Day 1 of elimination! Rockets reinforcement direction is clear, re-examine potential stocks, and 2 superstars become targets

A 103-89 victory, the Rockets, the second-place in the West, fell down in G7, and the 1-3 behind PUBG was shattered. Looking back on this game, Hilde, who had 33 points, unexpectedly caught the Rockets by Curry's strong return in the second half, but the real reason for the Rockets' loss was still due to the poor offense. In the four games lost in the series, the Rockets only scored 85 points, 93 points and 106 points respectively. If Van Jordan from G5 and G6 had not been restored and turned into a weapon for the Rockets' positional battle, the series would have ended long ago. In G7, the Warriors used their excellent rotation to limit Van Jordan's shots, so Shen Jing made consecutive misses in the interior, making only 9 of 23 shots in the game, Jaylen Green was hesitant on the offensive end, and only 8 shots in the game... It can be seen from the comparison of key data that the three-pointer was the winner of the G7 game. The Rockets made 6 of 18 shots and the Warriors made 18 of 43 shots. The Rockets lost 36 points in this item alone. Facing old guns like Curry, Butler, and Zhu Meng, they were born for the big scene, but the Rockets did not have such a person. After the game, as two Rockets' offensive tridents, Shin Kyung and Jaylen Green became the subjects of the loss. Shin Kyung said, "Through this season, I learned real basketball. Although we are very frustrated now, these experiences are our most precious wealth. We will definitely get better next season." In the life-and-death battle, Shin Kyung made 9 of 23 shots, and there were also key misses in 21 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. His performance seemed comprehensive, but his 3 turnovers and 5 fouls were very eye-catching. After the series, facing the Warriors' best defensive player, he could only summarize Shin Kyung's performance by using his weak style and his lack of smart play.

Another Jaylen Green, except for G2's 38 points, averaged only 9.2 points per game in the rest of the series. The Rockets lost all the games with only 10 points in four games. As the team's star, his performance was so disappointing. Although everyone comforted him after the game, Zhu Meng said, "We know Jaylen Green's scoring ability, so we try our best to limit him. This is something he hasn't experienced before. He is very good and he will learn from it in the future." Head coach Uduka explained, "Jaylen Green doesn't get much mobile phones, he doesn't show the best performance, which will make him feel painful. ”

But in general, the Rockets have been successful this year, ranking second in the Western Conference in the regular season has exceeded expectations, and the progress of young players is obvious to all. However, when the players' quality is tested in the playoffs, Jaylen Green, Shin Kyung and Ethan have not played at the regular season level, especially the key ball. Therefore, for the future development of the team, it is time for the Rockets management to re-evaluate these young players in the team.

To put it nicely, it is potential stocks, and to be ugly, it is scraps. The playoffs are a stage for the strong, and young people like the Rockets must pay tuition. O'Neal commented on Jaylen Green, "Jellen Green, I like this player very much, but he needs to learn how to play at critical moments. If you want to be touted as a superstar, you have to show the level of a superstar." A very pertinent evaluation, Jaylen Green, as the No. 2 pick in 2021, has played well so far. Looking at the performance of the No. 2 pick Cunningham in the playoffs, you can see that Jaylen Green has fallen behind.

Seven Rockets - Ethan was 23 years old, Shin Kyung was 22 years old, Amen Thompson was 22 years old, Jay Green was 22 years old, Xiao Jia was 21 years old, White Devil was 20 years old, and Shepard was 20 years old, what a good age, except for not playing Shepard and White Devils in the playoffs, Ethan's defense was greater than the offense, Shin Kyung's offense was unstable, Jay Green was directly lost, Xiao Jia was considered a relatively stable one, but there were not many opportunities to perform. As the first person in the team's defense against Curry, Amen performed better on both sides of the offense and defense than the other six sons, and was worthy of being a non-sale product of the Rockets.

Combining the performance of young people and the problems exposed in the playoffs, the following offseason will be the real stage for the Rockets to show their strengths. If super giants can be introduced to solve the problem of positional warfare, the next 2-3 years will still be the Rockets' championship window period.

From the perspective of tradable assets, given the team's development needs, if you want to exchange for superstars, except Amen, the rest of the Rockets' Seventh Sons are all objects that can be traded. In terms of draft picks, the Rockets have the No. 9 draw in the first round of 2025 (the specific details depend on the draw) and the No. 59 draw in the second round. In the next seven years, the Rockets have 5 first round picks to trade, namely the first round of 2027, the Nets' first round swap and the Suns' unprotected first round. In the first round of 2029, there are the first round of Suns and Mavericks, and in addition, the Rockets have 7 second rounds to trade. The source of the news is as follows:

From the perspective of salary, Jaylen Green and Shen Jing's new contract of 33 million per capita will take effect next season, Van Jordan's contract of 44.89 million is the team option, and Dillon's contract also has 22.1 million. According to US media reports, Antetokounmpo of the Bucks and Durant of the Suns will be the potential targets of the Rockets for two reasons:

First, the Bucks were eliminated in the first round for two consecutive years, Lillard was reimbursed again in the season, and the Bucks' salary has been locked down. Facing the many powerful Eastern Conference, only trade reconstruction can break the deadlock. Antetokounmpo, who is determined to win the second championship, is 30 years old, and it is also very suitable for the Rockets' style of playing. It may be one of the Rockets' pursuit goals.

Second, it has been more than a day or two since the Suns officially missed the playoffs, Durant was destined to leave the Suns. Adu, 36, has a contract for the remaining last year of the contract, with an amount of 54.71 million, and will become a free agent in the 2026-27 season, which means that if the Rockets get him, they will face the risk of a one-year use period. But in order to win the championship, the Rockets still have salary space now, which is worth a try.