2+2=A$$ets

[roslolian]

LOL ok, so maybe its because I just came off work but I really feel right now that D-Morey got Thunderstruck and lost his GM mojo to Danny Ferry, who used it to dump away one of the NBA's worst contracts.

TL DR version: WTF is going on?!

Long Version:

Ok, so basically most franchises go in 3 directions:

1. Tanking
2. Contending
3. the GM is trying to win as much as possible so he doesn't get fired (aka Mediocrity)

Most people would assume that the Rockets have been going direction 3 the past couple of years, but the truth is they were actually in limbo. They have all these a$$ets that they want to trade for a superstar, but no one wanted to play ball so they were waiting, building on the a$$et base little by little and that looked like option 3 to the outside looking in. I'm fine with that, "predatory moves" can result in dynasties (ie Gasol to LA), and sooner or later the a$$et base we've been building little by little is gonna be too big to decline.

The problem now is not that we don't know what the Rox are gonna do, that's not really anything new. Its that their moves don't make sense from a macro perspective. Every year of the Morey era I've been able to look at the moves and see that they build off of one another, basically you could see there was a method to the madness, whether its trading a potential star to win now (Battier trade) or trading win now for a potential star (Thabeet trade).

Now though I'm looking at the moves and I'm not seeing it all add up.

Rockets Options:

I. Tank
Ii. Cash in the A$$ets (aka Howard trade)
III. Get Predatory (wait and see mode)
IV. Linning (with Asik)

^The problem here is the moves we've done sort of bump against each other. Letting Dragic and Lee go, trading Lowry for draft pick smacks of tanking, but we're not tanking because we made those offers to Lin and Asik. Of course you might say "hey they're gonna match", but if Morey wants NY and Chicago to match, then why bother making offers in the first place? Also, if you're gonna tank isn't it 1 year too late? Why not tank during Mchale's first year, and in the deeper draft? Why start tanking in what's looking like a shallow draft?

If we're gonna trade for Howard, wouldn't it make sense to forego the Asik offer and retain Lee, Camby and Dragic? Lee is Howard's BFF, and he allows us to include Kmart or Lamb in a Howard trade. Camby's a vet who can back up Howard, and Dragic could be his sidekick. Also, I think chances are Chicago won't match, what happens if we have both these guys on the roster? We'll have around 25M for just one position? Isn't that insane?

If the plan is to be predatory and continue building up a$$ets, then why did we let Dragic walk? 8.5M isn't far from 8M, and unlike Lin we could have kept Dragic. Also why trade Lowry for just 1 lottery pick from the Raps, when it looks like they're gonna beast with Bargnani, Lowry and Valanciunas? That's just bad value, and letting Dragic and Lee leave for nothing is bad value as well.

And if we're in it to Lin it, then fine. But in that case, why trade Lowry prematurely, before we know for sure NYC won't match? What if NYC matches and we start the season with no pg? And where the F are the consolidation trades? And if you're gonna trade away Klow to clear space, then why not lock up Dragic to ensure you have your pg to pair with Asik? And why are there rumors of Brooks meeting with the team? If you combine Lin's contract with whatever we sign Brooks, wouldn't that be more than Dragic's?

The way I see it, the past few years the Rox haven't made moves which lock them up in one single direction, which make their moves tepid but really make them better overall. Now, it seems to me like they did moves which lock them up in opposite directions all at once, and I can't understand the logic behind it, unless at least one of the following is true:

*that SF we got from the Raptors is a can't miss prospect
*we're REALLY high on Scott Machado
*Lin is so much better than Dragic/we're confident we're signing Lin to a 0.5M per year cheaper contract
*There is no market for Lowry prior to the draft, even with Toronto, Portland, PHX looking for pointguards

Worst case scenario:
-NYC matches Lin offer, we have no pg
-Chicago matches Asik offer, we have no C
-Raptors make the playoffs the next 5 years and we get 2 second rounders
-Howard-Bynum trade goes down
-we sign Aaron Brooks to 8M per year
-Scott Machado, that SF are busts
-Scola/PP isn't moved, we start the season with like 3 guards and 12 PFs.

Goddamn, maybe Morey is playing 3D chess here and I'm gonna look like an idiot, but so far I'm just plain lost.

[javal_lon]

Yes, more Morey talk!!!

[jim1961]

The thing to do is see who is around in October. All will be clear then.