Watching Bill and Jalen's NBA preview got me thinking... Why don't we go for David West and George Hill? Later when you can combine Jason Terry's contract with other contracts you can go with a trade of: West and Hill in Papanikalou, Terry, Jones out I don't even think it will cost you the Pelly's pick. Also, I believe both Hill and Wes's contracts expire in 2016... What say you? Morley? You out there?
I have the same observation especially after looking at the west PF. I will throw a few picks and or Capela or Johnson.. That will send a message to Harden and Horward that we want to win now. West alone will make us contenders right away.
I agree, and Hill while i'm not a fan is a better playmaker than anyone else on the team outside of harden. And I definately trust him more wit the second unit than Ish.
As you wish... West and Hill make $20m combined, how do you get the numbers straight? K-Pap, Terry, T-Jones and Donuts aren't enough. Plus, that's A LOT of talent -- for what? West turned 34, recently got injured, has a Player Option/if not makes $12.6m next year. Hill isn't even worth half the money he makes.
Hill makes less than Lin trade exception so salaries only need to be over 8 million to meet trade rules for West. Paps and Jones make 6.4 which can easily be over 8 million with a couple small contracts. P.S. This is not meant to be an endorsement or thinking the proposed trade could happen. This is only to say it would be very easy for Rockets to absorb West and Hill contracts within trade rules. Within "basketball reasons", I have no opinion on what it would take to move Pacers to do a deal with Rockets.
Isn't 12 the number? I agree, it would work in two simultaneous trades. But still, that would be a horrible deal for the Rockets. You don't give up the Exception plus a lot of talent for basically two questionmarks, that cost you $20m.
Count me in for David West. The dude is tough as nails and still functional at age 34-35. His contract would expire 2016, right around the perfect time to make a push for Durant. And in the meantime, we would be championship contenders. Hill, while trash for a team like Indiana that's not going to contend--and probably trash for any other playoff-leaning team that is mindful of its cap--is actually an asset on this team that has literally no one else outside of Harden that can penetrate and score with regularity. Maaaybe Canaan, but that's it. But yea, David West...that's basically the heart and soul of the Indiana locker room, and he would immediately bring a new attitude to ours as well. He's a guy you go to war with, and I believe he would make everyone on this team better.
Honestly, I think flexibility is getting overrated to some extent. Waiting till 2016 will do us no harm. We cannot afford another bad year. I don't think the Pacers will help us out.
Terry is purely a contract filler. We need his 5 mil to get a major player. Lin's trade exception is a good asset as well to pick up an unwanted contract from another team for free. That and the N.O. first rounder + our future firsts + seconds give us pretty good flexibility this year. That is why I believe that Morey is so confident about our team getting a significant upgrade by the time the playoffs roll around. He will let the youngsters duke it out in the beginning to see who is worth keeping and then round out the roster with veterans to get ready for the playoffs.
I'd love to make a deal or multiple deals with Denver. Their team is full of late 20-something "young veterans" that would be perfect for our bench. I say to hell with flexibility and go all-in with our current crop of guys. K-Pap, T.Jones and Covington for Gallinari Terry + pick(s) for Afflalo TPE + picks(s) for Wilson Chandler We'd still have a small TPE left over for a late season veteran or a playmaking backup PG. Our lineup would then be: Bev/Canaan/N. Johnson Harden/Afflalo/Trey Ariza/Chandler/Garcia Gallinari/D-Mo/Adrien Howard/Black/Capela Pros: 1. We get two guys capable of playing stretch PF to space the floor for Dwight and Harden 2. A ton of wing depth to weather injury, foul trouble, or ineffectiveness 3. Positional flexibility to matchup with various opponents 4. Cap space intact for summer of 2016 5. Our fast break stays intact 6. We add 2 plus defenders (maybe three idk how Gallinari's back is) Cons: 1. 2015 flexibility is gone 2. Potential bust if Gallinari doesn't recover from injury 3. Poor rebounding (somewhat mitigated by Trevor Ariza and Beverly crashing the boards) 4. Limited options to further upgrade roster 5. No playmaking whatsoever outside of Harden 6. May be giving up on TJ a bit early 7. Limited PT for Troy Daniels 8. Difficult to match up with big PF's like Griffin, Duncan, Aldridge, Z-Bo I'd feel comfortable that this team could match up in a 7 game series against anyone. Against the Clippers: We have no one to guard Griffin, but then again, who does? I feel comfortable that the Clips would have to double Harden leaving our shooters open. It would be up to our shooters to make shots and Dwight to use his strength to dominate DJ and Hawes. Against the Thunder: I am hopeful Ariza and Beverley would make Durant and WB work hard enough to get their buckets. Truth be told Durant and WB probably slightly outplay Harden and Dwight. Our success with this lineup against the Thunder hinges on the ability of our second unit to outplay the Thunder bench. I think this squad gives us a great chance to do so. Against the Spurs: I think our team already matched up well with them. Now we'd be even more potent with a stronger bench. I commend Morey for doing a great job thus far putting us in a position to get Harden and Dwight. With these two guys in their prime our window of opportunity is NOW. I think going after Bosh this summer was the right move even if it didn't pan out (I would've gone straight after Bosh rather than messing around with Melo), but the fascination with a "big three" is so overblown. It feels like we are waiting for a fastball down the middle rather than swinging at the hanging breaking ball. Why let perfect be the enemy of good? We've got the hard part down. We have the best player in the league at two positions. We have our anchors, we need pieces around them that fit. Guys who can be trusted to play to their strengths and not make mistakes. I'm looking forward to this season but man, the roster as-is inspires no confidence beyond Bev, Harden, Ariza, and Dwight. I'd hate to spend another season feeling like we are just waiting for the summer.
That's terrible for Denver, I don't think any amount of picks would make it happen. Plus Denver isn't looking to rebuild right now, they could make the playoffs with their roster PG: Lawson/Robinson SG: Afflalo/Foye/Harris SF: Gallo/Chandler PF: Faried/Arthur/Hickson C: Mozgov/Nurkic/McGee That's a very deep roster and they'll win a lot of games at home. They had the 3rd best record in 2012. Iggy --> Afflalo isn't a huge downgrade either.
