[ClutchFans] Morey: Rockets lack third-best player on a championship team

We don't need a 3rd star. We need a bench. We are making our starters play to many minutes.

 

In math, you count by going 1, 2, 3. I have never heard of anyone who count 2, 2, 3 or 2, 3, 3.

If the Rockets win a championship with a core of Love, Dwight, and Harden, one of them is the #1 player on the team.

 

He's just playing his Excuse, what a smart fat ass.LOL

 

This team needed Luol Deng.

Depth = Nonexistent

 

Yeah our bench is horrific. Hopefully it gets upgraded at the deadline.

 

THIS!

 

So who is the 3rd star for indy or okc? If 3rd star is the only way,no one will win a title till miami breaks up. That might be the case I guess. I think parsons is close enough unless u can get rondo and still keep parsons.

 

Actually, this tells us more than what there appears to be at first glance. Morey is committed to getting the 3rd star. Parsons is not it.....yet.

So this means Parsons is not going to get in the way of us getting a star. Which comes back to the real question.....is Les willing to pay for a 3rd star and Parsons new contract.

Either way, my faith in Morey is restored (not that it was ever really lost).

 

Morey's strategy to build a good team is to get as many stars as you can. We might end up with Carmelo and Joe Johnson on this team in the future.

Maybe Morey's right: to win, you get a star, then another one, and another one.

 

there is no such thing as guarantee.
IMO Morey is human and makes humane mistakes.
He is better than Dawson. I'll give him that. Results are similar or not there yet.

 

The bench is not an issue until we are really competing. Until then, it falls a distant 2nd to getting the 3rd star. THEN, and only then, can we start to worry about building a bench.

When Morey looks at TJones, Parsons, Lin and Asik, he asks, "will this player become a star?". If the answer is no, he's not thinking about how they fit in as long term role players (other than maybe Parsons, and only because of his contract structure/timing)....he's thinking about what their trade value is.

Once we get the 3rd star, we will have the MLE and other exceptions to build the bench. It will all work out fine, we just need to be patient. It could be another year or 2 before we are really contenders.

 

I agree. Look around the league. Which teams have the legitimate three stars? Heat, maybe Spurs. That's about it. Keep in mind that both James and Wade took a pay cut to play together. Plus, they were able to attract veteran productive players, such as Allen, to fill the bench. Even that, they are still well over the salary cap. The chance for us to sign the 3rd star out right is slim if not impossible. I'd rather keep the core (JH, DH, Parsons, Jones and Lin) and build on the chemistry. The best case is one of the last three developed into a more consistent player (I do have high hopes for all three of them). Plus, we also need to strike some lucks on finding cheap young productive player(s) and/or attractive veteran productive players, such as Allen.

 

I agree that Morey makes mistakes, but let's not short change him. No one has ever done what he did....ie. take a mediocre team with 2 broken stars and rebuild it into a potential championship caliber team without tanking.

Morey may never win manager of the year, but he should run away with manager of the upcoming decade.

 

Pat Riley gathered together King James and Bosh with Wade the same summer Morey tried to get him with the Toyota Tundras and IPads.

If Morey can get his finger on James, Durant or George he is among the best in history. This is my word. James and Durant before the age of 33.

 

That you listed Miami and SA as examples of teams having 3 stars proves that it's really the only way to ensure you have a championship caliber team. No other route gives you near that level of certainty.

And the rockets do have a clear path to getting the 3rd star.....2015 free agency. Is that preferred?...no, but it is absolutely an option they have. Again, when Lin and Asik come off the books in 2015, the rockets can have enough cap space to sign a star outright.

 

I think that this team needs a much better bench, better coaching, and definitely need better shooters for sure. Sounds like the Bulls are high on Dunleavy and do not want to give him up. We do have to make some trades though if we want to make it far in the playoffs. We should be willing to give up Garcia, Brooks, Casspi, Brewer, Jones, Lin, Asik, D-Mo, Beverley, and pretty much everyone but Harden, Parsons, and Howard. If trading any of those guys can get us even slightly better players for our bench then we need to pull the trigger. I think that any trade could happen at any time. It is just a matter of Morey pulling the trigger.

As for obtaining another star, I think there are only two realistic options, Rondo or Durant. I don't think K-Love, Anthony, or Aldridge come here. Aldridge seems to be happy in Portland now that his team is winning games. While Anthony and K-Love seem to already have a list of teams that they want to play for. The Rockets are not on either of their lists.

I think between Rondo and Durant the easier of the two to acquire would be Rondo of course. We could not get Durant until 2016 and the only way we could get him is through a sign and trade or a straight up trade. We would probably have to give up Parsons, tons of draft picks, and other players just to match Durant's salary. With Rondo, I think that the Celtics are in full on tank mode now. I think he can be had for Asik, Lin, and a draft pick. The only reason I say Lin and Asik is that it makes it work financially. Obviously we could probably pry some other players from them as well. Not sure who else we would want though.

 

You are completely talking out of your ass.

 

As much as I love Parsons and Lin, I rank Ibaka/Reggie Jackson and West/Stephenson WAY above them as 3rd/4th options.

 

::casts vote for Terrence Jones::

 

This. Guy is getting better and better on both sides of the ball.