re: Houston Stalking Zion?

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And I don’t think Houston actually does want him. Where did this rumor even come from?

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I think it was reported by Sam Amick.

I hope they’re not stupid enough to trade for a guy who has only played in 185 of the 414 games of his NBA career. That’s 44%. In 3 of his 5 NBA seasons he’s played less than 30 games.

One, Zion played 70 games last year, more than Sengun. Two, Zion is an incredibly talented player--more talented than Sengun, but trickier to build around.

Again, The Athletic reported the Rockets were going big game hunting and Zion was on their shortlist.

Now we see Houston declined to offer max extensions to Sengun and Green.

Not exactly a wildfire, but there is a little more smoke on the breeze.

I don't think Griffin would do this from the Pels side, but I confess that a deal based around Sengun could be intriguing if for no other reason than it offers a more conventional path to contention. Zion, on the other hand, offers a real chance at a First Team All-NBA talent in a talent-driven league. Pels would have to give up on that dream.

But a starting line up of Murray/Herb/Trey/BI/Sengun + plus a couple of players for depth (Eason/Thompson) + picks is an interesting squad...

For Zion to be effective you need a mobile 5 that knows when and how to get out of the way AND can shoot from the outside. They also should have good court vision and be able to feed Z when that's the right play. The reality is that there are not many guys out there that can do that. Markannen is one of those guys but there are a few others but they are not available for trade.

Defensively they should be able to rim protect too. Taking into account players that teams that will not get athletics centers go, there are very few ideal guys to put at C with Zion. It's a weird situation to get the exact right guy at the 5 with the Pels. Markannen, J Allen, and Jokic would be ideal (lol on Joker).

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Now we see Houston declined to offer max extensions to Sengun and Green.

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Not extending Green yet is legitimate. He still has to prove he’s worth it.

As for Sengun, the only reason he hasn’t been extended is because if the cap implications. Sengun will get extended next year like the 76ers did with Maxey.

Markennan is not even close to being a 5. I still like Okongwu’s potential to be that rim protecting stretch 5, there’s not many Myles Turners out there. To rim protect and to shoot 3’s is probably the rarest combination of skills in the NBA. Which is why Wemby is already the #1 most valuable asset in the league

Jalen Green and Sengoon for Zion

Or we could've just drafted Sengun like a few of us wanted to do.

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People are going to eviscerate you, but Zion's inability to stay healthy is the biggest problem this team has. You have to build a completely unorthodox roster to maximize him, but that roster just doesn't work when he gets injured.

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I heard that he lost 25 lbs from the start of last season till the end of last season. I firmly believe if he comes in to the season the same weight he finished last year he will cut back on his injuries. I know he still got hurt at the end, but the wear and tear on his body would be significantly reduced. Try carrying a 25 pound weight running around a basketball court.

Why not ?

He’s accomplished so much here to be considered untradeable ?