David West testing FA could be huge for Rockets! Chris Paul?l!

We would be able to sign Paul and Howard if we make those trades. The only committed salaries we have after next season are Scola, Lowry, and Martin, + our new rookies.

We should have enough space to sign Howard outright, in which case there's not a lot of need to trade for Paul. Paul is better than Lowry, but Lowry is a lot cheaper which would give us room to sign a pretty good additional free agent. A team like this would be a contender if Morris develops:
Howard / Scola / Morris / Lowry / Martin.
Bench: Patpat, Lee, Dragic, DMo

If we signed Paul too we'd have to dump Lowry and probably Scola as well.

Neither Paul nor Howard can sign with NYK. They have no space unless they dump either Melo or Amare. In fact none of the glamour cities have space.

 

I think Williams may be warming to the Nets, as it looks like the Brooklyn move may really happen. That being said, their future is lukewarm since the only other good player they have is Lopez. They have some wasted cap space on their team (notably Travis Outlaw $7m), which hinders their ability to sign FAs. Since they gave up their pick this year, it will also likely take them at least 2 seasons to get back into contention. I don't think he's an ideal fit for the Rockets since we have Lowry, but he would certainly be an upgrade.

Paul is a lot better than Williams. Williams may have done better head-2-head. But Paul has a significantly better A/TO ratio (>4!) and has one of the highest steal rates in league history (about equal with Jordan and more than twice the rate of DWill).

 

I agree, trade for a 2012 super free agent now and try to get a leg up on the competition. Otherwise, we'll probably just lose out to the glamour cities.

 

The glamour cities will not have space in 2012. Chicago, NY, LA, and Miami all have contracts tied up past then.

 

What about New Jersey, Golden State, Boston and maybe even San Antonio (championship history)?

These cities are more glamour than Houston.

 

Thank god some people are starting to realize why do we have a chance to pair up CP3 (or Dwill) and D12 in H town (along with other teams)

You know why Melo could demand a trade to the Knicks? Because the Knicks had the cap space to sign him in FA.

If the Knicks didn´t have the cap, Denver would choose the best trading partner, but because Melo could just sign in FA, Melo and the Knicks had the leverage (and Melo would lose money if he went to FA, but still Denver had no leverage).

Cp3 and Jack

for

Scola, lorwy and KM

People will say that we are overpaying, but I don´t care, the difficult part is to get the first one, the second superstar will come naturally.

By doing this, we give up a lot of talent on good contracts, for the ability to have the best PG in the league, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, we are giving us, the opportunity to guarantee CP3, that we can get D12, ether with a trade or FA.

And for D12, he can now demand a trade to pair with CP3, because Houston has the cap space in 2012 to sign him, and Orlando, would have a very easy question to answer, do we let him go for nothing because he will sign with Houston in FA, or we get some young cheap talent plus picks back, and start getting young, until Arenas and Turkoglu horrible contracts expire??

And this is the reason why that Biedrins trade would be awesome, we need him, to trade for D12 at the trade deadline, we need bigger contracts (not just big contracts, Biedrins injury free, in that contract is a bargain considering production/age), so we can overpay for the first superstar which will be the more difficult to get

In summary, the team that will pair both CP3 and D12, will be the team that after trading for the first superstar, has the cap space in 2012 to sign the other guy, having all the leverage when negotiating with the other superstar team, that is why I go all-in in that trade scenario I just made.

(this of course under the current CBA)

PS: And I am sorry to tell a lot (apparently) of guys in here, CP3>>>>>>Lowry (Lowry is still a great player)

PeAcE

 

My thoughts exactly which is why if traded he'd be moved to the Lakers imo. And that could be a harsh reality.

 

If the Kings move to Southern California, there's another contender.

 

If your goal's really a championship, their coaching staff and FO is probably your best shot.

 

Wow. Excuse me if I'm being presumptuous, but do you live in America? NJ and Golden State are two of the worst franchises the league has known and are in places where nobody cares about basketball. NJ may have some cache once they move to Brooklyn, but who knows if that will ever happen.

Boston and SA are a little more reasonable given their championship history, but all their good players will be very very old in 2012. Not good places to go if you want to win. We have a better window.

 

Market Share
1) New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA - 21,976,224
2) Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA - 17,775,984
3) Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI - 9,725,317
4) Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV - 8,211,213
5) Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH - 7,465,634
6) San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA - 7,228,948
7) Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD - 6,382,714
8) Dallas-Fort Worth, TX - 6,359,758
9) Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX - 5,641,077


San Fran has a bigger market share than Houston. It's a much more glamourous city in terms of lifestyle, it's closer to LA (if Dwight Howard really wants to be a movie star) and Jerry West is now the GM.

I really don't see how Houston is a better place to sign. *shrugs*

 

It's not just market share. Sure, SF and other places are more popular tourist cities, but that is not how this works. Players do consider whether a team is run well and whether they will have a chance to win the championship.

Name a top player who has ever campaigned to get to Golden State, NJ, or Philly. That's right ... you can't. Even the Clippers in LA have had one player in history want to play for them: Baron Davis, and look how that turned out.

Meanwhile we've had Clyde, Barkley, Francis, and TMac all push hard to come here, and many other players have ties to Houston as well.

 

Well I think Clippers would be williing to pay up, if they have a chance to land Chris Paul and team him up with Blake "The Beast" Griffin. If anything it would make resigning both easier, given that it would really propel the Clippers towards a place they've never been before, the top of the west.

As far as assets, we still have no asset that can match Minnesota's "unprotected" 1st round pick in the very loaded 2012 NBA Draft. That pick alone really separates them from any other team that might go after Chris Paul.

 

1.The Clippers would first want to be in on any CP deal (probable but not for sure)

 

#2 CP would have to want to go to the Clippers (Not certain)

 

The Clips have a habit of ruining every opportunity they ever get and insulting everyone they employ. I think Chris Paul may be aware of this.

 

Young black men typically don't want to live in New Jersey, Boston, or San Antonio. Oakland does have some appeal but most of that is taken away by the team playing their being the Warriors. Houston is easily a more preferable destination for a majority of NBA players than any of those four.

 

I'm not up on my Warriors, NJ, Philly free agent history, so I'll just have to believe you.

The players that have wanted to come here do so because of other options on the roster (Hakeem and Yao) rather than the city itself, except Francis.

All I'm saying is right now Golden State (West has rings to show as a GM, Morey does not) and the Nets (a better foundation and the premier city) offer as much if not more to a free agent than Houston. I just don't think you should be so quick to assume we are alone in the second tier of free agent destinations after the Lakers, Bulls and Knicks. We are one of a few teams in that second tier and Boston is probably the big free agent destination in 2012. They only have Rondo signed long-term.

We need a proactive approach to free agent recruitment, instead of deluding ourselves into thinking max money and an inherent appeal of the organization and city will be enough to lure free agents.

 

New Jersey = NYC

Then throw in the fact that a young, black businessman is part-owner and I think it's as desirable to young, black men as Houston.