Rookie Pelicans point guard Kira Lewis Jr. has carved out further playing time with New Orleans, per Scott Kushner of the Times-Picayune. “He’s just so young,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said of the 19-year-old rookie, the No. 13 draft pick out of Alabama in 2020. “But he does so many good things. Trying to figure out how we throw him into that rotation is something we are definitely thinking about.”
Van Gundy expounded on his interest in exploring more time on the court for Lewis as the Pelicans’ 2020/21 season progresses: “Does that mean every single night? Does it mean 20 minutes a game? Does it mean 12 minutes a game? I can’t give you a definitive on that yet. But I do think I want him to play.”
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Two-way Mavericks rookies Tyler Bey and Nate Hinton have been sent to the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets to participate in the NBAGL 2021 season in Orlando, per an official team tweet.
- Rockets GM Rafael Stone has exhibited an aptitude for being able to tinker with his roster quickly, Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle writes. Stone’s haul after trading away All-Star James Harden – led by wing Victor Oladipo – has impressed on the court. Houston is currently riding a six-game win streak to climb into the top eight teams within the competitive Western Conference.
- The Grizzlies are sending forward Jontay Porter to the the club’s G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, for the 2021 NBAGL season in Orlando, according to a team press release.
A lot of Rockets fans are acting like they have won a championship while 1) Trade of Harden 2) 6 game winning streak. Let’s tone it down fellow Rockets fans and see where we are at in 2 months. It’s too early to get so excited. Most of the games this team as won against, have the worst records in the league. Only 2 teams have been legit that Rockets have beaten. Let’s see Rockets against GSW, LAL, and quite possibly more of the Clippers. Once this team is proven to run with these 3 teams, then we can feel good about a post season birth. Right now, I am being optimistic about it
For what HOU was up against 4 months ago id say they have came out of 2020/21 free agency, trades, and on court play like gangbusters – The outcome could have been oh so much worse-
Roco trade looking good
Loved the Wood sign
Loved The Westbrook trade
Nuetral on Harden trade But he had to go and they got some value while keeping 21 alive (VO)
They still got some work to do and some tough choices but so far so good on the treacherous quest. Next 16 games probably more important to them than any other team as far as seeking a direction…Stay Hot!
I agree. This isn’t a championship caliber team, but they came out of this mess about as well as they possibly could.
Excited to see what they do with Tucker, Gordon, and Oladipo now.
Excited as well, but the smart money would be to flip these assets and go into a complete rebuild. No chance to come out of the west for another 3-5 years.
Years 7 to 12 doesn’t look good either. Better aim for that sweet 6th year from now! Otherwise, develop a comfort for losing. I mean tanking. I mean a complete rebuild. for whoever, it’s a generic plan.
All these teams have tanked in the past. The Rockets may take it to a different level and end up with a Sampson/Olajuwon 2.0. Although no team win champions with homegrown talent… well, maybe Cleveland once.
Gordon has been great lately, even though most people here like to think his contract is one of the worst in the NBA. He is in fact a strong contender to win his second 6th Man award. As far as Tucker and Oladipo go it will be interesting to see if the team plans on re-signing one or both of them after the season, hopefully they can.
They might actually be a legit playoff team if healthy
But 3 of their 5 starters are Cousins, Wall, and Oladipo
Smart money says those guys miss enough time for Houston to regress to the lottery
Cousins is the backup center behind Wood, he only started a few games when Wood was hurt. They alternate rest days for Wall and Oladipo on back-to-backs. Even though Wall did miss a few games, it was mostly because the team was being super cautious until he was 100%. They have the depth to be careful with all of them.
Cousins is only playing 18 MPG while Wall is averaging just under 30. Oladipo has been playing slightly more than that and has looked fully recovered, although his shooting still needs to get better.
I certainly wouldn’t put Golden State on the same level as the Lakers and Clippers, realistically the Warriors are no better than the Rockets.
Both teams have nearly identical records and with all of the injuries Golden State is dealing with right now they will have a very tough time contending.
I don’t think there are that many Rockets fans who are acting like they have won a championship. Sure the team showed a lot of promise during the 6-game winning streak, but it was snapped by a horrible performance in OKC last night. Like you said it’s too early to get excited, although I too am optimistic. They’ve shown a lot of promise considering the sheer amount of turnover this season and are coming together nicely so far.
SVG dodging questions that might give up Lonzo trade info.
Of course you know the plan for Kira moving forward, you’re the Head Coach!