Rockets fear change is in the air

If already posted please lock, if not please rep me

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6837083.html

Nearly a week after Chuck Hayes issued his post-practice address, a pep talk that was part Knute Rockne, part John Blutarsky rallying Delta House, Rockets coach Rick Adelman put it more succinctly.

“There's no cavalry over there,” Adelman said.

The Rockets, he noted, would have to solve their own problems. As Hayes had said with teammates and coaches surrounding him, the Rockets could rely only on those in that circle.

Hayes said he was making a call for confidence and self-reliance. And for a game, it seemed to work. The Rockets came back from a midseason break to win in San Antonio.

In the Rockets' front office, however, the bugle call for help had gone out weeks ago when Rockets general manager Daryl Morey announced he was trying to trade Tracy McGrady. As much as every team deals with that uncertainty, the Rockets had been placed on the trade deadline watch early.

“We know what's at stake,” Hayes said. “We know what's coming. We're not dumb. We know what's going on because we're professionals. If we stick together, it won't matter who's against us.”

The Rockets insist the possibility — even probability — of change has not been a distraction. Morey has told players, either directly or through agents, that because McGrady's $24.483 million contract is so large, it is unlikely any other players would be added to a deal involving McGrady.

There can be a sense of being in limbo, however, waiting for reinforcements. When Morey mentioned “change” in a tweet last week, he was referring to changing a tendency to “manage the game” with modest leads. But the word “change” coming from the individual with power to change the roster was noticed.

“I think the attitude in the locker room really is just do what we do,” forward Shane Battier said. “We can't concern ourselves with what the GM is talking about, or tweeting, or saying in the papers, or the trade rumors that are out there. We have a job to do. We haven't done our job as well as we had done earlier in the year.

“We have conversations in our locker room. That doesn't mean much. Conversations in our locker room aren't too deep, most of the time.”

What to do with McGrady
Morey understands if there is anxiety. But he does not expect any trade to come until close to the Feb. 18 trade deadline, if at all.

Morey has exchanged proposals with many teams, concentrating most on talks with the 76ers, Wizards, Knicks and Bulls. Though the Rockets are willing to take back a long-term contract such as Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala's or Washington's Caron Butler's, teams have sought some of the Rockets' young talent in addition to McGrady's contract, and the Rockets have attempted to avoid taking back more than one large, long-term contract.

With the Rockets willing to not make a deal at all, with McGrady's expiring contract potentially valuable to them, too, they can be buyers rather than sellers.

“In the NBA in general, there's always a tension,” Morey said. “Trades can happen at any time. It's a difficult thing for players and would be for anyone to handle. I would hate for Leslie (Alexander, the Rockets owner) to come in some day and say, ‘Hey, you're in Boise. We're moving you to Boise.' So I understand it's hard for the players. They obviously know we're trying to move Tracy. I understand it's something they are aware of.”

A trade, however, could actually help the Rockets keep this season's roster together.

If the Rockets cannot land a successor to McGrady in a trade, they could weigh whether to clear out salaries of their potential free agents — Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, Carl Landry and Hayes — to create cap room. Or, keep their core players and seek a significant addition outside the free-agent market. If they can add a key piece in a trade without taking too much unwanted salary back, they are better positioned to pick up options on Hayes and Landry and to re-sign Scola and Lowry.

“We're going to try to do it through trade,” Morey said. “That's just way better. Unless you're going to have big room — which we can have but is hard to have without impacting the roster in a major way — we either need to use players to acquire something in trade or renounce players to sign someone. It's better to trade for him.”

‘There is always the fear'
The Rockets have made deadline deals in each of Morey's first two seasons as GM, trading for guards Bobby Jackson in 2008 and for Lowry last season.

For now, the Rockets can only try to escape their struggles on their own, uncertain about what will come next.

“You can't lie, it's always a concern,” Scola said. “Nobody wants to go. There is always the fear. Who's coming in? Is he going to fit? Is he going to be a good player? A worker? A good teammate?

“I'm always a little bit skeptical to change. But you can't think about it. The trade possibility and trade rumors are going to be here regardless. It's been like that every year. Tracy being here, or not here, us winning or us losing, there will be trade rumors any way, so you got to live with it.”

 

Thanks Hayes, just thought it had some good quotes and analysis that could stand on their own thread. :grin:

 

Click on my feedback button. Thanks.