Early Free Agency Thought: Gordon Hayward would make this team unreal

Move one of Ariza or Lou. I would imagine Ariza would be easy to move and Hayward plays his position so it makes the most sense. I'd hate to lose Trevor for his defense, but if Hayward could defend as well and give us the type of offense he puts up in Utah, we'd be even harder to beat.

 

We could move both Ariza and Lou, and we still wouldn't have enough cap space to give Hayward a max. The most plausible way to open up a max for the Rockets is to trade Ryan Anderson.

 

Hayward isn't coming here. It's the same scenario that Durant was in last year, either he will sign with his current team or he will go to the team that makes the most since. For Durant, he had two choices which was resigning with OKC or going to Golden State. Same goes for Hayward, he has the choice to go to Boston or resign with Utah, no other options really make much sense.

 

Boston isn't better than Houston though, they have horford and a bunch of guys due to make big bucks while Houston is going toe to toe with SaS. I feel like Ainge sorta screwed himself by not cashing in on some of his young talent, with more picks on the way he'll have to dump some of his assets below market value.

 

Houston's a better team then Boston though. No matter what he's going to have to face the Warriors, be in the WCF or the Finals.

I think Rockets would give him the best chance to actually win a title (outside of the Spurs). Plus I don't even think Hayward puts the Celtics over the Cavs, I just don't think very highly of the Celtics chances at winning very much in the playoffs as currently constructed, think Hayward is best suited as a #2 option. They would have to get Hayward + another star - which is possible with their assets, to compete with the Cavs IMO.

 

Boston is in a better position than we're in right now, though. Not only do they have a crap ton of good draft picks, they also have cap space, they play in the leastern conference, and Hayward will be able to play for his old coach Brad Stevens again. I do hope that Hayward would consider us, I just think don't think it will be enough and we would have to ditch a lot to make it happen.

The Rockets needs to hope that Paul George, Hayward, Jimmy Buckets will be willing to take a big pay cut to come play here given our current situation. It's not impossible that we land one of these guys in the offseason, but I think Hayward is probably the least likely to come.

 

Sorry but no one is taking a pay cut, let alone a huge pay cut to come here. You guys tickle me silly with that crap.... anyways... I think Houston is a good place if any for these up and coming players who are superstars/borderline superstars.... but not good enough to actually carry a team like Harden, Westbrook, and James.. Houston makes them the #2 option with free reigns, along side a bonifide #1 in Harden.... Houston wouldnt have to part with much to make the cap space work for starting salary.... shed anderson? or ariza and williams? that is a trade anyone would be willing to do... Ideally you would want to use you cap space, especially in 2018, but would the Rockets wait that long? I think if the right trade comes about then sure....

Additionally, I think there is a zero percent chance that hayward comes...... George and Butler seem more like it.

Im rooting for the clippers to break up... would love to land DJ here somehow with the likes of George or butler along with Harden. The Rockets are blessed with Harden and success and great front office. The day ahead are bright for the Team.

 

this is what I disagree with. As an NBA player you want someone as good as harden who can get you more open looks. Having to work less to get more Open shots?

and after seeing both Lou Williams and Eric Gordon both getting their chances as well as Patrick Beverley getting some touches says to me that the Rockets are not a team that only plays through harden and they would gladly take on another play maker/scorer. ty lawson just sucks. so does Thornton. there is a reason why nobody knows which team these guys play for currently.

The way you make it sound, Wade and LeBron along with Bosh would not have been able to score 20+ the night every night. same with Shaq and Kobe or LeBron and kyrie. just look at the Warriors.

let's say you are Gordon Hayward and you get guarded by the other teams best perimeter defender every night. now you are being guarded by the other wing player and the team will want to play through you even more, how does that not sound good?

 

Why wouldn't the Rockets make sense? If the money situation can be ironed out, it's a great fit for Hayward. We're already the 3rd best team in the NBA recordwise and we still have a decent shot at the WCF. Replacing Ariza with him would make us even better. The Spurs have an aging core. The Warriors will at best have their current roster given how many huge extensions they'll have to hand out(and they'll likely lose McGee this summer). And the Cavs aren't a concern til the Finals anyway, not to mention LeBron is 32 years old and at the tail end of his prime(he basically has to take the regular season off at this stage of his career to keep this up).

