[COD BOMB] Rockets have a backup plan for BIG 6 if signing Lebron fails in the summer

Love is essentially Rich Man's Ryno at this point -
A spot-up 4 that cannot move his feet well-enough to defend anyone but a 5, yet provides no interior presence on either end
For both, the value provided on OFF as a shooting 5 does not outweigh their DEF liability

Granted, Love is light-years beyond Ryno as a rebounder, outlet passer, and as a low-post scorer
But he still cannot guard anyone on the perimeter and does almost nothing to protect the rim on the inside
Therefore, like in the Finals last year, he cannot be on the court in crunch-time versus small-ball lineups

 

You guys focus too much on what guys can't do and not enough on what they can.

Love would be phenomenal here.

 

Exactly. It is like taking DaDakota's player assessments of Durant (can't play defense) and LeBron (too old).

 

Good question, sign & trade won't be an option here, dumping Anderson and Gordon will open up enough cap space to sign him? I don't really now. And whether the answer is yes or no, would that be wourth it?

 

George can always do the CP3 route and "Opt in and trade" but OKC would have to be motivated to trade him to the Rockets for "assets" instead of "walking away" with nothing to LA.

 

Yeah but i mean, can you see Presti sign & trade PG here for Anderson or Gordon and fillers? Cause i can't tbh.

Even though, Gordon with his salary might be very interesting for OKC...but still..

 

not sure why this is still being brought up. no team is offering a pick and roll center max. if there was a time for it, it was a couple of years ago with the cap rise. Now? not happening

 

Second time's a charm?

 

I am skeptical of this plan, because the luxury tax bill would be absurd.

I am sure Tilman is willing to pay some of the tax, but if you lock yourself 30-40 million over the tax for multiple years, you are looking at an astronomical tax bill. Not sure Tilman is on board with that.

 

Harden is the undisputed Franchise of our Houston Rockets. I was wondering how can DM maximize our overall depth around him for the next 3-4 years. I always rely on other posters, especially BimaThug to
explain the in's and outs of the cap situation.

 

He hasn't been able to play 4 in CLE bc in THIS NBA the 4 is no longer his position
The reason he regularly watched 4Qs in the Finals last year is bc the Warriors made it impossible for CLE to play Tristan + Love together when Draymond plays 5 in their LoDeath
One or the other was constantly isolated against Durant

Thus CLE chose to sit Love's OFF shooting in favor of TT's interior DEF
Actually, CLE chose ancient Richard Jefferson over Love ... a 'rare' player indeed

Unless the league-wide trend of having long, interchangeable Forwards that can switch on P&R and guard the perimeter suddenly reverses course ...
KLove is now a stretch 5 and will remain so the remainder of his NBA career
Just like Ryno, only MUCH better

Love can rebound and post-up effectively, but ...
Love provides ZERO of the rim protection or lob-finishing ability that has made Clint so valuable to this team at Center

If the Pick-n-Pop 5 was more valuable to this team than Clint's PnRoll version, why is he on the court in crunch-time every game instead of Ryno?
Answer - bc opponents can't switch us to death until they get Ryno in a 1-on-1 ISO mismatch

It's the same reason since the trade deadline PJ has taken his starting role
PJ may not be the shooter, rebounder, or post scorer that Ryno is, but his DEF versatility is way more valuable to THIS team than anything Ryno brings on the court

During the past 4 years in CLE Love has made 37.3% on 3's
This year PJ is making 37.1% AND playing great DEF
Same for Ariza (38.0%) & Luc (35.1%)

Combined they make less $ than Love while playing nearly triple the minutes (89 vs 31)

If his problem in CLE was being 'miscast out of position', wouldn't that problem be even worse laying in this OFF system?
You think Mike D would have him taking FEWER 3's here in favor of more post-ups?
He has taken about 1-2 more 2P attempts than 3PA every game (7.5 vs 6) as a Cav
For comparison, in his 2 HOU years, Ryno has taken 3 2PA vs 6 3PA per game

 

There is only 1 scenario in which I would be happy to see K Love in a Rockets uni next year ...


If everything else falls thru, and all the other stars have landed elsewhere ...
Provided we have retained CP3, Clint, Ariza & Luc ...
and we're still stuck with Ryno ...

I would be totally fine upgrading from Ryno to Love in a straight swap (plus cap filler)
Despite any shortcomings, that would still be a no-brainer considering Ryno's contract
At the least, Love should be far easier to move in a subsequent trade for an even better player later

 

What if in the end the eventual plan would actually be to trade Capela for a lottery pick to send it to the Cavs (or Thunder) with Ryan and fillers in a sign & trade for Bron/PG and sign DeAndre for cheap? I really don't want to trade Clint, but like you said sounds really hard to believe Tillman would be willing to pay so much tax...i mean, unless Chris is willing to take a huge paycut which seems not credible...

How much money per year should Chris and DeAndre take to gave us a realistic chance of getting a player for 30/35M per year without ending up paying a huge tax? Something around 25M per year for Chris and 10/15M for DeAndre? Maybe the full MLE?

