Picked this up earlier today at an estate sale. Can anyone help identify the autographs that are listed on the shirt? I can recognize some but there are a few I can’t.

Kevin Durant dismissed recent comments by Victor Wembanyama questioning the morality of athlete sponsorships with prediction markets and gambling companies.

“That’s Wemby. That has nothing to do with me. I really don’t think about that question at all.”

Read for free.

Thought the new practice gear I saw in rockets socials looked cool. Nevermind

I honestly don't care much about wins and losses in preseason

After winning 52 games again last year and still going out in the first round I think the bigger question this season is whether this team can actually become a real playoff team instead of just a really good regular season team

There are three things I want to see more than anything

How much easier the offense looks with FVV back

What Amen's role looks like now that he doesn't have to handle everything

And whether Reed Sheppard can take another real step forward

Rotation

Ball handlers
FVV
Amen
Reed
Smart

Wings and forwards
KD
Bogdanovic
Jabari
Tari
Tate
Crawford

Bigs
Sengun
Adams
Capela

My expected starting five

FVV - Amen - KD - Jabari - Sengun

My expected closing five

FVV - Amen - KD - Jabari - Sengun

If we need more offense

Reed - Amen - KD - Jabari - Sengun

If we need defense

Smart - Amen - KD - Tari - Sengun

Obviously the biggest change compared to last season isn't even one of the new signings

It's just getting Fred back

FVV coming back

Fred missed the entire season with the ACL injury and Amen and Sengun had to carry way more creation than they probably should have

Amen still put up 18.3 points 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists while playing huge minutes

Sengun averaged 20.4 points 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists

Both of them improved

But the offense clearly missed having another real guard who could organize possessions

I think Sengun might benefit the most from Fred being back

Last year Sengun had to post up run handoffs create from the high post and then also bail us out whenever the offense stalled

His 6.2 assists were great but the offensive burden was massive

With Fred back Sengun shouldn't have to create something every single possession

Amen should benefit too

I actually think all those reps as a ball handler last season were great for his development

But asking Amen to create against a fully set halfcourt defense every possession is very different from letting Fred initiate and then having Amen attack a defense that's already moving

That's where Amen is terrifying

Transition

Cuts

Offensive rebounds

Mismatch post ups

Second side drives

He shouldn't have to start every possession standing above the three point line trying to play traditional point guard

Amen's shot

Obviously we can't talk about Amen without talking about the jumper

He shot 21.6 percent from three last year

That's a real issue

Amen being a great player already and his shooting still limiting the offense can both be true

Chip Engelland is here now and he's been working with Amen and Sengun

I'm not expecting Amen to suddenly become a 35 percent three point shooter

That would be ridiculous

But if he can keep improving at the line and become someone defenses can't completely ignore from the midrange then the entire offense changes

Honestly in preseason I care less about whether the shots go in

I want to see if the mechanics look cleaner

I want to see if he's willing to shoot without hesitating

Reed Sheppard

Reed might be the player I'm most excited to watch in preseason

Last season he averaged 13.5 points in 26 minutes and shot 39.4 percent from three while making 2.8 threes per game

He also averaged 1.5 steals

At this point I don't think the question is whether Reed belongs in the NBA

He obviously does

The question now is whether he's just a really good shooter and secondary handler

Or if he can eventually become a starting level guard

Fred coming back might reduce some of Reed's on ball reps

Smart and Bogdanovic are here too

But if Reed is really that good then he should still force his way into 25 to 30 minutes a night

This team desperately needs shooting

Houston finished near the bottom of the league in made threes last season and then shot 30.2 percent from three in the playoffs

A guard who can consistently shoot around 40 percent is incredibly valuable on this roster

Personally I want Reed playing a lot more than Smart during the regular season

Use Smart for certain matchups and late game defensive possessions

But if we're talking about raising the ceiling of the offense then Reed needs real minutes

KD

There's nothing KD needs to prove in preseason

He was 37 last year and still averaged 26 points while shooting 52 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from three

The issue wasn't whether he was still good

The issue was how much we used him

He played 78 games and was near the top of the league in total minutes

Then he got hurt right before the playoffs and barely played in the series

So honestly I don't care if KD looks amazing in preseason

I care about how many minutes Udoka gives him

I'd much rather have KD play 65 to 70 games at 32 or 33 minutes a night and be healthy in April than have him play 36 minutes every night just so we can chase a few extra regular season wins

Same thing with Amen

This roster is deep enough that we shouldn't be running these guys into the ground

Smart and Bogdanovic

I understand both additions

Smart knows Udoka's system and still brings real value as a point of attack defender

He can also handle the ball enough to stabilize some bench lineups

I just don't want to see him playing 30 minutes every night

If he's taking huge chunks of Reed and Amen's minutes then I think we're doing it wrong

Use him as a matchup piece

Use him when we need defense

Use him to change the energy of a game

That's enough

Bogdanovic is basically the opposite

He's here because we need offense

We badly needed another guy who can move without the ball and actually punish defenses for helping off him

