I think more importantly, there aren't any FA's worth wasting money on other than Howard and CP3 THIS year, so why blow that on scrubs who don't really make the team any better (in Josh Smith's case he actually makes the team worse)?
Miami is still the championship favorite next season. Maybe in 2014, things will be different, more wide open. I can see the Spurs going downhill.
This year showed that they are mortal though. I could see them failing to get out of the East with Rose likely back and Indiana still being good. That said, of course they'll be the favorites, but let's remember, the Thunder were the favorites last year and see what that got them.
Josh Smith by far wouldn't make our team worse, he would take our team to another level. Right now, we are in the group (level) of Utah, Boston, Alanta, Warriors. Good teams but nun of them have a real chance of going to the finals Would Smith make us championship level? Maybe not, but close...the level right under that. You have teams like Miami, Spurs, Thunder (If healthy) who are the championship level teams. We would be in that second group of the knicks, pacers, nuggets, clippers etc. Idk if we should use our cap money on smith if dwight or paul doesn't sign, but i do know he would make our team much better.
Not against your overall conclusion, but really? The bolded? That is pretty well debunked and imo hurts your arguments when you sensationalize. JSmith fits our team really well. He slides right into our offense for a host of reasons (athletic and GREAT at the fastbreak/running to finish above the rim; very good drive and kick which our system is based on, along w/ the fastbreak points; can pass out of the post); his weaknesses will be cut down a bit purely because the ball will be in his hands less often (he'd be what, 3rd or 4th option on offense?). Regardless, the real boon from Smith is his defense, where he can defend in the post AND on the perimeter. That is something we are sorely lacking. Great defender to put next to someone like Asik as well since Smith is such a good weak side defender. The real problem is...while Smith undoubtedly would make our team better...I don't think he'd make it better ENOUGH. We'd be using all our cap space to secure like a top 3 seed in the west for the next 2-3 yrs, w/ very little chance of getting past the WCF, imo. Not THAT excited about that prospect.
in 2011, the mavericks took em on, skip a year the spurs took them on in 2013, skip a year and the rockets will take them on in 2015. Texas championship run tradition.
Josh Smith is absolutely terrible on offense, sure he's a good defender, but he's so bad offensively that he's a net negative. The only positive of getting Josh Smith would be that we'd never have to wonder who was going to turn the ball over in clutch situations or who was going to constantly jack up bricks and put the team behind. It would ALWAYS be Josh Smith. We might as well keep Thomas Robinson if we can't do better than that. He's basically a young Josh Smith without the bad attitude or bad habits.
I'd say plan B would be to keep roster exactly as is with minor changes, and with just the addition of experience to the younger players that should be a few wins at least. Then look for opportunities in trades, like LMA or K-Love, or anybody that can make Rockets contenders. Basically if we miss out on Dwight or CP3 I believe the Rockets should maintain flexibility rather than go for a quick-fix with a Tyreke Evans or Josh Smith tier player.
I disagree that he'd make the team better. Sure he's a good dunker, but he's a terrible shooter, who loves to jack up shots. You could say that he wouldn't be allowed to do that anymore on the Rockets, but would he stay happy that way? Probably not. You take a headcase prima donna like Josh Smith and don't allow him to jack up shot after shot and he'd quickly become a cancer in the locker room.
Who on that list do we even have a legitimate shot at? That we would even want at that age? It is one of the most accomplished FA classes in recent history, but they're all WELL past their prime (except Bron and Paul George). Kobe at 35-36? Guy has repeatedly said he wants to retire a Laker. Even if we wanted to get him at 35-36 yrs of age, coming off a major injury...you think he'd take any amount from us over say, the MLE from LAL? I think he'd rather retire first (which he has also been contemplating). Dirk? Guy is just as die-hard about Mavs as Kobe is the Lakers. Dirk was a bit disgruntled in the beginning of this past season, but has regained confidence in DAL for whatever reason. Even already said he plans on staying next season and taking a paycut, hoping to attract other star talent to Dallas. He won't come to a rival TX team...and again, do we want to pay the money to get a 35-36 yr old Dirk??? Lebron James is not coming to Houston. That is just not happening. I don't know of a single person who realistically believes or relies on that lol. DWade is an older, more broken down version of what we have with Harden right now. If he would even leave Miami (highly doubtful), I definitely don't want to pay anything above the MLE for him. How would we even put him w/ Harden? Guy's knees are done. He had a few good playoff games, but even those you could tell, he's nearing his limit, or rather, his age is really showing. Another yr from now? We aren't saving max cap space for DWade, even if he'd leave Miami -- trust me. Bosh used to be the person I thought we'd target next summer, but after this pitiful playoff performance...jeez. He'd cost north of $20M, would be on the wrong side of 30...and honestly, seems to be really bad nowadays. Not too excited about saving max cap space just in order to sign 30 yr old Bosh to a $20M+ per yr contract after his present season/playoff series... Paul George is restricted. No way in hell Pacers let him walk. He's their star and their future. Face of their franchise essentially. Pacers letting him go is about as likely as Lebron coming to Houston on his own volition. So as deep as the FA class is, it is old and full of restricteds or the types of players who will NOT leave their current teams in the twilight of their careers to come to us, and even if they somehow miraculously wanted to, I'm not that excited about the prospect of overpaying for their veteran services.