 

Fixed

 

I agree. Megabillionaires like Gates or Bezos could afford the exorbitant tax for a couple of years for a real chance at a title. Even then, they would balk at paying so much for the product, just like the Russian Nets owner.

 

Kevin love would be nice but if we win the CHIP wouldnt getting all our guys back be number 1 priority? Like I really don't want Luc to leave, he's been the best defender I've seen in a long while..

 

Hell, look at how awesome the Rockets are when Anderson actually shoots the ball. Love on the Rockets would be amazing.

 

Thank you for your kind words saleem. I’m a fan of yours as well. I’ve pushed for Gerald Green to Rockets
on other sites last season; but you were the first I’ve seen push for Green here on CF’s this season.

Morey’s M.O. is for big game hunting. If the Rockets win the championship LeBron won’t come to Houston.
At the moment I feel Rockets represent the West. I still believe Cavs win East with K-Love back. East may
not be so familiar with Nance jr, R.Hood, Clarkson...the West are familiar with them. George Hill rarely plays
more than 30 games in a row. Cavs have a good mix of inside-out game now that Love is back from injury.
LeBron-Nance trying to recreate the LeBron-D Wade (Miami Heat version) drive alley-oop to one another.
Only thing Nance is really good at. LeBron will the into it.

LeBron is a Cleveland homer. He wants to stay. After All-Star game, there was talk about seeding
East/West playoff teams 1-16. LeBron quickly voiced his opinion against it. This said to me that LeBron
doesn’t want to let go of the cake walk that he has in the East. Supposedly Dan Gilbert wants LeBron
to re-sign without the no-trade clause. There is no way LeBron re-signs without the “no-trade” clause.
So if Houston wins the title and leaves Cleveland.....off to LA or Sixers.

Houston if they fail to win the title? Some people claim LeBron doesn’t want to take his Nike brand
to Houston with Adidas Harden. Shoe wars are big deals to these players. New rumor is Harden
doesn’t want LeBron with Houston. LeBron is a diva. He wants players, then he turns on them.
He wanted Tyrone Lue, now he doesn’t want Tyrone......forces him to take a leave of absence.

What will happen? Think Morey brings in LeBron, LeBron hearts pitch out of respect for CP3
and enjoys the attention from a contender. Goes elsewhere with his decision.

I would like to pry Aaron Gordon away from Orlando this summer. Thru trade or Restricted Free Agency.
per stats.nba.com play type http://stats.nba.com/players/putbacks/
Aaron Gordon (17/18): grades well in every category:
Put-Backs
5.6% freq, 1.29 ppp, 80.6 NBA percentile
Transition
20.3% freq, 0.98 ppp, 25.9 NBA percentile
Isolation
9.8% freq, 0.76 ppp, 31.4 NBA percentile
Roll-Man (PnR)
5.1% freq, 1.24 ppp, 78.5 NBA percentile **
Ball Handler (PnR)
9.0% freq, 0.78 ppp, 43.2 NBA percentile
Post Ups
7.8% freq, 0.87 ppp, 49.4 NBA percentile
Spot Up
21.1% freq, 1.04 ppp, 62.9 NBA percentile
Cutter
6.1% freq, 1.42 ppp, 77.5 NBA percentile
Off Screen
6.7% freq, 1.03 ppp, 65.1 NBA percentile

This guy would kill it in a Rockets uniform playing with Harden/CP3 and D’Antoni system. Age 22

Thad Young would be better in Houston. Currently: 29 years old:
11.7 pts, 6.1 rebs, 33% (3P%), 60% (FT%). Young would walk away from $13.9 mil next year from his current team.
FT’s might be a concern.

I don’t care for LMA or Randle. They don’t fit the scheme.

Melo?? 16.7 pts, 5.8 rebs, 32% (3P%), 82% (FT%).....he would walk away from Thunder and $27.9 mil next season.

Mike Scott?? Age 29. 18 mins a game, 8.6 pts, 3.1 rebs, 41% (3P%), 67% (FT%)....not sure?
Anthony Tolliver?? Age 32. 7.8 pts, 2.8 rebs, 41% (3P%), 80% (FT%).....not sure?

Free Agency cupboard is a little bare in the power forward position this summer.

Rockets have bird rights on CP3, Capela and Ariza....allowing Houston to exceed the luxury tax in signing players.

Edited: I’m not sure I like it; but I could see Morey going for LMA if Capela price tag goes too high.
LMA to play center. Ryan Anderson would compliment him still as stretch 4. LMA Post Ups, Roll Man,
Pock-n-Pop, long range 2’s. IDK?? Not sure he would go up for lobs like Capela. Defense would
take a big hit. And at what price tag? Harden/CP3/Capela only with 2 losses while playing
healthy.....might be too good to pass up.

 

I agree. Stars are always the priority in free agency, but I personally hope we lock up LMM with a multi-year deal as soon as any max-level free agents are resolved.