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The Rockets should trade Jae’Sean Tate

While the 6-foot-4 forward has been solid in Houston, the Rockets must look toward the future

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Jae'Sean Tate Houston Rockets

As we enter another important offseason for the Houston Rockets, most Clutch City fanatics understand that Eric Gordon and Christian Wood will likely need to be traded this summer.

But what about Jae’Sean Tate?

The 6-foot-4 wing/smallball four has been a staple of the post-Harden Rockets, proving to be a solid free agent find for Rockets brass. He’s an active defender and willing to do all the little things teams need.

But as the Rockets look to the future, the truth is — they need to trade Tate. Now.

Tate’s contract is a bargain

While Gordon ($19.5M) and Wood ($14.3M) make eight figures a year, Tate has one year left at under $1.8M. That’s a steal.

That makes him much easier to move and a match for almost any team looking for a solid role player. The certainty of Tate’s defense and team contribution could be more attractive to a win-now team than a first-round pick — lower ceiling but possibly a higher floor.

Could the Knicks (#11 pick), with coach Tom Thibodeau always placing a premium on defense, be interested in Tate in a trade-up? How about teams like Cleveland (#14), Chicago (#18), Minnesota (#19) and Denver (#21)? Or teams with a future pick available?

Putting Tate on the block could open up more avenues for the Rockets on a bigger trade.

Too early to commit to role players

The harsh reality is Jae’Sean is going to want bigger money in 2023. At a minimum, he would be seeking an amount at the full MLE ($8.4M per) but likely will start at an amount higher than that.

I know the Rockets love Jae’Sean — as do the fans — but at this stage of the rebuild, is it really wise to commit cap and playing time to a limited role player?

As former Rockets GM Daryl Morey once famously said, you want to be the team that finds the solid role players, not the ones that pay them the max. Granted, Tate isn’t in the market for the max as Chandler Parsons was, but the point remains that you commit to this type of player after your core is established.

KJ Martin needs to start

KJ Martin has two years remaining on his deal and he showed more progress than Tate did in 2021-2022. Depending on the results of the draft and offseason, KJ needs the starting gig.

Tate is clearly in the way of the that. He didn’t show much, if any, progress in his second year and will be 27 next season. Moving him in a deal opens up the opportunity for KJ, who will enter his third season but is still just 21 years old.

Even if the Rockets come away with a forward like Jabari Smith or Paolo Banchero in this draft, KJ should be getting the backup time over Tate.

Conclusion

Rafael Stone and the Rockets front office have tried to change the (unfair) perception of the organization that the Rockets, under Morey, were about assets over players.

They have gone out of their way to take care of players, trying to cultivate a family atmosphere on the team.

Yet, this is the team with the worst record in the league two years running. That’s preferable of course, but at some point, the Rockets have to make tough decisions and there is no bigger litmus test for Stone than what he does with Tate moving forward. Stone found Tate. He’s his guy.

But if the Rockets want to build a legitimate contender, they have to be opportunistic and aggressive. That spells out the harsh team-building reality that in this business, you sometimes have to focus on assets over family.

Armed with a bizarre fascination for Mario Elie and a deep love of the Houston Rockets, Dave Hardisty started ClutchFans in 1996 under the pen name “Clutch”.

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Houston Rockets Draft Decisions: Who Will Be the #3 Pick?

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Houston Rockets Podcast

It’s officially NBA Draft Week!

The weeks of speculation are coming to an end as we’ve just about arrived at the 2024 NBA Draft. The Rockets hold picks #3 and #44 and could be quite active on the trade market.

Dave Hardisty and David Weiner paired up on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the options before the Houston Rockets as they approach the June 26th NBA Draft. Is it really down to Donovan Clingan and Reed Sheppard as options? The pair also discuss trade-down options and whether Devin Carter could be intriguing to Ime Udoka. And are the Rockets a darkhorse for a Paul George trade?

The podcast premieres at 8:00am CT! Come join us!



CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Podcast: Houston Rockets options with the #3 pick of the 2024 NBA Draft

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Houston Rockets 2024 NBA Draft prospects Zaccharie Risacher Stephon Castle Reed Sheppard Donovan Clingan

The offseason is now underway.

The forecast looks good for the Houston Rockets, but… there’s pressure as well this offseason because there are a handful of other West teams that might have rosier futures. Ime Udoka wants to win and win big. As we are about five weeks away from the NBA Draft, what are the Rockets looking to do this summer?

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Rockets shockingly landing the #3 pick and their options in this draft, including Reed Sheppard, Donovan Clingan, Zaccharie Risacher, Stephon Castle, Matas Buzelis and others. They also discuss the possibility of some big game hunting in Houston.


CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Podcast: Steven Adams, Mikal Bridges and Trade Possibilities for the Rockets

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Houston Rockets Trade Deadline 2024

The Houston Rockets already made one deal, acquiring center Steven Adams from Memphis for a handful of second-round picks, but we still have several days left before this Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline.

