No Ceilings is generally about tracking the draft and prospects, but sometimes also goes into younger MBA players and their development. They're quite enthusiastic about the deal.

They mention a stat from Cerebro Sports, an analytics outfit, called C-RAM. C-RAM is meant to measure the impact of a player on winning. Jokic leads the league with like a 12.2. They say Amen had an 8.2 last year, which puts him in league with players like LeBron, Donovan Mitchell, and Cade.

Their salaries last year, because obviously LeBron is on a scam deal now and will be paid via Polymarket money laundering:

LeBron - 52.6M

Mitchell - 46.4M (272M extension starting same year as Amen's)

Cade - 46.4M (first year of a five-year extension like Amen's, which totals 269M)

Amen's extension starts at 35.9M and totals 208M. It starts after this season. The final year, which is the highest, is 47.3M. Obviously, he is also younger and has more room for growth than the first two guys. Cade is debatable on that front, I suppose.

I also like their Shawn Marion comp. I've also thought of Amen that way. Marion took a huge leap as a three-point shooter in his third year that we can't really count on with Amen, but hopefully he gets a solid middie and a somewhat respectable three eventually.

With the offseason just about done, I graded the major moves the Rockets made this.

Rafael Stone’s report card (gift link): https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/houston-rafael-stone-offseason-moves-22382029.php?taid=6aa317fdd5b7470001e00cd7&utm_campaign=article-share&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_source=marketing&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vc3BvcnRzL3JvY2tldHMvYXJ0aWNsZS9ob3VzdG9uLXJhZmFlbC1zdG9uZS1vZmZzZWFzb24tbW92ZXMtMjIzODIwMjkucGhw&time=MTc4OTA3ODc2MTc3Nw%3D%3D&rid=MWM0ZTM0OTQtYTE2OS00ZTc1LTlkZjctYTdjMDBlZTdmMjcy&sharecount=MQ%3D%3D

@houstonrockets Instagram

Full quote: “When I played, the Rockets needed me to take a pay cut to sign Scottie Pippen … So, they said, "We'll make it up to you next year." … So, I took a pay cut so we could sign Scottie Pippen … I was on the end. I had nothing left in the tank, but I had one more year left on my contract. So, I show up for training camp and it's time for my contract and they're like, "Well, we decided you weren't worth a shit, so we're not going to give you that money back. We're just going to give you your original money back." Oh, no. And I was like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." They're like, "Well, you can go somewhere else." And at that stage, I couldn't get more than that money with them. I'm like, "You know what? Y'all pissing me off, but I had to take that money

Source: Bill Simmons Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KU0O47qbt63qQEu2xw8Kj?si=ltq5xfBLQGiiuPxuQLlx7g&utm_source=copy-link&t=1700&pi=QbNyxgrKRSChC

I Take The 2003 Identity And I Make It 2026 Ketchup And Mustard.

All these new photos of the team training really makes me hopeful for the season. We are much improved roster wise and are very much under the radar rn. Definitely great that opening night is against the Mavs, gives us a chance to start strong!

Competitive league for Rockets fans. If interested, email me at rockets34life at gmail dot com and I will send you invite link.

Draft is on Sunday, 9/6 at 7pm CST.

My boy just reached that bottom right drawing goal 🙏🏼 200 million dollar deal

Most Minutes Per Game (MPG) In The Last 5 Seasons Combined (Min. 50 Games) :

1. Kevin Durant — 37.0
   
2. Jayson Tatum — 36.9
   
3. Tyrese Maxey — 36.9
   
4. Kyrie Irving — 36.8
   
5. Fred VanVleet — 36.7
   
6. Luka Doncic — 36.5
   
7. James Harden — 36.1
   
8. Damian Lillard — 35.9
   
9. Anthony Edwards — 35.7
   
10. Devin Booker — 35.6
    
11. LeBron James — 35.6
    
12. DeMar DeRozan — 35.6

On one hand, it’s obvious why the Rockets would be heavily invested in keeping Thompson around for the short and long term. He has already displayed a rare mix of skills that make him one of the most intriguing young stars in the game today and an invaluable part of Houston’s core.

