The rockets had three straight years of 17-22 wins directly after blowing it up with the Harden trade, which netted them pick 2, 3, and 4 and then 3 (from Brooklyn via Harden trade) in successive drafts along with a bevy of other first round picks. They busted on guys like Garuda, Josh Christopher, Ty Ty Washington. Hell, Jalen Green looked like a bust as recently as last season. Sengun was a spurs fuck up but do they get Wemby if they make that pick instead of Primo? Sliding doors and all.
Regardless, Houston is rightfully ahead of the Spurs schedule. They started their true rebuild two years ahead. Memphis drafted Ja and JJJ in successive drafts, 6 years ago, that is the core of their team. They are vets now. They’ve done a great job finding guys late like Bane and their recent drafts have been great but they are on a different timeline than the Spurs.
This thing is going to take some patience, regardless of how ridiculous Wemby is. He’s still only in year 2. Castle is a rookie and showing more every night. Getting Fox would obviously accelerate the timeline but this team is going to be contending a lot sooner than later. They need more vets and shooters, but they aren’t that far off.