Ben DuBose

Like you add Fred, Steven, and a 30 minutes per game version of Dory and Finney Smith to what you have now, you already have a full rotation.

So any upgrade you make would just be about this season.

And so for it to be worthwhile to use one of those pieces as matching salary, it needs to really move the needle.

I just don't think Kobe White does.

He's a nice player, but, you know, it wasn't even sure before.

Let's go back to September 15th.

Even before Fred Benfleet tears his ACL, I don't think it was a given that the Rockets were at the tier of Oklahoma City.

We were hopeful if they could give it, you know, a nice run and the Rockets would be, you know, in the ballgame, so to speak.

But even when they were believed to be at full health, and we didn't know about the Dorian Finney-Smith injury at that point either, it was still a little bit of a heavy lift.

Now you take out not only Fred, but also Steven.

Are you really convinced, Dave, that you add Kobe White and this is a team that can beat Oklahoma City four times out of seven?

I'm not.

Like, I don't mean that to be pessimistic.

I just think that's reality.

Now, you know, maybe you get lucky and KD has like a historic run or maybe the Thunder or whoever you play has, you know, some ill-timed injuries that help you out.

I mean...

Yeah, it's possible.

Like, I'm not saying the Rockets can't win a title.

But what I'm saying is that you don't acquire a Kobe White and then say, this is a championship-level team.

It would make you better, but I still think there would be some clear deficiencies.