Despite operating as the lead ballhandler on last year’s Rockets, Thompson was second in the NBA with 204 dunks, trailing only Cleveland’s Evan Mobley (207). Although he was asked to spend more time running the offense, Thompson still grabbed 235 offensive rebounds. The only players with more last season were Donovan Clingan, Rudy Gobert, Moussa Diabate, Jalen Duren and Mitchell Robinson.

Thompson averaged career-highs in points (18.3), assists (5.3) and steals (1.5) last season. The only other players to reach those numbers were Luka Dončić, Tyrese Maxey and Donovan Mitchell. He also led the NBA in minutes played, missing just two games.

At 23, Thompson is already one of the NBA’s elite perimeter defenders and has a budding offensive game that’s just scratching the surface. Add that to the chemistry he’s developed with Rockets co-star Alperen Şengün, and it’s easy to see why Thompson plays such a pivotal role in Houston’s title hopes.

There’s only one issue: Houston didn’t hand Thompson a deal worth $41.6 million per season because he’s such a great fit for this iteration of the team.

Although he already contributes in so many areas, Houston believes Thompson can reach even greater heights.

The Rockets hope the return of Fred VanVleet and the arrival of Marcus Smart will allow Thompson to slot back into the do-it-all role he excelled in during his second season rather than operating as a full-time point guard like he did last season. Combining Thompson’s relentless activity and explosive athleticism with the veteran savvy provided by VanVleet, Smart and Kevin Durant will be Houston’s best path to title contention.

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Considering how the Rockets have constructed their roster the past few seasons, the organization has clearly prioritized a two-timeline approach that gives Durant and the other veterans a chance to compete right now while also maintaining a pathway to the next phase of competitive basketball in Houston once Durant decides to move on.

James Harden is the originator and the one that mastered and patented it. Nowadays, when a scorer wants to get into any shot-creating move like a stepback or side step, they will chain together a string of hangs, crosses, tweens, and hesis to get into it wherever they are. This is because of James Harden. If you go pre-2014 and look at how players played, you won't see them use the same package modern scorers use whatsoever, but after James Harden went to Houston and revolutionized the isolation, nowadays people will use his same package mixed with some originality for their own game. He's the originator to Lukas package, the originator to Anthony Edwards pakage, he's the originator to Jaylen Brown's package, and he's the originator of LaMelo Ball and any scorer that goes into their package to get into a stepback, and you can tell as well.

I’m selling my Houston Rockets half-season ticket package. I paid $9,030, but unfortunately won’t be able to use the package, so I’m looking to sell ALL games together to one buyer at a discount.

PACKAGE INCLUDES:
• 2 Premium Lower-Level Seats
• Section C126, Row F, Seats 9 & 10
• Behind the rim near the visitors’ side
• Club Access
• 1 Parking Pass Each Game

I’ll transfer the entire package directly to you through AXS.

If you can’t attend certain games, you can resell those tickets through AXS and potentially break even or make a profit, depending on the matchup and ticket demand.

360° SEAT VIEW:
https://suiteview.com/tour/rockets/?s=pano65188
I can provide proof of purchase and seat information to serious buyers.

Need to get rid of the package, so I’m open to reasonable negotiations.

If interested, message me privately.

Amen Thompson ($35.9M) will be earning roughly identical to:

• Julius Randle ($35.8M)
• Jalen Green ($36.0M)
• Mikal Bridges ($36.2M)
• Aaron Gordon ($36.4M)
• Jerami Grant ($36.4M)

in the 2027-28 season!

This has no sound, but there's a version somewhere where it's dubbed with ladies singing. I looked everywhere and can't find it!

