The Rockets were facing competition for Dillon Brooks on the free agent market, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes in a mailbag column. Houston raised its offer beyond what was originally projected, eventually signing the defensive-minded swingman to a four-year contract that could pay him up to $90MM if he meets incentives.
The Mavericks were “seriously in the mix” for Brooks, sources tell Iko, and the Bucks were watching him closely in case they weren’t able to re-sign Khris Middleton. Brooks had a meeting with the Lakers, Iko adds, but L.A. didn’t have enough cap space to give him the kind of offer he wanted and wasn’t willing to arrange a complex sign-and-trade like Houston did.
Iko understands that many Rockets fans are surprised by the money they gave to Brooks, who landed a yearly salary close to what Bruce Brown did in free agency and now has a contract similar to Jordan Clarkson, Terry Rozier and Malcolm Brogdon. However, Iko points out that Houston had to overpay to get any significant free agent considering its dismal record over the past three years, and there’s hope that Brooks can transform his approach, especially on offense, while playing for a demanding coach like Ime Udoka.
There’s more from Houston:
- Summer League MVP Cam Whitmore played mostly at small forward, which Iko expects to be his primary position during the upcoming season. Iko has the 20th overall pick listed behind Tari Eason as the backup small forward on his projected depth chart and says it’s hard to predict how much he’ll play as a rookie. Iko states that Whitmore has the talent to create a steady role for himself right away, but the Rockets don’t have to rush him with their revamped roster so he may be sent to the G League to get consistent minutes.
- In a separate story, Iko talked to some of the league’s best defenders throughout the season about what Jabari Smith has to do to become elite in that area of the game. The Rockets were happy to land Smith with the third pick in the 2022 draft because of his defensive potential, combining the size of a center with the quickness to stay in front of smaller players. “Watch a lot of film,” advised Nets forward Royce O’Neale. “Try to study guys as much as you can. This league has a lot of great scorers and different guys like doing different things. Learn and watch other guys. Don’t be afraid to ask guys who are defenders how they guard certain people and little tips like that.”
- Jermaine Samuels appears to be the most likely unsigned member of the Rockets’ Summer League team to get a training camp invitation, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston has two roster slots and a two-way spot open, and Feigen lists Nate Hinton, Matthew Mayer and current two-way player Trevor Hudgins as others who helped themselves in Las Vegas.
It’s more likely Tari plays back up 4 and Cam being the main back up at SF.
I like the way they spent the cap, even if they were massive over pays(no choice). They’re a deep team now, with a lot of young talent.
PG- FVV, Amen, Holiday
SG- Green, KPJ, Hudgens
SF- Brooks, Cam, Days
PF- Jabari, Tari, Green
C- Sengun, Lansdale
Tate will likely be coverage for all positions, if not traded.
I’m torn on the Rockets off season.
I know they had to spend the money but by spending it on VanVleet they’re forced into playing a rookie talent like Thompson off the bench. He needs playing time and he needs the ball in his hand as he has the most upside of anyone on the roster and will work best as a playmaker. It may work out though as Thompson while he doesn’t have much of a jump shot he is versatile.
On the other hand it may have been a good move to sign VanVleet as he’s a better floor general than Porter. Perhaps with him being the main ball handler instead of Porter and Green splitting the role Green can play more off ball and act as of a finisher.
I agree, the FVV is an awkward one. But I can see why they did it and like the call. They were desperate for a true PG and as good as Amen looks, the general consensus was he and Ausar would take a lot longer to adjust to NBA coming out of Overtime. And FVV is an AS PG who could lead a team now.
It’s a hedge bets move really, they had to fill cap and if Thompson is going to take more than a season to become a starting level player it’s a good move for an instant improvement which they clearly want. But if Amen goes the way I expect it’ll be like Sengun first year, off bench behind Wood but obviously too good for bench.
He’ll still get strong mins off bench along with Cam, Tari and KPJ as very good bench unit. And they may even go star chasing in Jan if it doesn’t pan out. They have more assets than most.
I think FVV made a lot of sense. Rockets know the path to them eventually being a championship contender is by their young guys developing into a group good enough to get them there. So you bring in FVV, who by all accounts, plays the game the right way and is really good at running the PG position, and Brooks, who is an all NBA defender to help set the tone and teach the young guys. FVV is only on the books for 2 years, team option for a third if he’s still playing really well, and that gives young guys like Amen, KPJ, and all our young wings time to learn from them. Brooks will probably be a starter initially, but I think he eventually gets passed up by Tari or Cam and then slides to a bench role. In years 3 and 4 of his deal, that $20mil will look like a bargain compared to what other guys are getting paid in that same type of role.
Lol @ these people who are so salty that Dillon got so much $. I guess y’all gotta make excuses as to why he got that bag to make yourselves feel better
Nah it’s more of a problem that these distractions get paid so much when that money could easily be used to fix some of the many problems in a capitalist society…
But it’s better to be distracted by shiny things than to help people in a capitalist society…
I thought Brooks to Dallas or Portland was the move
We all know Mark from Cuba is dumb enough for that… So it’s entirely possible that this isn’t just an agent trying to change a narrative on their player…
Rockets overpaid for a scrub… An over rated defender who thinks they are Kobe on the other end… Who is also a culture problem…
I guess Ime deserves it…