Kelly Iko

Like Fred, you know, he has these personal benchmarks that you have to clear.

I know you're seeing a kind of similar thing with Jason Tatum in terms of you want to see how your body feels.

Obviously, your brain is telling you one thing, but physically, you might be somewhere else.

Yeah.

getting to those benchmarks will give you a better sign of where you're feeling in March, April, you know, like that if you're trying to come back because he's a competitor.

Fred is tough as nails, and he understands that this team needs him.

I know you heard Alpern talk about the difference between

last year and this year was, was Fred and, and he's the organizer, late games.

He can get guys in those shots.

I know he was, it's killing him to not be out there, being able to play with Kevin because of all the things that they discussed in terms of schematics and get guys open and then inverted pick and roll with him as a screener.

And, and just being, being a veteran presence on the floor.

So is there a chance?

I,

I guess like if you want to put it on a number, maybe like a 5% chance.

But as long as it's not zero, I think they'll always operate with that in their back pocket that, hey, we might get Fred back for a second.

You know, if we make it past the first round, we come back in May or late April and give us the boost that we need.

So that's kind of how they're moving with things right now.

Yeah, yeah, 100%.

Because if you think about it, bringing in a guard is like a shiny new toy, and that would have helped things a lot.

But if you're where the Rockets are, you have to find the balance of bringing in someone that's not going to hurt the development of Reed and the men, while also understanding that once Fred comes back,