This offseason, although the Rockets did not get a big-name star through trade, Stone's operation is still commendable, first of all, the Rockets selected Shepard with a scout pick, a guard who shoots accurately, and averaged 52% three-point shooting per game in college, and his arrival can greatly improve the stability of the Rockets' outside firepower. Secondly, the Rockets plan will not give either Jalen Green and Shin Jing a maximum salary contract, and the advantage of this move is that they can retain both at the same time, and there will not be a situation where one person gets the maximum salary contract and the other is dissatisfied. Third, the Rockets used the No. 44 pick to get AJ Griffin from the Hawks some time ago.
This is also a precise shooting forward, Griffin is the 16th pick in 22 rookies, the Hawks were not taken seriously, playing time and shooting not much, but in the rookie season Griffin has twice staged a stunner, showing a big heart attribute, Griffin dares to fight, very suitable for the Rockets. Overall, Shepard and Griffin are both good at shooting, so the focus of the Rockets offseason is to improve their outside firepower. It should be noted that the Rockets' reinforcement moves are not over, and they also signed Janathan Williams and Enfarli Daunt on two-way contracts during this time.
Nfarly Daunt has been signed, Williams is still in the plan, but it is only a matter of time, here we need to focus on Daunt, he is the undrafted this year, the position is center, 2.11 meters tall, 2.29 meters in reach, there are two main reasons why Daunt will not be selected, first of all, he is 23 years old, and he is naturally not valued compared to those young rookies. Secondly, Dante suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his sophomore year, which also made other teams in the league worry about his injury, but from the later senior season, Dante was obviously underrated, statistically, he averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2 steals and 2.1 blocks per game in his senior season.
Such excellent data can be lost, it can only be said that the rest of the league is blind, and the Rockets eventually pick up the leak. When he was in high school, he had a certain reputation in the United States, and after entering college, he showed good strength, his offensive means were not rich, basically relying on eating cakes, or grabbing frontcourt rebounds to launch a secondary attack, but when the special strength is that the efficiency of eating cakes is very high. In addition, Dante's templates are Rodman and Ben Wallace, who are standard rebounding nerds with a keen nose for rebounding, which the draft report believes is a big reason why he can get into the NBA, after all, any team needs a good rebounder.
Shepard is good at shooting, obviously what he lacks the most is a player like Daunt who can grab rebounds, and the effect of the duo will definitely be very good. In addition to defense, Dangt's defense is also quite good, he averaged at least 2.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game for three seasons in college, has strong frame protection ability, can run and jump, and the important thing is that Dangt is physically strong, and at first glance he is a player full of power, which means that Dangt is not afraid of confrontation, to say that his shortcomings may be the lack of more offensive means, but the Rockets are not short of scorers, when Dangte can do a good job of defense and rebounding.
Point guards: VanVleet, Amen, Holiday
Quarterbacks: Jalen Green, Shepard, Janathan Williams (two-way contract)
Nick Front: Dillon, Whitmore, Ethan, Tate, AJ Griffin
Ohmae: Jabari, Jeff Green
Centres: Shin Kyung, Landale, Adams, Nfaridante (two-way contract)
After signing Daunt, the Rockets' lineup has almost been finalized, a total of 4 people are available in the center position, this time the Rockets have really put a lot of effort into the interior, the biggest problem is Shen Jing, because Shen Jing has almost no defense, Landale can be better, Adams's defense is undoubted, Dante also showed strong defensive ability, considering that Shen Jing must start, so what the Rockets have to do is to solve his frame protection problem, if it really doesn't work, Udoka might as well mention Adams to the starter, Shen Jing plays as a substitute, Anyway, there was a conflict between Shen Jing and Jalen Green, and if Shen Jing didn't play the starter, Jalen Green could break out.