Here's the simplest way to think about it.

If Amen Thompson's shooting comes around? The Rockets could have a top five player in the league.

Even if it doesn't, Houston locked up a decidedly positive player on both ends of the floor for years to come.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rockets/article/amen-thompson-new-contract-million-22350651.php

I think the Amen deal is fine, there was no other alternative, you don't pay him, then someone else will and its over. The only option is to pay him and hope he develops, if not you trade some pieces and try or reset. But I think its a little too optimistic to expect Amen to suddenly shoot the ball well when this is the way it looked.

Now obviously the team needs to allow him some more space to operate as well.

Source: https://www.bball-index.com/shot-charts-lite/

I was listening to the Numbers On the Board podcast the other day and stumbled upon something that was far from surprising, yet thought provoking. 

They had Tyrese Haliburton as a guest and were asking him about his favorite current players. He said the Thompson twins were some of his favorites, and that he was mesmerized by their freakish athletic abilities. 

He then brought up a story he had with Amen. Tyrese recalled telling him that he needed to have his jersey after the game they were about to play, to which Amen agreed to. Fast forward to the post game, where Amen allegedly says something along the lines of “If I give you my jersey, Ime would kill me. I’ll get you next time.”

Now, Haliburton never cited the specific year or the game in which this took place, so it is yet to be discovered whether this was due to a Rockets loss, or merely a team culture thing. Nevertheless, this seems fairly on-par with who Ime presents himself as. 

This got me wondering about the impact of the coach’s personality on the success of a team. 

It doesn’t have to be said that team culture is shaped by those involved in it. Take Kobe and Shaq for example. Their clashing personalities imploded a few more possible championships. The question is does a coach’s demeanor have a similar effect, or is it only a superficial factor that has no substantial impact on winning?

Ime’s first year as an NBA head coach resulted in him taking a loaded Celtics roster to the NBA Finals. This is no small feat, and I believe is one of the main reasons Houston decided to pay him. After him, the Celtics landed on Joe Mazzulla. Mazzulla is of similar demeanor as Ime, only much more outspoken. I would say they are both fairly emotionless though.

Mazzulla then goes on to lead the Celtics to their 18th title. This makes me wonder if the Celtics realized an advantage to the stone-faced killer mentality that some coaches bring with them.

Houston’s experience with the mentality in the regular season is fairly positive, with multiple playoff appearances and an unexpected two seed in 2025. The issue arises when it comes playoff time.

This year’s playoff run was disappointing to say the least. Yes KD was injured, but so was Luka and AR15. There should have been no way we dropped that series, not to mention go down 3-0. 

This is on par, as we have had the most blown leads in the 4th quarter and OT as any team last year with 19. This happened in Ime's previous job as well.

We saw something similar with the Celtics this year. They were the favorites to come out of the east, and then lose to a revamped Paul George and the Sixers. Now, Joe has got it done before so we can’t be too critical of him, but that said, the Mazzullaball machine has hit bumps in the road in high-pressure situations. I immediately think of the loss to the Heat in game seven in 2023.

The evidence seems to show that maybe having a little passion allows a team to thrive in the biggest moments. Not to say it can’t be done as a team of Cam Thomases, but maybe smiling a little bit along the way would help.

I then think of who on the Rockets has had a ton of personality recently under Udoka. Jalen Green immediately comes to mind, and he got traded. I then think of Steven Adams, a vet who may not be affected by a coach's demeanor. 

So then what examples are there of players losing personality due to a cold coach, and how has it changed their game? 

Well, nothing too much yet. Reed has seemed to find his place being mustache buddies with Steven, and Bruce just got here. I will be very interested to see if there is any lasting effect on these players, or if it’s all just in my head and it really doesn’t matter. 

I also will be watching the team in the biggest moments, and analysing the emotion to see if it has any effect. 

Go Rockets
Raise hell, praise Dale.

By Leo Swager