Are more deals on the way?

Rumors of interest in Mikal Bridges have swirled, with the Rockets holding precious (and unprotected) first-round picks from Brooklyn. They also could use some help inside this season, which Adams can not provide. Shooting is always in demand.

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Adams trade, its impact on the Rockets in 2024-25 and beyond, the Mikal Bridges rumors, the Brooklyn picks, other trade possibilities and options for Rafael Stone moving forward. Also discussed is the play of Houston’s core 6 prospects: Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and Jalen Green.


CLUTCHFANS PODCAST: SPOTIFY | APPLE

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Rockets trade for center Steven Adams

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Steven Adams Houston Rockets

The Rockets made a surprise trade on Thursday, sending the contract of Victor Oladipo and three second-round picks to Memphis for center Steven Adams.

The deal came together quickly and the Rockets had a small window to get it done, hence why this trade was made with a week to go until the trade deadline.

The Price

When you consider that Memphis did this for cost savings primarily and that Adams would not play for any team in the league this season, the price seemed a little high to me. The Rockets gave up the OKC second-round pick this year, which is no big loss, but they also give up the better of Brooklyn’s or Golden State’s second-round pick this season. That’s a pretty good pick (likely in the late 30’s). They also give up the better of Houston’s or OKC’s second-round pick in 2025. If things go as planned for the Rockets, that pick should be in the 45-55 range.

But they didn’t sacrifice a first-round pick, which would have been brutal, and they were not going to use all those seconds this season. So it’s just a matter of opportunity cost — who else could they have gotten for this package?

My understanding is they (particularly Ime Udoka) are very high on Adams.

The Rockets also did this move for cap purposes as well. By moving out the Oladipo contract, which was expiring, and bringing in Adams’ deal, which is signed for $12.4M next season, the window for the Rockets to put together a trade package for a star player is extended out until the 2025 trade deadline. They continue to wait to see which players, if any, shake loose here and become available. They want flexible (see: expiring) contracts that they can combine with assets and this gives them another year to be in that position.

The Trade

It’s not often that the Rockets acquire a player I had not considered beforehand but that’s the case with Steven Adams. The Rockets sorely need a big with size that provides more traditional center strengths, making Clint Capela, Robert Williams, Nick Richards or Daniel Gafford potential candidates, but Adams was overlooked for a few reasons.

First, the 30-year old big man is out for the season after knee surgery cost him the entire 2023-24 campaign, so the Rockets won’t get any benefit from this trade this season. Secondly, Adams is not your traditional center either when it comes to rim protection.

But what Adams does do, he’s really good at and he has some of the same strengths of Brook Lopez, who the Rockets tried to sign in the offseason. Adams is quite possibly the strongest guy in the league and a legitimate 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan. He’s an outstanding screen-setter, something that could really benefit the likes of Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson and Jalen Green. He was also an elite rebounder last season, finishing 6th in the league in caroms at 11.5 a game despite playing just 27.0 minutes a contest.

After watching Jonas Valanciunas absolutely bully the Rockets inside on Wednesday, it should be apparent by now to everyone that this was a pretty big need.

In 2021-22, the Memphis Grizzlies finished #2 in the West at 56-26. Their top two players in Net Rating that season were Dillon Brooks (+11.0) and Adams (+8.3), key cogs in a defense that held opponents to 108.6 points per 100 possessions. They’re both now Houston Rockets.

So this adds another trusted vet to Ime Udoka’s rotation.

The question is will the 30-year old Adams return to form after the knee injury? Adams sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee a year ago, which cost him the end of that season and the playoffs. He tried rehabbing it and it never got better, so surgery became the option just as this season was kicking off.

I like to think the Rockets did their due diligence on that, despite the short time it took for this deal to come together, but that’s unclear.

If he does bounce back, then Udoka has a big man he can turn to reliably in situational matchups or on nights when the younger bigs struggle. He wouldn’t be Boban or even Jock Landale in that scenario — he’s going to play, so the frontcourt depth in 2024-25 should be better. In the end, they got a starting-caliber center who will have no problems coming off the bench, and that’s what they were looking for.

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On the KPJ trade and future of the Rockets

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The Houston Rockets are back to being a professional NBA team once again.

The Rockets finally ended the Kevin Porter Jr. era on Tuesday, coughing up two second-round picks in order to unload his contract to the Oklahoma City Thunder, getting back the contract of Victor Oladipo and third-year forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The move puts an end to a long investment and very rocky tenure with KPJ.

David Weiner joined Dave Hardisty on the ClutchFans podcast to discuss the Porter Jr. Experiment, the price paid to move him, Houston’s potential trade options moving forward, the new culture and the current state of the Rockets young core.

ClutchFans Podcast: On Apple | Spotify

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