I think he does want stability but also wants to add to this core. I also think his comments are a function of realism - he doesn't think we'll land someone worth gutting the roster for, so why comment on it? He probably also is cautious about upsetting Harden/Dwight and the prospective Rockets free agents he may need to court. Finally, after losing out on Bosh/Melo/Lowry, he has probably realized he needs to manage the fan's expectations this time around. If Love wants Houston you can kiss the stability goodbye. It also goes both ways. If a team offers Smith 35mpg and $10+ he's probably out of here.
I get why people want Mike Conley. What I don't get is why in the hell people are acting like he's an option. Memphis loves him and has zero incentive to move him and he isn't a free agent.
So I actually don't think this roster will cut it next year. I honestly feel like if we played the clippers in another 7 game series right now, we would lose. But this guy does make a great point. I certainly never thought golden state would be this good this season. Having said that, wouldn't we need to replace Mchale?
When you have a team played beyond first round of playoffs, you better keep the team untouched, only small adjustment would be needed.
I tend to believe him, less because of his words and more because of the structure of this roster. Ariza is too important to this team....more than even Kevin Love would be. Here's how I think things are going to play out.... 1) resign KJ McDaniels. Unless he gets a crazy offer, I expect him to be back. 2) depending on how much KJ demands, we sign either Genile or Llull. The less KJ signs for, the more likely we get Llull. 3) Here's the right question about Beverley: if he was an unrestricted free agent, and we needed the full MLE to sign him, would Morey use it? I believe the answer is no. Beverley's value is in the same range as Corey Joseph and Patty Mills, ie $2-4 million a year. Any higher and I think we let him walk. Either way, Bev needs to transition to the bench. 4) If we don't get Llull, I expect us to make a big run at Kyle Lowry or George Hill. Both are good defenders, and both are signed to good contracts. I don't see Ty Lawson for several reasons. 5) I would not be surprised if Brewer signed a big 1 year contract with the understanding that he could be traded at some point, depending on how KJ develops and whether a star becomes available. From his perspective, he gets a higher than market salary and the chance to get paid in 2016 free agency. 6) I see Josh coming back for $2.5 million. Houston revitalized his career, and I do think he will get paid significantly more on the open market. 7) Terry will sign for the vet minimum.
That's a fair point. We're not replacing McHale, but there is the strong possibility some of these players improve over the next year. Harden as good as he was in 2013-14 was even better this past season. And he also improved in the playoffs(a few games notwithstanding). D-Mo showed huge growth in his game this past season. We're talking about a guy who could barely get off the bench the year before(and didn't play at all vs Portland). Capela grew by leaps and bounds after just a handful of minutes in the regular season. And who's to say Nick Johnson can't develop some semblance of a jumpshot over the summer? We're not talking the 1996-97 Rockets(the last ones to make the WCF) here. That team had done all it could that season and it was all downhill from there. There are some very young players on this roster who still have room to grow and another year of experience can only help.
He already said that before in ESPN. Of course he wants to stability because he does not have enough money for a big free agent, but If Love or other big names are willing to come here, he will go for it immediately. The rockets are likely to be no.4 in West if there is no a good improvement. OKC, GS, Spurs will be better than the rockets.
Well, come on, now. Morey will keep the team together if no better opportunity presents itself. In the SR790 interview, he talked in circles about whether Llull comes over. I would hope so. Then he can concentrate on bolstering the 4. He did say, Look, I couldn't tell you if I think the 1 or the 4 is a bigger concern, and even so, who knows what opportunity will present itself this summer? To get a Love or LMA, he'd have to trade away contracts to teams with cap space who need / want veteran players (Detroit?), OR put together a deal that might keep their current teams in some kind of contention. Such dealings might involve Ariza, and I hate to see what happens to this team's defensive culture without him.
Guys, don't worry about the team chemistry or stability, the Rockets have the coach locked down!!! Hahah P.S. I'm not a McHale/Morey hater but find some of the posts on here pretty funny (not necessarily in this thread).
on #4; why would Toronto trade Lowry? I'd think Lawson was more attainable than Lowry; at least he is trying to force a trade.
This can improve with time. Most of our turnovers come when we're trying to push a fancy play that isn't there, because our rotation hadn't had enough time to gel as a unit on offense. Teams gambled on steals because they knew our passing wasn't as sharp as it would have been if our team had a full season together. You can only ISO one player at a time. Having two ISO players on the floor together rarely works. We just got beat by a team who had ZERO players who could reliably create off the dribble. I think we could use some more plays. This is a coaching issue that is easy to fix. Bring in an offensive-minded assistant to help McHale. I think the team as it stands could definitely win it all with DMo and Beverley, if it stays healthy. As far as changes, bringing in a play-making point guard to help the offense will depend on the market. You might be better off sticking with Bev and trying to develop a young PG than bringing in a vet PG that helps our offense but hurts our defense. With regards to PF, it looks like Smith wants to stay, so we're going to have to give up either DMo or TJ if Morey wants to keep Smith. For backup wing, we need to decide if we keep Brewer, go for a vet with better shooting, or try to man the backup 2/3 by committee with young players.
My only hesitation with this comparison is that the Warriors had good shooters already that needed to blossom. They were young. This team's role players are basically all veterans and with the exception of Ariza getting his overall FG% up next year, there's no reason to expect Josh Smith or Corey Brewer to suddenly be good shooters next year. Because of that I think you still have a fundamental flaw on the roster in that you are asking bad three point shooters to shoot three point shots. I wonder what Dunleavy's market is going to be because he to me is an ideal fit for this roster. Smart, puts effort on defense and is a sharp shooter. I'd LOVE to add him to this roster.
My preferred option is this: Llull / Terry / Johnson Harden / KJ Ariza / Brewer DMo / Smith Howard / Capela Package the NOP 1st and TJones to move up and draft Kevon Looney or Devin Booker.
There is some talk that Lowry isn't getting along with the Coach there or with DeMar DeRozan. Additionally, there is talk that they may blow it up after their disappointing second half of the season and 1st round exit. But who knows.
Yeah, that's the core of it. A bad 2nd half of the season, and getting swept in the 1st round. Plus Lowry is 29.
This is the million dollar question. Why do we play this style? Is it because of the players we have? Or because the coach(es) aren't able to come up with a better offensive strategy?
Familiarity is the new normal. It takes a very very special team chemistry to come back from being down 3-1 in a series as only a few teams in history have ever done that. This team has been decimated with injuries with TJ, Howard missing half the season and still they got the 2nd seed although Harden had to play like superman for almost every game for them to win. They went into the playoffs with two 37 year old PGs and were missing their best over all defender in Beverly at that position. I never thought this team could get to the western conference finals and I'm very proud of them. But the team needs a real play making PG in the worst way, they need more rebounding at the PF position and they are in dire need of a new defensive coach. In Morey we trust.
If this team was healthy all year or if Jones, Dmo, Bev and Dwight all each played at least 8 more games I bet this team would be a 60 win team... which if definitely a title contender. Don't let the 5 game series against the Warriors fool you. They're a damn good team, but we can be too.
