William Hill: The Rockets have no intention of getting Downs, as long as they focus on developing them, they are definitely no worse than Downs.
As we all know, Fertitta, the former owner of the Rockets, said that he would welcome Harden's return with open arms, and even prepared to extend Harden's contract with a maximum salary in advance. Just when everyone thought that Harden's return to the Rockets in the offseason was a foregone conclusion, there was another plot reversal.
According to insiders in the league, Rockets management is only willing to offer Harden a two-year contract extension at most. This means that Harden has little hope of returning to the Rockets in the offseason, and he may be best placed with the 76ers or join the Suns.
Why did the Rockets owner suddenly change his mind and only offer Harden a two-year contract extension with a maximum salary? That is also in the owner's view, Jalen Green and Shin Jing, two young players, will face contract extension problems after two seasons, and Jabari Smith and Tari Eason also need the Rockets to stay in the future.
If Harden's contract is extended at this time, it will not be conducive to the team retaining these highly talented potential stocks in the future. Fertitta has a very long-term vision, he will definitely not focus only on the immediate benefits, he will focus more on the long-term development of the team.
In fact, when it was rumored that Harden was going to return to the Rockets in the new season, many ** suggested that the Rockets management should send some young players to trade Towns from the Timberwolves to assist Harden and lead the team to the championship.
The offer looks good at the moment, but Fertitta and Udoka are clearly not optimistic about the deal, and don't even take it seriously at all. After all, in terms of Udoka's coaching style, he needs tough guy players, not pseudo-stars like Downs.
Although Downs is one of the best interior players in the active league, he has been selected as an All-Star and made the All-Star team in his career. But since Downs has been in the league for so many seasons, his ability to lead the team is unflattering.
Especially when it comes to Downs' performance in this playoff game, he's not even as good as Edwards, the team's super-rookie. As an interior player, he didn't dare to go back to the interior for hand-to-hand combat, but was very obsessed with shooting outside the three-point line, no wonder O'Neal would mock Towns as a soft-egg center.
Judging from Udoka's coaching resume, there will always be tough guys in the squad under his hands. During his time with the Nets, he personally discovered Claxton, a potential center, and during his tenure with the Celtics, he not only cultivated Smart into the best defensive player, especially Norway under the tutelage of Ouduka, but also supported the Celtics inside.
Although Towns has a very good talent, his defensive ability is not flattering, and a big man who can only shoot outside the three-point line will obviously not be favored by Udoka.
Compare the current potential newcomers of the Rockets, Shin Jing and Jabari Smith Jr., although these two young players may not be as experienced as Downs, but these two young players have a much tougher style than Downs. Shin Kyung is not a white player, but he is very unafraid of physical confrontation and is willing to fight opponents on the inside.
In the eyes of many, this is what an interior player should look like, and as long as these two young players can be cultivated, they will definitely not be worse than Downs in the future.