Houston Rockets Presser

[78#]

Hello everyone. Today marks a new chapter in our organization after the trying times of the past season. It started last offseason during the beginning of free agency when Hurricane Laura came and really turned things upside down. Instead of offering overpriced contracts, we were in the midst of an evacuation while expecting a powerful hurricane to strike our hometown. As expected, our roster was left barren while recovering from the aftermath. Though we loaded up the roster on minimum contracts, we could not field a competitive team leading to the worst season in our franchise's history. Through the recovery period, we still attempted to compete on the court as well as preparing for the future. This offseason was eventful as well as a second hurricane made it's way through. Though not as powerful as the previous hurricane, it forced another evacuation while bringing tremendous amounts of rain and water to our city. However, during this path to recovery, we were able to execute our offseason without interruption allowing us to start the rebuild of our franchise.

This offseason started with the draft as we traded down and drafted Precious Achiuwa with the 7th pick as well as acquiring John Rubio in the trade.

In RFA, we offered several bids and landed 4 players. Two of those players were able to be kept in sign and trades. Tasmin Mitchell came from the Bulls as we sent out first round pick Achiuwa along with points. We also acquired Zylan Cheatham in a sign and trade with the Thunder sending disgruntled wing Armando Gilkey and acquiring future hall of famer Boban Marinovich.

In UFA we signed Carlton Gamble and Cam Reddish to one year deals to help secure our starting lineup along with Nicholas Hornsby as the starting point.

Training camp was mixed. Though Devi Avdija and Tas Mitchell had great camps, Carlton Gamble did not and instead will not be a part of the rotation despite his somewhat expensive one year deal. Same with John Rubio who's option we declined. He sucks at this point.

Our depth chart has been set:

Center - Kevin Stephan will get the nod. He's a solid veteran who will bring some scoring and rebounding. He will be backed up by Tas Mitchell while youngsters Fred Chatham and Eloy Tilton will provide depth.

Power forward - Boban will get the nod and we expect him to bring alot of offense despite his dropoff in TC. Again, Tas Mitchell will get the nod as the backup while Jeff Woosley and Devi Avdija will fill in as needed.

Small forward - Zylan Cheatham is ready to start to provide some inside scoring and athleticism. Youngster Devi Avdija will be the backup as he finally cracks the two-deep depth chart since being drafted.

Shooting guard - Cam Reddish will be starting to help with scoring and defense. He's expected to be the 2nd most valuable player after Boban. Devi Avdija again will be the backup.

PG- We have Nick Horsley who's athletic, can score decently, and a real pick-pocket in the backcourt. Again, Devi Avdija will be the backup.

C - Stephan/Mitchell/Chatham/Tilton
PF - Boban/Mitchell/Avdija/Woosley
SF - Cheatham/Avdija/Ketchum/Clemente
SG - Reddish/Avdija/Ketchum/Clemente
PG - Horsley/Avdija/Ketchum/Clemente

And that's pretty much it. Now we're taking questions.

[MexicanMamba]

It seems that you are going to lean heavily on your more veteran players to carry the load this season, though I'm curious if the older gentlemen won't have a shorter leash if wins are not coming early so that you can continue to let your youngsters grow and get much needed playing time?

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[78#]

It seems that you are going to lean heavily on your more veteran players to carry the load this season, though I'm curious if the older gentlemen won't have a shorter leash if wins are not coming early so that you can continue to let your youngsters grow and get much needed playing time?

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It's a good question. We definitely want to give our team the best chance to win to start the season so we're going with our best team currently though it means giving our young prospects plenty of minutes as well, and our veterans are mostly on one year deals so if things go south early, we can look to trade them and give guys like Tasmin Mitchell and Deni Avdija starter minutes.

[NOLa.]

You noted you were able to be more hand-on this offseason despite yet another hurricane and you were able to bring in several young good players. Do you feel RFA has helped speed up the rebuild process and has you more optimistic going forward for the Rockets chances to be competitive again?

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: With Deni Avdija expected to play a prominent, multi-positional role off the bench this season, what are your expectations from him in terms of production? On the opposite side of his career, what production do you expect out of Boban as he ages out of dominance?

[78#]

You noted you were able to be more hand-on this offseason despite yet another hurricane and you were able to bring in several young good players. Do you feel RFA has helped speed up the rebuild process and has you more optimistic going forward for the Rockets chances to be competitive again?

