Well, we didn't get Jimmy. Morey tried to do it without sacrificing any key pieces from last year's WCF team, but couldn't make it happen. Whether Minny wouldn't pull the trigger because they were gunshy about trading to another WC playoff team is anyone's guess. So where do we go from here? The bad: We're 4-6 and have looked utterly confused and impotent at times, definitely not the swag champs from last year. We're 0-4 at home, which is unforgivable for a team that came within a pulled hammy of taking down the dynasty. The defense has been mediocre. The offense has been horrendous. With the exception of the Pacers, our wins have come against crappy teams. No backup center. Worst of all, we seem to have a hangover from last season, like the guys think we'll automatically end up in the WCF again and don't really need to bust their asses like they did all last year. The good: Now that Butler's officially off the table, Murrhey can focus on players who might actually be obtainable. We're almost at .500 with a full 7/8 of the season left to play. We're 4-2 on the road. No major injuries to starters. We'll get Knight back at some point and have an actual backup PG. MCW has fallen out of favor and should ride the bench from here on out. One of our guys punched Rondo. Biggest needs: Get Biglydick back full-time. CP3, EG and Clint need to get out of their funk. Adjust the offensive scheme. Teams expect us to ISO now and are better prepared to stop it. Before the trade deadline, find a better caliber 3&D starter and bring Ennis in off the bench. For ClutchFans and the media to stop whining about Ariza and Luc.
Now the Rockets have to just man up and fix their own problems. Stop trying to cop out and beg for outside help. They don't need help. They have everything they need to win. Just put sh** together.
The first thing they need to do is trade for Korver. We need a respectable 3pt shooter on this team in the worse way possible. Then we need to find another 3&D guy. I'm not going to name any names but we need some perimeter defense to spell Tucker when he's ran to the ground. Maybe a starter so Ennis can go back to his comfort zone coming off the bench.
I would agree with both of those moves, but I don't want to give up any real assets for Korver because he's old and can't defend. Still, he's #2 of all active players in 3pt% (and #7 in league history), and we desperately need that. The highest ranked player we have (of currently active NBA players) is EG at #49. For our offense, that's not good enough. We need at least one lights-out shooter. I say we offer the Cavs some of our dead weight (Chriss, Zhou, etc.) and see if they bite. They're going nowhere and might want some young potential.
At the very least, if the trade rumors were affecting EGo and other players, they no longer will be. Butler is a baller, and plays his ass off at all times...but he also proved to be a handful, to say the least. I hope this will be a bullet dodged this season for the Rockets, and I hope the team will come together and TURN. THE ****ING. CORNER
If we're really ballsy we could offer Knight and Chriss for JR and Korver (salaries work out). Both have partially guaranteed deals next season so cutting either or both next summer won't be a huge hit. This would also accelerate the Cavs tank job right now. I'm not 100% thrilled about JR Smith but he's a Gunner and we need players that can score.
I'm guess Bazemore (Atlanta is 3-9) and Otto Porter (Washington is 2-9) are possible targets, but it's not clear what we would have to give up in terms of sweeteners (draft choices) plus a poo platter of salary matching bodies (combinations of Chriss, Knight, Nene and/or Gordon) in each case. Atlanta is a long way from luxury tax, so likely a 'win win' from our owner's perspective is to shed as much salary as possible in a trade w/Atlanta and get a smaller salary back (Bazemore at $18M, vs Porter at $27M) while getting get closer to not paying luxury tax.
The drawback would be attaching a 1st to the trade to get the Cavs to bite but at this point I would do it just to get rid of the negative production from the bench. Korver Smith Gordon Melo Clark Green We just remade our bench.
We might get Knight back at some point. There's no guarantee there. We never got Brandan Wright back. Will we ever get Nene back? We can't count on these guys. Have to make moves assuming they're a lost cause. If they come back, it's gravy depth.
i wasted so much time in that jimmy b thread...i can't regroup myself atm, gonna need some time off...
