they’re going to be looking more along the lines of trying to bring somebody else Off the Bench to help and not necessarily try to swing for a home run now if they could go find somebody that somebody trying to

Trade away one of the star players they’re not going to like say no but I don’t think that’s their main focus right now yeah I like Mel Bridges a lot and then I think that there is a point to where they’re asking too much for him

Um I saw like a report today where they supposedly turn down five first round draft picks if they turn down five first round draft picks for Mel Bridges there’s they’re some fools um because like I like I like him a lot as a player like you said he’s a really good two-way

Player however um the situation that they’re in as far as like where their Ro construction is and their ability to actually get better and like if some team is foolish enough to give you five first round draft picks for for Mel Bridges I think you have to take that

And so like I think they’re trying to inflate his trade value um you know because I do think the Rockets do have some interest there because like we do have we do control Brooklyn’s draft for the next few years so our um ability to deal with them you know those those

Draft picks are worth more to the Brookland than they are to anybody else be just because of their their own picks um them getting their picks back give the opportunity to like if they want to tank they can actually tank right now they can’t really blow their team up

Because we we own their draft so um I think that there is uh there’s probably been some talks but I would not trade Jaylen and uh two three four whatever they’re asking for it seems like the the asking price for Mel Bridges is just at a ridiculous Point uh jayen is still 21

Years old like you said he’s still under a rookie control uh contract and so it it it would be I’m not going to pretend like getting Mel Bridges and putting him in the lineup and placing Jaylen green does not make the Rockets better because it does however you also have the fact

That um uh just from a from a Future’s perspective is this is this the best uh deal for the rockets look moving forward to the future looking to the Future because like if they’re asking for jayen green and they’re asking for um all of their picks back and all of their pick

Swaps back this is not that’s not a good trade that’s not a good trade now if you’re just talking about maybe um you know matching some salary and then giving them some of their draft Capital back then to me I’m I like that that that is something that you know makes

Sense to me or if you’re talking about Jaylen green and maybe a pick but like at some point uh the you you have to be reasonable and it sounds like they’re not being reasonable so I don’t know if there’s a deal to be made there as far

As what the rockets need to bring in um I’ve been saying that they needed a backup point guard not because I didn’t believe in amen but I didn’t if e yoka believed in him just yet but I think the way that he’s been playing lately um I

Think that that need for the backup point guard is a little bit less but I was off for them trying to like bring in the tias Jones to back back up Fred Van Ved or something like that because Fred Van ved’s minutes were just like out of

Control like I’m I’m like whose knees are gonna turn in pixie Des if they don’t get him off the floor there’s no reason and we talked about this there’s no reason for this 5 10 511 dude to be playing you know 40 something minutes per game lead the NBA and minutes uh

It’s affecting his play his shooting has not been the same his defense has not been the same and so like if I feel like if yoka didn’t trust amond enough to put him in that position to where he could lower for his minutes we need to bring

In somebody who he has some confidence in because if we lose Fred now you’re you know we’ve seen how injuries have hurt this team as far as like with the the on court product and I don’t think you know you can’t you can’t you don’t want to lose shenon obviously because

He’s the best player you don’t want to lose fed Le because he’s kind of the guy that you know you know initiating offense or whatever so uh like you said we need a shooter we need shooting Cam’s come in he’s done an amazing job uh shooting and not passing but he’s

Shooting and he’s filling up the like he’s doing some like I said unprecedented things some historical things as far as scoring at his age and as a rookie um but we definitely need a backup big like I think that is uh that’s right up there with the shooting

Need you need you need to bring somebody in who can actually like give give teams a different look you know Alin you know I would say maybe 90% of the games he’s been great but you cannot expect a 21 year old to to carry a team every single

Night you know he he he doesn’t have the benefit to be able to be like I’m a little off tonight I need to go you know let me go sit down and refocus because we putting in for him there’s nobody that can come pick him up and that’s

What that’s what you have to have on a team and right now we don’t have a guy who can come in and when when alin’s down a little bit and kind of like you know keep the Tina float until Aon can come back in and kind of refocus so like

I’m hoping that they can somehow bring in a a big man who can contribute and give alprin a break and then um like you said the shooter and I I I want them back up point guard a little less now because like I don’t want him taken away

From from I’m and Thompson’s minutes yeah yeah exactly and I mean I think ultimately even with like said with the Adams trade that they’re still looking to bring in a player like a Andre Drummond or Daniel G Gafford out of Washington or even a Nick Richards out

Of uh Charlotte like all some of the names I’ve been hearing floating around as far as trade possibilities um so one thing know they’re gonna make some type of move I don’t think it’s gonna be a big move but they’re gonna make some type of move because trade dayline

