[Chron] Tilman Fertitta determined to do "whatever it takes" to improve Rockets

Stephen A. Smith very, very briefly mentioned the Rockets as being thrown into the mix in terms of destinations he could land. Does he know something we don't?

 

Based on Stephen A. Smith's history, he enjoys saying alot of things to create headlines.

Doubtful that Durant picks Houston as his next destination, remember the media's narrative on LeBron likely picking Houston as one of the ideal locations for winning a championship?

Durant has to go somehwhere else he wants to further his legacy. Hey he might end up staying on the Warriors and I'll just end up watching basketball until the Rockets are done playing like I have been ever since the whole super teams starting to form in Miami.

 

Clutchfan: "What's going on? We have a right to know the truth!"

Other Clutchfans: "YEAH!"

Tilman Fertitta: "All right, I'm going to level with you all. But what's most important now is that you remain calm. There is no reason to panic." (Fertitta's nose grows an inch long.) Now, it is true that one of our players is given too many minutes to play. Slightly too many minutes. (Fertitta's nose continues to grow longer and longer, à la Pinocchio) But I will do whatever it takes to win a championship. And our other two stars, CP3 and EGO... they're just fine. They're under contract... free to pursue a life of religious fulfillment.

 

He makes some very happy.

 

*Whatever It Takes*

 

"I will do whatever it takes for the Rockets to win. And don't forget: eat at Landry's. Our motto: at least we ain't Red Lobster."

(voice from the cheap seats) "At least Red Lobster has the cheesy bread!"

"Who said that! Who said it? Was it you? Fish-faced little......no? Who was it, then?!"

 

I'm very skeptical of Tilman as an owner. Last year we didn't use the MLE; the year after we almost beat the Warriors! That clearly hurt our depth in the beginning of the year and possibly costs us the 2 seed. Another small wrinkle to that is we did not add another mid-sized contract that would be helpful in trades. On top of all that, we make a terrible trade that costs us a first round pick and Knights contract (which I viewed as an asset for this summer) for Shumpert! Then instead of using some of last years MLE to sign House, we use a chunk of this years on House. I would have let House walk if a team gave him an offer sheet that was much more over the minimum. So now we have not added any proven free agents who could compete for a starting job (I do like Chandler, but not a starter).

I say all that to say this. If we don't re-sign Shumpert to a large expiring deal then we are not truly trying to win at all costs. Signing Shumpert to a contract that starts at say $15M would allow us to trade him and this years first rounder for a real quality role player (perhaps a stretch 4?). I know Shumpert is not worth the money, but his contract would be an asset and allow us to make deals without giving up PJ or Gordon. One question for someone like Bimathug, would the team receiving Shumpert in a hypothetical trade still have his bird rights?

 

Huh? So who is competing for a starting job that we could sign?
Harden
Westbrook
PJ
Capela
EG

 

Any wing player that is taller than 6'6 would be ideal. Think his post was more about not expanding the Westbrook trade to bring in someone like Crowder.

 

There is no one available now that could start for us. But I believe there were guys who could start for us for mid level money like Jamychal Green comes to mind. He would have been a great fit at PF. He shot 40% from 3 and signed a 2 year $10mil contract (aka taxpayer mid level). Obviously he isn't a better player than either of the 5 you mentioned, but he plays a position that IMO is glaring hole and would shift Gordon to the super sub spot he has had previously.

 

My post is more about general frustration with this team not trying to do everything it can to maximize this window. Yes the Westbrook trade expansion would have been one way to do it. But now the only route I see to improve this team is signing Shumpert to an oversized expiring deal.

Couldn't agree more with the need for more size on this team. It was so glaring how bad our rebounding was. I love PJ and he does his best at boxing out, but his lack of height & hops really hurts him at PF. Not to mention the lack of rim protection when Capela gets switched on to a perimeter player (a normal sized PF would offer some rim protection).

 

Wings are valuable, therefore cost money, therefore require ownership willing to spend more than they'd like at times to get those players.

 

Tilman is the type of guy that goes on a date...... then makes a huge spectacle of leaving a huge tip in front of his date........ then when she uses the restroom he scratches out the amount and leave a $5 bill.

He wants all the praise without the cost.

 

Signing JaMychal Green to that contract would have meant letting Danuel House go. I get that we're frustrated about the trade not being expanded, but signing guys outright to FA deals while keeping House and Rivers would have been pretty much impossible.

 

Our front office stinks. Morey is above average and needs an owner who knows basketball and willing to step out and make decisions to fix Morey's flaws.

Like it or not this is what Sir Uncle Les did. When Morey hired and then proceeded to re-hire that doofus Kevin McHale, Uncle Les had enough and went in and personally fixed that mess. When Morey signed Jerry Lin to poison pill, Uncle Les was willing to offload with a 1st round pick.

Now we have a cheap ass owner who doesn't know basketball and an above average Gm who has had back to back disastrous off seasons. That's not a recipe for sucess.

 

McHale was Les's pick for a coach. Les also gave him the extension.

 

I think we could have signed both if we used the full MLE, which would have hard capped us I think. Either way, with the tax payer mid level I would prefer Green to House. Fits a bigger need IMO. Also think House might have been a fluke and we don't know what other deals were out there for him. I thought Rivers took the minimum, which does not affect the mid level.