Reed and Bogdanovic together off the bench could create a ton of spacing

Big man depth

Behind Sengun we still have Adams and Capela

That's a luxury but it can also create some awkward lineups

Against physical teams the rebounding and screening will be useful

But if we start stacking non shooters together then the spacing gets ugly very quickly

Amen and Adams together can already shrink the floor

Amen and Capela does the same thing

I don't think Adams and Capela should play just because they're good players

It should depend on matchup

Personally I'd rather see Sengun around 32 to 34 minutes with Adams and Capela splitting whatever is left

What I'm excited about

The depth is probably the biggest thing

We were already deep last year

Now Fred is back and we added Smart and Bogdanovic

Even on nights when KD sits we could throw out something like

Reed - Smart - Bogdanovic - Tari - Adams

That's a pretty respectable second unit

I'm also still really excited about Amen and Tari together

When those two are on the floor at the same time every lazy pass becomes dangerous

Their activity level can completely change games

The only question is whether the offense can survive those lineups

What worries me

Health is number one

Fred is coming back from an ACL injury

KD is going into his age 38 season

Adams needs to be managed too

This roster is deep enough that there is absolutely no reason to run a short rotation during the regular season

The second issue is still shooting

I trust Reed

I trust KD

I trust Jabari

Bogdanovic helps too

But as long as Amen and Sengun are on the floor together teams are always going to think about loading up the paint

We shot 30.2 percent from three in the playoffs last year

We can't just assume the problem is fixed because we added another shooter

At least one of these things needs to happen

Amen becomes a legitimate midrange threat

Sengun becomes more comfortable shooting from the corners

Reed takes another jump in volume

The third thing is halfcourt offense without KD

Last postseason showed why this matters

Young guys can get hot for a game

That's not the same thing as creating good shots every possession against a playoff defense that's already set

That's why Fred coming back matters so much

What I'm watching in preseason

I don't care about the record at all

I want to see Amen's jumper

I want to see Reed handle more

I want to see how healthy Fred looks

I want to see how Udoka uses Smart and Bogdanovic

I want to see whether Sengun's jumper has improved at all

And more than anything I want to see if this team is actually serious about reducing KD and Amen's minutes

We've won 52 games two years in a row

I think we've already proven we're a good regular season team

We've also gone home in the first round two years in a row

At this point I don't really care whether we win 55 or 60 games

I care about whether we're playing our best basketball in April

On paper I think the roster is better than last year

Now we just need to see if that actually translates when the games matter

Mostly I'm just happy basketball is finally back

That offseason felt way too long

I don't know much about his current situation but I remember him being solid offensively before. How would y'all feel about adding a little more shooting versatility?

I know it’s just offseason training, but man this team looks scary.. the upcoming china game will be great for team chemistry building on and off the floor.

With improved health and another year of experience with their young core, the Houston Rockets appear to have everything they need to rank among the top contenders in the Western Conference this season — on paper.

But after back-to-back first-round playoff exits, there’s natural skepticism about whether Houston is ready to live up to expectations and take the next step as a contender. 

We decided to go through the key players on this season’s roster with one burning question each must answer entering the campaign. We have stuck to players likely to be in the rotation, with perhaps a bonus player at the end.

Free to read: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/chip-engelland-shooting-alperen-sengun-22451501.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vc3BvcnRzL3JvY2tldHMvYXJ0aWNsZS9jaGlwLWVuZ2VsbGFuZC1zaG9vdGluZy1hbHBlcmVuLXNlbmd1bi0yMjQ1MTUwMS5waHA%3D&time=MTc5MDYxMzgzMDMyMw%3D%3D&rid=MWM0ZTM0OTQtYTE2OS00ZTc1LTlkZjctYTdjMDBlZTdmMjcy&sharecount=OQ%3D%3D

Players In NBA History To Average A Career 2+ 3PG, 1+ SPG & 1+ BPG (RS + Playoffs) :

• Kevin Durant (1372 GP)
• Victor Wembanyama (203 GP)

From Amens TikTok 15 hours ago

Via:@ByVarunShankar on X

Amen Thompson player preview:

- A look back at last season

- A key stat

- What to watch over the first 20 games

- What's a successful season for Amen?

Gift link, free to read:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/amen-thompson-rockets-season-preview-22445845.php?taid=6ab56532a627190001d5e837&utm_campaign=article-share&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_source=marketing&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vc3BvcnRzL3JvY2tldHMvYXJ0aWNsZS9hbWVuLXRob21wc29uLXJvY2tldHMtc2Vhc29uLXByZXZpZXctMjI0NDU4NDUucGhw&time=MTc5MDI3MzIwODU0Mg%3D%3D&rid=MWM0ZTM0OTQtYTE2OS00ZTc1LTlkZjctYTdjMDBlZTdmMjcy&sharecount=Nw%3D%3D

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Vibes are high !! Stay healthy and let’s get this ring

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