Josh Smith doesn't have a bad attitude and this has been discussed thoroughly here, smith's bad habits wouldn't effect us because he won't be asked to lead us in scoring like he is with the hawks. In those clutch situations where you think he'l jack up a shot or turn the ball over he will be watching harden handling the ball and taking the shot. Might as well say asik is a negative with the way you think " yea sure he can rebound and defend but he can't score so he's a negative, watch in clutch situations he will be turning the ball over and bricking shots.." Asik, much like smith won't have the ball in his and in the moments, or pretty much throughout the whole game. Asik and Smith will get occasional post ups, pick n rolls, put backs, assisted dunks and layups on offense while being completely focused on D and rebounding where they will shine and have there real impacts.
You think Josh Smith would be that disgruntled if he realized he would NOT be the one taking clutch shots in Houston? Come on now, why would he sign here thinking he'd be the clutch shooter. Everyone knows it'd be Harden -- I think he'd be okay with that. Now whether he would be okay w/ fewer touches, I don't know. You don't either. I've read the articles about how he had that one incident w/ ATL this past season, but then I've also read some by his teammates/org. people that say he generally is very good in the locker room. Not that big of a prima donna at all. His bball IQ is questionable, but I don't think we can assume he'll be some locker room cancer like we might w/ Cousins or something. Heck, even Kenyon Martin and JR Smith were fine on NYK this yr! Smith is one of the best finishers at the rim (78%) and shoots 38% from the right wing, behind the 3 pt arc. Even if we can't convince him to stop taking his horrid ill-advised shots, he won't have the ball in his hands often enough. That much should be made clear to him upon his signing, if it isn't obvious enough already. He knows he isn't coming to be #1 on the Houston Rockets. Anyone would realize that. And looking at his RAPM numbers for this yr (up to 3/31) and last yr, you'll see he is NOT negative on offense. His ORating is 0.8, and his DRating is 2.3, giving him a better RAPM than Parsons by far, or Asik, and we certainly forgive Asik's offense (-1.7 ORating) because of his defense (DRating 2.9). Last yr, Smith was SIXTH in the league (behind people like Dwight Howard, Lebron, CP3, etc.) in RAPM, w/ 1.3 ORating and a whopping 4.9 DRating. So not only is his defense great...but his offense is NOT negative.
If he didn't have that $6M guaranteed the following season, I would love to take a run at KG IF our other top options failed. He is old, but still has one good yr left in him I bet. Great defender; VERY skillful player in the post AND can hit the midrange jumper. Intense competitive fire would make him a great veteran for our young players -- esp. w/ the experience and drive he brings. But I doubt he'd waive his no trade clause to come to us, and even if he did, again, $12M next yr I can swallow (if we fail on like Dwight or CP3), but $6M guaranteed even if we waive him in 2014? No thank you...
Asik isn't a volume shooter, Josh Smith is. You can say whatever you want, but in no way do I believe that he'd be happy in a situation where he wasn't able to jack up at least 13 shots per game.
Don't be silly now. There's basically 0% chance of Kobe & Dirk leaving their teams. Bron, Wade, and Bosh have been to the finals 3 straight times, and won 2 back to back championship. Do you HONESTLY believe they'll opt out next year to join the Rockets? Paul George ain't going nowhere. Not when the Pacers are well under the cap, and can match any offer made to him. So my question remains: What free agents are actually available to chase next year? Even without Dwight/CP3, the 2013 class is no worse than the 2014 class. Realistically, the only FA's who will actually hit the market next year will be Luol Deng and Danny Granger. It's sooooo easy for people to say "wait for next year". It bet 99% of people who say that didn't even bother to look at the list of FAs avaiilable in 2014. I did.
