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

We're still underdogs against the Spurs although we're certainly capable of beating them, and we'll be lucky to win more than 1 game against GS. When GS loads up on Harden and makes his life extremely difficult, you'll see why the Rockets need a 2nd star.

 

I hear you, and agree on most aspects. However, from what I've seen from this Rockets team this season, I just can't help but believe we gotta chance to prove the world wrong.

 

I think the best option might be to find a way to get rid of Ryno in order to get to a max slot for Hayward, and then get rid of Ariza and Lou and see if u can get a starting PF that can stretch the floor for 15 mil/yr.

 

I'm not worried about bringing nene back or capela's free agency in 2 years. nene will sign for the vet min which can be given after exceeding the cap. we can worry about capela in 2 years, until then lets go all in.

i'd dump ryno before ariza or lou. he's not worth his money and they're probably worth more. plus dumping ryno gives us a (near?) max contract this summer. imagine basically trading ryno for millsap or blake? we would be the second best team in the league next to the warriors. we'd win 60+ games and have a puncher's chance at the championship.

 

Your assuming Nene is coming back after 15 NBA seasons, 10 NBA Postseasons, several world basketball seasons(2 medals), and recovering from a groin injury(after recovering from cancer). Maybe he comes back for season 16 at the vet minimum but you gotta figure a guy with that kind of mileage on his body even IF he decides to come back, how much longer can we expect him to be the solid option he has been for us this year?

I don't know about that - Ryno is a difference maker in terms of spacing. That's what makes us elite offensively. I agree that he is about as streaky as they come(with poor defense and rebounding to boot), but even on a bad shooting night he still has a certain gravity only reserved for the best shooters in the league and more importantly he forces a big to come out to guard him on the perimeter when the Rockets go small. You can't just buy that - he is perfect for this system....

 

Question, what's the difference in terms of taxes between Texas and Utah?

 

Don't know if you guys have seen his exit interview but he basically had a coy smile on the whole entire time like he was excited to see the possibilities in FA, it's all on harden and crew to convince Hayward to not stayward

 

Still prefer Paul George. To win the league in the next 3, you need someone to cover Lebron and Durant.

 

You're right. This doesn't seem like a guy that's planning on staying.

http://www.nba.com/jazz/video/teams/jazz/2017/05/09/1494353931209-haywardendofseason-1415378/

I still think he's most likely going to stick with Utah, but there's a chance. Even if he does bail, I bet it's Boston where he could play for his old coach with a strong core in the East.

 

I prefer PG as well. PG is capable of going toe to toe with a guy like Lebron or KD. Our ceiling is higher with PG than it is with Hayward. PG at his best is in the conversation for being a top 10 player, Hayward never is.

 

Ding ding ding. Hayward is the stretch 4.

You would lose 100% of first quarters if Harden or Hayward are guarding the best wing on the other team, therefore, Hayward can't be the 3 next to Harden.

Sucks to be in the situation, but the truth is that as long as Harden is a Rockets the SF has to be an excellent defender before we can consider anything else they do. We were already 18th defensively and 2nd offensively. Moving up 1 spot offensively - which is still unlikely even with Hayward - is not going to move the need for this team.

 

Hayward is not a 4 and can not play that position for any prolonged period of time. Hayward is a solid defender. It's not like Ariza is some elite, All-NBA defender at the 3. Hayward can certainly be the 3 next to Harden, that's not even a question. In my scenario, Ryno was moved in order to get the cap space needed to sign Hayward who would be Ariza's upgrade, and he'd be a huge upgrade. Then Ariza and Lou were moved in order to get a replacement for Ryno. Maybe Ibaka if he's willing to take a little less?

Harden
Bev
Hayward
Ibaka
Capela

That lineup is very good both offensively and defensively.

 

Whatever Ariza's weaknesses/decline, he is ten times the defender Hayward is. The fact that Ariza is not an all nba defender just means we need to get a better defender at the 3. Oh, and Hayward is not an All-NBA scorer either lol. He's an excellent scorer though.

Again, this team was 18th defensively and 2nd offensively in the regular season. We need to have the players which allow us to be top 10 defensively, and that is never going to happen if Gordon Hayward is guarding the best wing while we bleed points from whoever Harden is guarding. The bigs will get in trouble super quick. It's not shotblocking that makes defensive teams great, no one can clean up a defense that routinely leaks drives to the basket. You need solid defenders at all positions to contain all the switching that happens these days.

This is a great team for NBA2k but not in real life. In real life, coaches will match our offense by assaulting Harden/Hayward and they will annihilate our depleted bench. Hayward is a below average defender and Ariza is an above average defender. Improving defensively is a much bigger priority, so what do you do? Logic dictates that upgrades are preferred where we don't lose much/any offense but improve defensively at each position. What you seem to be doing here is sacrificing defense for offense at one position and then offense for defense at another, which is a wash.

Also, no one is trading Ibaka for Ariza and Lou. And we cannot generate the cap space to sign Hayward to the max and Ibaka for the $25m+ he's seeking.