Assuming Capela and Dekker continue to develop, the Rockets could be one frontcourt piece away from being a bonafide contender. Hayward could be that guy.

 

I think we are severely underestimating his desire to win it all because he stated that at least 3 times in his post game presser. There's no way that he believes there's a chance at getting through the warriors with that current jazz squad. I think we have already solidified ourselves as a top destination for free agents but a little more success in the post season wouldn't hurt

 

It's nice to speculate about these free agents, but we're always the Buffalo Bills as far as free agency goes.

Chris Paul: "I was fixin' to sign with the Rockets [translation: I was using them for leverage], but then...."

Al Horford: "....and then Hakeem the Dream showed up! WOW! I was torn, saying 'no' to the Rockets. It was close [translation: why would I go to the Western Conference, much as I love Hakeem Olajuwon?]..."

LaMarcus Aldridge: "Who came in second? The Rockets put together one heck of a presentation, I was impressed [translation: but they got Kevin JV Coach McHale, the Spurs got POPS!]..."

Thing is, we're an intriguing option for players, but seems like there's always a slightly-hotter chick for them. Gordon Hayward would be a great second option, which is what we need, but as someone pointed out, we would likely have to trade Ryan Anderson to get him. (And then use other players in trade to bolster the hole in the starting lineup at power forward.)

 

One thing he should remember in the back of his mind is that his team wouldn't have even made the 2nd round had Blake Griffin not gotten injured(again). The Jazz are very good and if they could somehow keep this roster intact, they'd solidify themselves as a 2nd tier contender in the West. But I don't see how they can afford to retain all those guys given the market they play in.

 

Paul George should be our 1st choice. Rumors are that he'll go to LA. But if we finish the postseason strong and establish ourselves as a threat to GS & SAS, then I can see Houston as a hotspot for superstars to come to. Who wouldn't wanna play for MDA? The players LOVE him and his system allows players the freedom to be themselves.

 

We don't need to lose any of the guys we have right now. The only thing we're missing is size. Add 1 or 2 dominant bigs and we'd be unstoppable.

 

We've gotten plenty through the years, especially in the Dawson days. But Pippen, Dwight, etc.. we're a low 1st tier, high 2nd tier FA destination. We're fine.

 

Some quick and dirty math:

Hayward would command a max contract, which for him would be 30% of the cap. Assuming the cap rises to $102M next year, that means Hayward will make about $30M in year one of whatever contract he signs. Houston's payroll for next year is at $89M, which would mean about $13M in cap room, or $17M short of what it would take to sign Hayward. Thus, players will have to be moved:

Harden $28M
Anderson $19.5M
Gordon $12.9M
Ariza $7.8M
Lou Williams $7M
Beverley $6M
Capela $1.7M
Dekker $1.3M

Easiest move would be to trade Ryan Anderson away. Could also trade Gordon + Ariza/Lou/Beverley, or Ariza+Lou+Bev. Even if you're not a Ryan Anderson fan, this makes the Rockets woefully thin at PF. Might have to trade another player for a starting PF. Or maybe go small ball all the time and start dekker?

No matter how you run the numbers, the cuts will be difficult if houston really wants hayward.

 

I still think to win titles in the NBA, you need more than one star. The Warriors have 4 of them. The Cavs have 3. There's a reason they're each dominating their respective conferences. If the Rockets ever wanna take that next step in reaching the 60+ win plateau and being a top tier contender, they need another star.

 

I like Hayward, but something about trading away multiple pieces of our team to pay him near $30 million a season doesn't sit right with me.

 

I feel like our current season's results squashes the whole "gotta have more than 1 elite player just to win a ring" idea don't you? We came in 3rd place in the West, and are currently tied in round 2 of playoffs with the #2 team in the entire league...and this was all done without a 2nd "elite" player lol. I'm just saying, maybe we already have a championship squad, we just need to perfect our small weaknesses.

 

There's a difference between being a perennial playoff team that gets homecourt in Round 1 and a true title contender. Historically, you need at least 2 stars to win a championship. There are exceptions(1975 Warriors, 1994 Rockets, 2004 Pistons, 2011 Mavericks), but they are rare. And it doesn't help matters that the Rockets have to deal with the superteam that Durant helped create by joining an already 73-9 Warriors squad.