ملك

Basketball Rockets - سلة روكتيس

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Pray for the city of New York.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

@BrickCenter_ The moment the game ended I knew NYC needs Batman to be saved tonight.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

That’s what I call ball knowledge!

https://t.co/6snrU80Pec #NBA #82and0

[ملك @MalekBucket]

I hate to see Spurs fans happy, it makes me upset.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Spurs won, day ruined.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Jordan Clarkson 3 at the end of the 3rd quarter is beautiful.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Knicks are up by 2, The Jokers dreams are coming true.

[BrickCenter @BrickCenter_]

You can hear Knicks fans celebrating in New York all the way from New Jersey 😳

[Legion Hoops @LegionHoops]

NYPD bringing in reinforcements to control the crazy Knicks fans. Oh my

(via _goodlookrell/IG)

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Game 2 was insane!

I’m glad I watched the replay instead of the highlights!

What an end! 🔥

[ملك @MalekBucket]

برونسون وحش حقيقي في الكلتش! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

نسبة التسديد مو مهمة دام انك تجيبها في الوقت المهم.

سامع؟ @KDTrey5

[ᵂᴵᴸᴸ @BiasedHouston]

Efficiency is for losers. Game is about a bucket.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Shaq ≠ Chet

[Polymarket Hoops @PolymarketHoops]

22-year old Tim Duncan’s first playoff run:

- Beat Blazers
- Beat Wolves
- Defeated LA and his rival (Shaq)
- Beat the Knicks in 5 games in the Finals

22-year old Wemby’s first playoff run:

- Beat Blazers
- Beat Wolves
- Defeated OKC and his rival (Chet)
- Facing the Knicks in the Finals

The parallels are INSANE. 🤯

[Mak @mak_aura]

Imagine saying "Kobe" before blowing up the enemy

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Jokic!!!!!!! 😍😍😍

[ملك @MalekBucket]

هل كرة القدم صارت مملة ولا الفرق الي تلعب النهائي مملين، أم مخي صار مغسول من كرة السلة؟

[RedNinetyFour @RedNinetyFour]

Here is a list of all of Rafael Stone's draft picks:

2021 - Jalen Green (2)
2021 - Alperen Sengun (16)
2021 - Usman Garuba (23)
2021 - Josh Christopher (24)
2022 - Jabari Smith Jr. (3)
2022- Tari Eason (17)
2022 - TyTy Washington (29)
2023 - Amen Thompson (4)
2023 - Cam Whitmore (20)
2024 - Reed Sheppard (3)
2024 - Pelle Larsson (44)* [picked by Heat]

1. Taking Jalen Green at #2 was obviously the original sin and biggest misstep of the rebuild.

2. Trading for Alperen Sengun at #16 was probably the best move of the rebuild, which is ironic for reasons I've touched on recently.

3. I personally think that the jury is still out, but I think that 99% of people outside of Houston at this point would say that Reed Sheppard over Castle was a huge mistake.

4. Despite Jabari being incredibly underwhelming for a #3 pick, Amen, Jabari, and Tari were all good picks, but they were all also just a case of taking best player available. You could also probably argue, with the benefit of hindsight, that trading down from #3 might have been better value than taking Jabari outright.

5. Garuba, Christopher, TyTy, and Cam were all complete busts and wasted picks. The 44th pick in 2024 (which became Pelle Larson) was also traded to Miami for A.J. Griffin who subsequently left basketball before ever even suiting up for the Rockets. Another wasted pick.

6. To unload Garuba and TyTy, Stone traded second round picks in 2025 and 2028 to Atlanta to clear cap space for Brook Lopez who ultimately played the Rockets and returned to Milwaukee. Those of us who expressed concern over this train of events at the time were mocked as "asset management Twitter." Meanwhile, guys like Ajay Mitchell and Jaylin Williams are making major contributions on a contender while the Rockets fill their rotation with glorified cheerleaders like Jeff Green and Jae'Sean Tate.

7. Some notables picked after the Rockets' picks:

2021 - Quentin Grimes (25)
2021 - Herb Jones (35)
2021 - Miles McBride (36)
2021 - Ayo Dosunmu (38)
2022 - Andrew Nembhard (31)
2022 - Jaylin Williams (34)
2024 - Jamal Shead (45)

And unless you're a Jae'Sean Tate or Daishen Nix fan, the Rockets also haven't had any notable undrafted free agents. (Yes, the same Daishen Nix that Stone infamously called a "lottery pick talent.")

Once the Rockets' season unraveled, most of the discussion centered around the team's bad luck with respect to landing top tier talent. And it's true - they had historically bad luck missing out on Wemby and Cade. But what has been more concerning to me has been Stone's inability to find talent at the margins - talent evaluation at the cheap end is something an organization can actually control and not subject to lottery luck.

Even if the Rockets are eventually able to land top end talent, either through a panicked trade this offseason (Giannis? Jaylen Brown?) or from lottery luck in 2027, I'm curious how anyone can look at the list above and have any confidence that Stone can build out a roster to compete with the league's elite teams.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Besides game 1 Spurs vs OKC is super boring series… 🥱

Yes, we reached game 7, but all blow outs.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

Wenbanyana is playing volleyball.

[ملك @MalekBucket]

The Knicks run would have been a lot more impressive if the swept the Hawks too, as they should have.

[ᵂᴵᴸᴸ @BiasedHouston]

The Knicks winning The Finals the best outcome for the sport.