I am sure Clutch has already called Morey: "DO NOT GET LIN, EVER! It would ruin Clutchfans.net." :grin:
That guard combo would be unstoppable penetration and kickouts. You would be seeing OKC's wingman penetration at its peak with the inside presence of Dwight. It NEEDS to happen. Maybe we can start a rumor to get him to leave WASH.
This is pretty much my feeling as well. I am sure the Rocket feel that way too. The fact that McHale, totally unprompted, brought up Sergio Llull in that radio interview is SOOO telling. The Rockets want him, and McHale being public about it clearly is a sign to Llull that, "we want you."
Ford said in his mock draft today that Rubio is on the trading block for the right price. The fit would be bad and the price too high. But thought it was worth a mention.
Can someone give me a break down of sergio Llull, I've heard of him since the Rockets Aquired his draft rights but never really paid much attention. How does he compare to a Ricky Rubio? I'm a litttle suprised people are talking as if he could be our solution to the PG, I would expect there may be a year of adjustment required and that he would struggle quite a bit to adapt in his first year.
He doesn't compare to Rubio at all. Rubio is a pure PG that can't shoot but is a wizard with the ball and makes great passes. Llull is a combo guard that can attack the rim and has improved his 3 point stroke considerably. Athletic for a euro player, he is aggressive on defense has show enough to make you hope he can be at least competent on that end of the floor. High energy player, smart with the ball.
I haven't followed this much. Is Llull really a potential option, or is he just going to continue to chill overseas?
He's really a "potential" option of course. He has a desire to come here, the head coach wants him and the GM lusts after him. Now, whether he WILL come here is a totally different question that we don't have the answer to. Ultimately we may not be able to (or be willing to) offer him enough to lure him away.
Marc Stein described the chances as "pretty good." No one knows what Llull's plans are. McHale mentioned a strong desire to bring him over. Others think that he is using a potential move to the NBA as contract leverage.
sometimes i think we may need another big name at pg or pf to win a title. "big 3" seems to be an effective model of this era post the 3-peat lakers. miami, boston, and spurs to a large extent, etc. the cavs were clearly on this path, but now one of the big 3 is completely out and the other is injured as well, and so lebron had to work to death to beat the hawks. any realistic path we can adopt the "big 3" model? we already have 2 pieces in place. (so does okc, if durant's foot problem doesnt become chronical.) and if we are to go down that same path, it'd better be this summer. dwight's body has taken a lot of beating over the yrs and has gotten a lotta mileage...
It may not feel like it, but GSW probably has a big 3 model as well. Green is going to be a max player. Just in roster lineup, if you set aside the big "2" of both teams, GSW has Green and Barnes as probably the next best 2 players between the two teams, with Ariza coming in right after them. I don't think we can realistically get to the big 3 model using the trade/free agency route personally. Houston just isn't a glamor city and Harden/Howard are not the transcendent stars that people are going to die to play with. I may end up being wrong, but I think the chances of us adding a superstar to the Harden/Howard mix over the next two years is less than 25%. So the decision has to be is that chance worth passing on the opportunity to add good but not great players to your roster and making the best run you can.
^^ to me, if you have a chance to implement a big 3, you do it w/o any hesitation. morey was trying to lure bosh over last yr. so i think he might have the same thoughts in his mind? as a fan from outside looking in, i know too little info.
The cap rise means that Houston will have space to add a max star without making big sacrifices for the next two years .(provided there is a previous understanding with their rfa to wait before they sign anything) on the downside it also means the same for the other teams even those who already are capped right now and have a big 3. So there will be a competition the likes of which we have never seen before.
It was the smart play last year because of timing. You had the ability to get to the max slot, there were max players available in free agency, not a viable contender with a better offer than you, max players on bad (Knicks) or imploding (Heat) teams that had incentive to want to leave, etc. Bosh (or Melo) was the perfect storm for the Rockets. And we struck out. I don't foresee that situation coming again. Next year or the year after when the cap explodes there will be plenty of teams that will have tons of money to offer a max player that can make the same arguments we can make, including potentially a Lebron Cavs team, an Anthony Davis Pelicans team, a Kobe-less rebuilding Lakers team, the Knicks, etc. The Rockets will be one of many teams in line and I just don't see us getting a big star when those other teams are out there as well.
^^ aldridge is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and so is marc gasol, yes? so is it possible for us to do it right now, b4 other teams come into the line a couple of yrs from now? but, for me, i am just not 100% sure if aldridge or gasol foots the bill of another "big", tho. are they "big" enough?
I'd be willing to test out the fit... if not for the fact that he gets paid nearly $13 million a year next year, and only plays in 60% of the games. But because of that, and the price to acquire, it's a clear pass.
The max is around 20 mil for them and the Rockets if they renounce all their free agents have around 10 I think. So it will have to involve a salary dump. So the team will be gutted. And teams who are gutted in salary dumps to add a max free agent dont get fair value for what they dump. So theoritically it will be possible to sign Lma ut the price will be high.
We'd have to let go of all of our free agents AND dump Ariza to get a max player in free agency this year. I don't want to go down that road personally because I think it means next year is a waste. I don't think it's realistic to get a max player added to this roster anymore.
They could trade Dwight for a resigned LMA, then try and see if Tyson Chandler will sign for $10 million a year. Not going to happen... but worth writing down!