I think RFA has helped us move in the right direction with getting Tasmin Mitchell who has the potential star as well as Zylan Cheatham who can be an explosive energizing type of complimentary player. I still feel we're at least two seasons away from acquiring the long-term pieces we need to consistently compete.

[78#]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: With Deni Avdija expected to play a prominent, multi-positional role off the bench this season, what are your expectations from him in terms of production? On the opposite side of his career, what production do you expect out of Boban as he ages out of dominance?

Truthfully, I don't know what to expect. He still has ways to go when it comes to his skill level, but he's improved and gotten stronger so athletically we will see alot out there. I'm not expecting a high shooting %, but I'm expecting solid numbers across the board.

As far as Boban, I still feel he has the skills to be a 20+ ppg performer this season and we will need him to be that guy as the season starts. It's unfortunate his camp didn't go as expected, but he's still a very good player in this league.

[Keepit100]

SLOE pundits seem to view Zylan as another Rich Paul-type player. Explosive athlete but seeming to lack any direction in terms of skillset at this point in his career.

Do you agree?

[78#]

SLOE pundits seem to view Zylan as another Rich Paul-type player. Explosive athlete but seeming to lack any direction in terms of skillset at this point in his career.

Do you agree?

Absolutely. I had Rich Paul for several seasons and he was a very important and productive player on many playoff teams and I see Zylan similarly on the court. I’m excited to see what he does in the preseason.


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[greepleairport]

Good to see you back in action after the hurricanes wreaked their havoc!

Coming off your worst season in franchise history, how much higher do you expect to climb this year? How many seasons before you’re back in contention?


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[Darth Vegito]

I leave PBSL and the Rockets are in the gutter...I return YEARS later and Rockets..still in that gutter. I hear excuses of natural disasters and whatnot...but I see no change. One year it's a rough TC, the next it's a hurricane...tomato, tomato. Do you think it's time for a FO change in Houston?

[AngryBanana]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: Being the closest thing to the opposite of TC Sim Reaper with your success of having Al Horford staying Blue until death, I am sure you planned on attempting to do the same with Boban. Post TC, would you change anything about your plans for him going in that would have kept him B/B?

[78#]

Good to see you back in action after the hurricanes wreaked their havoc!

Coming off your worst season in franchise history, how much higher do you expect to climb this year? How many seasons before you’re back in contention?


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I'm hoping to double my win total at least this season, but I'm still at least two seasons away from building the roster to compete.

[78#]

I leave PBSL and the Rockets are in the gutter...I return YEARS later and Rockets..still in that gutter. I hear excuses of natural disasters and whatnot...but I see no change. One year it's a rough TC, the next it's a hurricane...tomato, tomato. Do you think it's time for a FO change in Houston?

Yes, probably so. I hate you

[Darth Vegito]

I leave PBSL and the Rockets are in the gutter...I return YEARS later and Rockets..still in that gutter. I hear excuses of natural disasters and whatnot...but I see no change. One year it's a rough TC, the next it's a hurricane...tomato, tomato. Do you think it's time for a FO change in Houston?

Yes, probably so. I hate you

Omg... best response yet
Miss ya bro!!

[78#]

Chet Youbetcha, Dimmadome News: Being the closest thing to the opposite of TC Sim Reaper with your success of having Al Horford staying Blue until death, I am sure you planned on attempting to do the same with Boban. Post TC, would you change anything about your plans for him going in that would have kept him B/B?

Unfortunately, there wasn't much more I could do with Boban. He was artificially created and not naturally conditioned like Horford. He's just regressing back to his original mean.

[78#]

I leave PBSL and the Rockets are in the gutter...I return YEARS later and Rockets..still in that gutter. I hear excuses of natural disasters and whatnot...but I see no change. One year it's a rough TC, the next it's a hurricane...tomato, tomato. Do you think it's time for a FO change in Houston?

Yes, probably so. I hate you

Omg... best response yet
Miss ya bro!!

You know you love me. I miss the old Rockets/Mavs rivalry.

[Darth Vegito]

Yes, probably so. I hate you

Omg... best response yet
Miss ya bro!!

You know you love me. I miss the old Rockets/Mavs rivalry.

Goodness were so old reminiscing about the "good old" days...