Hayward can play the 4. He will be no worse at guarding modern NBA PF's than Ryan Anderson, but he will give us a more diverse attack at that position. MDA is a genius at being creative about a player's position. When he used to put Marion at the 4 people used to say it's ridiculous. The modern equivalent of a Marion at the 4 IS someone like Hayward at the 4, someone who was previously seen as not having the size/skills to fill a spot. The defense we CAN risk/sacrifice is Anderson's defense. Hardly anyone is going to be worse, but there are some options out there who could be better scorers.

Now if we were talking about Paul George that's a different story. That guy can play the 3 because he can guard a great wing player if/when needed.

 

You don't know what you're talking about if you're calling Hayward a below average defender. Is he great? No, but Ariza isn't 10x better than he is on that end, c'mon man.

Hayward isn't an All-NBA scorer, but he's still far better than Ariza could ever hope to be on that end and is still a huge upgrade at the SF spot. Hayward is a solid defender at his position and won't be "leaking drives" to the basket and is not a player that coaches look to "assault". Hayward had a positive DRPM, and he held his man to 3.4% below their season average from the field this season. Even just watching him play would quickly show that he competes on that end is no liability defensively. Is Ariza better than him defensively? Yes, but Gordon Hayward being some seive defensively is not reality, and the difference between what they can provide offensively will more than make up for the difference between them defensively. I love Ariza, but he is declining, and his defense will continue to decline as well, and he's still not that good offensively and remains very inconsistent on that end. For much of that 1st round, it was 3 on 5 offensively with the way that he and Ryno were struggling.

What we need is more talent. What we need is a legit secondary playmaker and #2 option next to Harden. Hayward is a solid defender as well so he can help to contain all the switching that u mention. Replacing Ariza with Hayward is doing a lot more than just sacrificing defense for offense. It's getting a little worse defensively in order to get exponentially better offensively. We rely way too much on Harden in order to be 2nd in the NBA on offense. Look at his usage rate and the load that he needed to carry. He needs a guy that can take the pressure off of him. Hayward can do that. That could result in Harden not having to play as many minutes as he does (he's always 1 of the league leaders in that department), and might help him to have more energy for the defensive end as well as help to keep him fresh for when we need him in the clutch. Ibaka can stretch the floor as well even if he's not as good as Ryno in that department, and he's way better defensively so this would be far from a wash.

Hayward can play the 4 for stretches, but he is no full time PF. Hayward at the 4 would be our version of the Warriors' death lineup that they bring out for stretches throughout a game.

No where in my post did I say that we were trading Ariza and Lou for Ibaka. I said that they would be traded in order to help get the cap space needed in order to sign him. If Ibaka is willing to take around 18-20 mil/yr to play for a contender, then we can afford him and give Hayward the max. You can get rid of Ariza, Lou, Harrell, Onuaku, Wiltjer, and Isaiah Taylor in order to pay Ibaka and get rid of Ryno in order to pay Hayward. Kyle Lowry may leave Toronto, and Ibaka wants to play for a contender plus already has a history with Harden and would fit in D'antoni's system.

I would prefer PG, but if Hayward is willing to come here then u sign him. PG is no guarantee, and if he doesn't come, then what? Harden will be a FA in 2019, and his prime won't last forever.

 

Harden
Bev/Gordon
Hayward
Ibaka/Dekker
Capela/Nene

sort of a pipe dream since it would require Hayward actually coming here and Ibaka agreeing to take around 20 mil/yr or so at best, but I'm not sure we could do much better than this

we'd be the 2nd best offense in the NBA again at worst, and with Bev, Hayward, Ibaka, and Capela in the starting lineup, we'd have the potential to be a top 10 defense in the NBA

a team with a top 2 offense and a top 10 defense is a legit contender

How do people feel about this lineup going against GS? I have no doubt we'd beat SA.

 

It would be difficult to move Ryan Anderson with that salary and his skill set - he's more valuable to the Rockets for what he does and what they do than anyone else.

It would be easier to free up $21M by moving Eric Gordon, Lou Williams, and Montrez Harrell. That, plus the $12M in space we already have, would get you Hayward plus leave some money to sign Zhou Qi.

PG: Harden / Beverley
SG: Hayward / 2nd round pick
SF: Ariza / Dekker
PF: Anderson / Qi
C: Capela / Onuaku / 2nd round pick

The best thing about this lineup is its ability to switch - Harden can guard 1 through 3, Beverley 1 through 2, Hayward 2 through 4, Ariza 1 through 4, and Dekker 2 through 4. Also, 1 through 4 in this line up can all shoot 3s. And with Capela, Onuaku, and Qi, you always have a shot blocker on the floor.

 

he's perfect for the system, but if his salary gets in the way of adding an all-star like hayward, blake, or millsap, its a no brainer. even without nene coming back, there are other vet min centers out there who can play 10 minutes. blake or milsap would also play small-ball center with dekker/ariza getting the stretch 4 minutes.