[ClutchFans] Podcast: Talking Rockets with CSN Houston's Adam Wexler

Good to have Wex back in his natural audio-only medium. He is better when we don't see his face.

 

The thing is Toronto has Valancunius starting, will Toronto risk Asik sulking again because he gets benched in Toronto

 

Well. Having either of them would be nice. But how can we achieve that?

Celtics are obviously rebuilding around Rondo or at least trying to rebuild around him. Nuggets may like Lin as a player but that poison pill contract will turn a lot of potential suitors away. The only way possible is trading one of those cheape young players, PB, TJ, etc. Would you do it? No for sure for such a player at the end of his career. Is Dimo enough? Probably no.

 

I think the deal would mostly be about getting Terrance Jones and moving Novak's deal for Toronto. I suspect they would try to spin off Lin and Asik at some point over the next 12 months for assets.

 

I highly doubt Toronto would do that trade simply for moving Novak's contract. Lin and Asik together. That is 30 million. What if they can't trade them? You will then be stuck with them and it is hard to swallow for any team. Any GM accepting a trade for Lin and Asik together deserves to be fired :grin:

 

No harm in putting out a feeler to Toronto and Lowry's agent.

 

No way Toronto's ownership signs off on BOTH Lin & Asik (especially with Asik coming in as a perceived backup on a bum knee).

Lin should be an easier sell to their ownership because he can replace some of what Lowry does now to a lesser extent, adds some intrigue and excitement to their fan-base, gives them an option for next year to have a starting caliber PG audition in his last year of his deal, and keeps them in the playoff race in the East in the short term so they dont lose out on that opportunity.

Also, I dont think Morey would include Jones in any deal such as this. I think Morey would probably prefer to add a stable veteran PF like Patterson but you'd have to think that they'd still want to groom him for the future as Jones still has a ton of upside to be a much, much better player in a couple years than Patterson.

IMO a Lin & sweetener (One of D-Mo, 2nd rounder, or hopefully not a 1st rounder lotto protected) for Lowry & a poor mid sized contract of their choice (Fields or Novak) should be a deal that makes sense for both teams.

-Maybe Morey could Horse trade a little bit, and swap parts (better pick for Patterson instead of Fields/Novak) to get Patterson instead of Fields/Novak, but dealing Lin for Lowry makes sense if you can help Ujiri clear long cap space long term or give him the picks that he desires while making sure he doesn't lose Lowry for nothing, still keeps his team interesting enough as a playoff team in the East, and gives him a PG next year to try out.

 

Start listening to 1560 they are hosting there all the time

 

Is Adam on 1560 lots?

 

It is 16 million against the cap.

The Raptors also are shedding Fields (8.5 million next year) and Novak (8 million total the next to years) and will have more cap space in 2015.... not to mention they get Terrance Jones, which is a valuable asset.

 

"IMO a Lin & sweetener (One of D-Mo, 2nd rounder, or hopefully not a 1st rounder lotto protected) for Lowry & a poor mid sized contract of their choice (Fields or Novak) should be a deal that makes sense for both teams."

Why would the Raptors do this? Lin has one more season on his contract that Lowry, and Novak only has a 3.5 million dollar deal in 2015. If the Rockets take Fields, then the Raptors would probably do it, but then you need to send out another roughly three million in contracts to make it work.

Would Morey take on Fields (8.5 next year) for the chance at Lowry? Does that ruin his plans for a third star?... Do they pick up the option on Parsons and make him unrestricted in 2015? Do they resign Lowry?

All issues that have to be worked out...

 

This, please. I was tempted to tweet this advice to him but didn't want to broadcast it to so many people. Wex is great, but the lack of sideburns looks horrendous.

 

Paging J. R. Paging J. R.

Your services are requested, s'il vous please. And thanks!

 

He was the analyst for home games, back when SportsRadio610 had the broadcast, and Wex was employed by 610. Then, they made the jump to Sportstalk790. Joel Blank became the home game analyst. Then, 790 got the rights, and Blank remained the analyst. But Wex did post game call in alternating with Matt Jackson.

 

Great pod, you two knocked it out of the park. Thanks Clutch.

Lowry would be very interesting, not sure it's a real possibility. I don't think I would do an Asik/Jones for Millsap. These next three weeks are going to be very interesting to say the least.

 

I would have a more informed opinion about the interview IF I COULD ACTUALLY WATCH THE ROCKETS!!!!

 

Enjoyed listening. Good stuff as always.

I'd love to see Lowry back on this team. Hope whatever issues he and McHale had are resolvable.

I also would move Jones in some sort of package for Millsap in a heartbeat. Don't really see the point in letting Jones grow with this team. The fact that he's been productive and cheap is no reason not to trade him. You should want to sell high. I'd look to move all the future assets, really. D-Mo, Canaan, picks. Go for it. The time to win is now.

 

I like the philly trade then you can see if you can lowry is available for lin/monte/2nd rd pk...

lowry/ppat + turner/ hawes for lin, asik, monte, brewer,1rst and/or 2nd rd pk

lowry...bev
harden....turner
parsons...turner/garcia
ppat....jones
howard...hawes

 

Well done fellas. I need to look in to Wexler’s coverage some more. My thoughts:

1) Adam says that against Memphis they weren't pushing the ball - I think it's more a case of they couldn't push the ball. Clutch then reviews that Harden, 3s and Howard just got shut down. He brought up that they just lose badly against good defensive teams like OKC, IND. That's a trend right there. I think there are enough examples where the philosophy/playbook needs to be reviewed.

2) I think two huge contributors to high player 3pt% are messed up with the Howard addition: spacing and ball movement. Both of these were better/different last year. It’s not Howard’s fault per se, but their plays, play speed needs an adjustment. I really doubt Harden, Lin, Beverly are suddenly just bad shooters. Their skill, I think, is still available but unable to come through.

3) Late game play calling: Parsons being the ball handler and creator at the end. I agree fully with Wexler that Parsons was just hitting shots. How does it make sense to not take advantage of hot shooting and ask him to do something totally different? Make him shoot it, but get him off a screen to help him. Get the guy with 11 assists to assist him again! Weird call.

4) Omer Asik: I believe the Rockets that he has a legitimate injury. Nothing can be done about it, just have to be patient. Can’t help that his trade value is lower, injuries have to be allowed for.

5) Lin v Beverly starting: no argument from me. The way I would argue this case is that more than the advantage of Beverly fitting with the starters, the advantage of a ball-dominating, tempo pushing Lin off the bench is waaay more valuable to the Rockets if he can get back to that style of play. Lin needs his confidence back.

6) Millsap as a solution to banging with the good defensive teams: it’s one solution, but doesn’t address the main issue of spacing and ball movement. I think Rockets need to fix those and subsequently the personnel.

 

Not to diminish how awesome the other podcasts werebut this was easily my favorite podcast. Great job clutch do you think you could get Matt on as well for the next one?