Because Rael Stone and M may want to win this season they want to make the playoffs this season so they’re going to make some type of move I just caution everybody that when you do see these reports to keep in mind that a lot of time these reports are misdirections

From front offices so if you hear a lot of talk about a certain player being traded majority of the time they’re not traded nobody heard anything about Stephen Adams coming to Houston I don’t think I saw one report about Stephen Adams coming to Houston usually the

Trades that you don’t hear are the ones that actually happened so just keep that in mind this next you know less than a week now before the trade dayline because every single year here we hear all these crazy reports everybody has a thousand sources that you know they talk

To the water boys sisters cousin Brothers Barber that somehow knew about a trade that nobody else knew about and then the trade never happen so that’s just something to keep in mind one thing trade de line and one thing that I also we still have tar e about to come

Back hopefully next week yeah and so like everybody can’t play so like I’m kind of like um the T is coming back and then you like cam Whitmore is doing some things that like I want to see cam Whitmore play I don’t want them to bring

In some guy who is you know you know gonna like put cam Whitmore on the bench and then he’s not he’s no longer being developed like like I said the things that he’s doing as a 19y old are kind of crazy so like I don’t know man like I I

Hope they um I hope it’s a good fit it’s a it’s something that’s not going to like stunt the young guys development too much like I said I don’t want them to bring in like uh a backup point guard and then all of a sudden we don’t see

Alen Thompson anymore I don’t want them to bring in a shooter and then all of a sudden we don’t see cam Whitmore anymore unless it’s a blowout game at the end of the game so I’m gonna be looking for that too so I’m I’m G have my I’m G have

My eyes like peeled on Thursday you know when the trade deadline approaches because I do think they need to add something but I’m also probably I’m probably gonna be happy and disappointed at the same time because I feel like somebody’s going to lose minutes yeah I mean that’s the thing you

Always got to keep in mind when you’re making these trades is what are you willing to sacrifice I mean at this point right now if you’re looking at the Rockets roster if Tate’s not traded he’s probably the IR man he’s definitely the ey man I don’t see any way that cam is

Not g to get some type of minutes even when tar een gets back um I think he’s in the rotation him and alen are in the rotation going forward so that leaves jante Tate maybe um and something you mentioned I want to talk about real quick before I wrap up the show because

I’m wrap it up here um you mentioned about freya’s and I actually asked coach about it and I wish I would have brought that clip up but I asked him about that do they want to cut down on Fred minutes in the second half of the season and he

Said yeah we want that’s our ultimate goal is to get some of these younger guys longer stretches during the game and I’m assuming that I mean that means I’m in playing more instead of uh Fred playing 35 40 minutes a game because they definitely want to cut down Fred

Minutes from career high 37 minutes a game probably down to at least 32 33 minutes so I do do think that you’ll start to see even more odman on the court um as the season goes on but yeah definitely J Shante is going to be the

Odd man out one way or another and from there you just it’s going to be a battle it’s going to be a battle to see who gets men because I think Ma’s fine playing different type of lineups even if it’s a small lineup if it’s a lineup

Without a center if it’s am man playing with Fred which he does a lot or if it’s I’m and Fred and Cam and then Dylan at power forward I don’t think he has a problem switching up the lineup so it’s going to be a battle down the stretch

For minutes uh regardless and if they bring in somebody else that’s even more players that’s going to so it’s going to be uh interesting to see how all the rotation and the minutes work out um but that’s going to do it for today’s show uh definitely as usual we appreciate all

Support and of course Vader I appreciate you as usual coming on and co-hosting the show with me hey man I appreciate you uh wellard is one of the hardest working people in the business man getting the the clips up on the YouTube channel uh the highlights and then also

Getting those interviews up so y’all stay tuned more to come absolutely and we will I appreciate that we will definitely be uh we’ll definitely have a show uh hopefully Thursday or Friday um talking about any big trades that come along for the uh Houston Rockets like I

Said as usual we appreciate the support we appreciate the supportive believe Network that we our podcast is now a part of uh we appreciate all subscribers we are now over 1500 subscribers and less than a year which is just amazing we definitely thank everyone that subscribes uh everybody that gives us a

Like everybody that leaves comments I read each and every single comment so we definitely appreciate that and let us know down in the comments do you think the rocket should make a major trade or do you think that the rocket should just possibly bring in somebody some more

Bench support like a backup big or somebody that’s a shooter coming off the bench let us know down in the comments what you think about that and as usual we appreciate all the support each and every week and make sure you check out the next episode of Rocket Fuel Podcast

Lachard Binkley and Vator discuss:
Rockets win over Raptors
Amen and Cam, career night
Alperen Sengun All Star snub
Steven Adams trade
Should the Rockets make a big splash before the NBA trade deadline?

#nba #alperensengun #houstonrockets #amenthompson #camwhitmore #nbatradedeadline
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