[Chron] Instead of a quick fix, Rockets might play the waiting game

finally some news..

 

I know Morey's logic is correct, but damn, it's going to be a long summer if we're going to wait until a couple of months into the season before the roster shakeup starts.

 

nice of him to mention manu with those other superstars. mr manu will suck a big one by then. or at least not good enough to give a max contract to.

 

LOL, at all this talk to building up the value of expiring contracts to fans. It's not like the league is devoid of expiring contracts except for the Rockets.

 

well we do have tradeable assets and 9 mil in expiring contracts so i guess you never know. i do think barry (if healthy) is a solid upgrade over bjax and head. the problem is barry has never been super healthy and he missed 50 games last year on the wrong side of 35. i have no problem with the plan because i think overpaying for posey with a long term deal isn't smart either. there just aren't a lot of options if management doesn't feel that the premier guy left on the market (maggette) is a good fit for the team or adelman.

here's to hoping things work out for the best

 

I don't mind taking that approach , it has worked for other team in the past and in mid season we will certnaily have a lot more options.

With that said , IF until the deadline this doesn't work out.
We better be ready to take a chance on Artest and pray everything works out well because with the addition of only Brent Barry it will just be 1st round exit again.

 

Except for half of these teams, they prefer to NOT deal them because they'd rather have cap space(or manuverbility under the luxury tax line) the following summer. In addition, teams trade good players because they're overpaid or is aging. Most teams don't have any use for them. Only win-now teams.

Having expirings doesn't guarantee landing an impact player. But NOT having expirings insure that you won't.

 

If the Rockets are forced to sign Landry for the full MLE. I fully expect to see those expiring contracts traded for less salary rather than acquire an impact player.

Also expirings might not be enough. Ron Artest this season is an example of that.

 

I don't see the rockets releasing anyone other than Harris, Wood, and possibly Francis. I see us moving Francis, Luther, Chuck, or Jackson before the season starts. Well...it's Les' money, so he can cut one of them if he wants.

 

If they are expiring contracts, who would go farther into their salaries to save money, when they could just retain cap space by doing nothing?

 

Not only that,there are many other offers which can trump what the Rockets can do.
Edit: They should consider adding Mo Evans with part of the MLE if they can stay under the luxury tax. He could be a player that could be added to the expiring contracts or retained as well.

 

Well i see where he is coming from, 5.9 million is not alot and cant do alot in this league, its just that we are in a bad situation now and we probraly have to play the waiting because its not easy doing the celtics because where are we gonna find two teams that would accept junk, we don't have a high pick we just have expirings

 

If the Rockets head into luxury tax territory they could try to minimise tax or get back under by trading away their expiring contracts for 25% less in salary back.

 

I doubt he'll be available by then. It's probably for the best. The one good thing from that article is the Rockets admitting they need a third impact player.

 

I dont see Jackson going anywhere unless another team is willing to make a salary dump and if they do move him it would be to another playoff team.

Head is almost impossible to move.
Francis same as Head.

Jackson and Hayes is the most movable pieces. I dont expect much of anything unless Portland makes a run at T-Mac and Battier.

 

The owner will talk and dangle the carrot of spending the $$ to put together a real contending team if the pieces are available.

But in the end he will always look deep into his wallet with a tear in his eye and get second thoughts. If history has shown us anything, Les Alexander will never spend even $1 of luxury tax on this team.

Sure there are plenty of other teams that have not and do not pay the L tax either and have been quite successful. However those teams don't have a decade of botched drafts, roster moves, and cap management to make up for. The owner has been in essence making the fans pay for his poor decisions over the past 11 years, instead of owning up to them himself.

 

I can't find any fault with Morey's strategy because, realistically, his options really are limited in what he can do.

However, as an outside observer, I have to question the optimism that enables the assumption that an impact player can be picked up with the expiring monies. Off the top of my head, both Cleveland and Portland have bigger expiring contracts at their disposal, and both teams are in a position to "win now."

I'm highly skeptical that Morey will be able to pull anything off for the expiring contracts. I think if a major shakeup is to occur, Battier will have to be dealt.

 

Well as long as our trade before deadline doesn't shake up the roster quite a bit I will be happy, I would prefer any roster shaker type trade to happen pre-season so the group of guys get used to each other in training camp/pre-season games.

We all saw how those 2 'transform a team from a pretender to contender blockbuster trades' worked out mid season... both teams looked lost for at least a month.