ESPN Marc Stein: Rockets long known to be Josh Smith fans

No you don't, if you sign Dwight first, you only need to match to 150% on the s&t for Smith, since we're not a tax payer, we can take on more than we send out.

 

Morey will trade for Dwight and keep the cap room to sign J-Smoove...

 

Couldn't Smith accept less than a max contract to join the superteam?

 

I would love to have Smith here. The fact is he is a bigtime impact player. Without him where would the Hawks be? Instead of competing for playoff position they'd probably competing with the Bobcats for draft position.

He would bolster our defense and give us shot blocking at the 4 position, something we've been lacking for many years (lolscola).

 

Dwight + Lin > Dwight + J. Smith

 

That's an awful trade for Boston. They'd never do that. They'd have to be like 100% sure that Lin will become a star.

 

Al Horford and Jeff Teague have contributed as much as Smith on that team. Kyler Korver too. Lou Williams was solid as well prior to injury. The problem i have with having Dwight and Smith on the same team is the free throw shooting. Smith 50% FT, Dwight 49% FT, and neither can shoot jumpers. Teams would just clog the paint and there won't be enough space for Harden to attack the paint. I prefer having a stretch 4 to pair with Dwight.

 

agree. zero court smarts between these two.

variation to one of the above ideas: sign Dwight as FA and sign-and-trade Asik for Milsap.

Dwight-Milsap-Parsons-Harden-Lin is a great combination of athleticism, experience, offense, defense and court smarts.

 

its sad being in the minority on dwight howard....even tho he is in the process of hurting a second team...

 

There's nothing wrong with Dwight's basketball IQ. He doesn't give a crap this year for various reasons, but he knows how to play the game. There are 4 players in the NBA who in the eyes of the Rockets and the rest of the league are worth MORE than a max contract (Lebron, Paul, Durant, Howard) . Howard is one of them. People are completely jaded by this season with the Lakers. He was kicking ass on a very average Magic team the last 4 seasons.

Omer Asik is playing great ball right now, but he's not in Dwight's league. The good news for the Rockets is Asik's trade value is going to be through the roof this offseason. I think the Rockets sign Howard outright in FA and move Asik + young players for a young stud at another position.

 

I do not want Josh Smith with Dwight, for the simple fact that both will be taking shots from The Beard. All we need is Dwight, the one that grabs 20 rebounds, not the one killing the coach and the franchise. If Dwight wants a fresh start and a renew presence, he should come to Houston, but I'm not holding my breath on this flip flopper.

 

Howard and smith are bad FT/FG shooters but They are game changer defensively.. Something the rockets lack

 

I really think Asik is going to be a top 5 Center soon. I would love Aldridge paired with him. However I would also like Howard and Aldridge. Either of those front courts would be dominating.

 

And that young stud may very well be Kevin Love. The scenario you laid out is what I see happening if we sign Dwight outright. Minny is likely going to lose Pekovic to free agency. All reports are they don't want to pay him big money. They'll need a center and getting Asik plus a couple other guys like TJones and Royce White on rookie deals is probably going to be hard to top in the trade market. It's a matter of them coming to the conclusion that Love is leaving them in 2 years. They can't let him get to his last year (like Josh Smith is currently) before they decide to move him because teams like Houston will be sitting there ready to sign him outright. And if Dwight and Harden are here, it's a no-brainer for Love in free agency to sign here. So Minnesota has to move him next year or risk him becoming a decaying value trade asset as he plays out the last season of his contract in 14/15.

Morey has valued Josh Smith in the past simply because he is such a game changer defensively. That doesn't mean Smith currently has great value to Morey based on what the possibilities are with Dwight and Love and this team in the near future.

By the way, all these media types and superfans and NBA people that are saying Ferry won't give Smith away, that he will hold him for a king's ransom...that's foolish. Smith is on an expiring contract. He can decide where he wants to play next season. The question is what incentive does Josh Smith have to sign a 3-year extension at this point? The short answer is NONE. You might make a case that Smith would be willing to sign a 3-yr extension in able to be traded to a team that does not have cap space this summer...like Boston, so that he can play for a perennial playoff contender. But how many teams are locks to be playoff contenders for the next 3 seasons?? That's very difficult. Ferry is under the gun to trade Smith for anything of value before Smith walks away from him this summer for nothing. All this talk about trading a pile of assets for him is pure garbage. Won't happen. Ferry will be very, very fortunate to walk away with ONE young player with potential on a rookie contract and expiring contracts for Smith at this point. And he's likely to take any deal that offers him just that.

As for Morey, he will likely do a deal that uses up the remainder of his cap space, gives him a first round pick, and puts him in a position with cap holds to operate above the cap in 13/14 or below the cap in 13/14. So, I can see Morey trading for Smith if he can get him for Aldrich, Douglas, and PPat while sending a player like Morris to Chicago for RIP and a first rounder. ATL gets the expiring contracts of RIP, Aldrich, and Douglas and they get one good young player in PPat. That is about the max trade value for Smith.

For that matter, same thing applies to Paul Millsap. If Morey can leverge PPat and Morris into a first rounder and Paul Millsap, I think he does the trade and I think he trades for Millsap before he trades for Smith.

In any wise, Smith and Millsap aren't worth more than one young player on the trade market. If they are traded for more than that, it is either with the assurances that they will agree to an extension after the trade or the team that trades for them simply has overpaid.

 

This sounds about right. I do, however, hope Morey doesn't over-value his assets. Average young talent like Morris or Greg Smith isnt gonna do it. Pat or Jones might. I'd really like to get Smoove in here for the playoff run, as I think it would do two fold:
1). Increase our chances of getting past the 1st round, thus showing teams we're not far away from contention.
2). I think we are far more likely to resign Smith to a reasonable deal ($13 mil) if he gets a first-hand experience playing and winning with the organization over the next few months.

 

Seconded.

 

done?

 

I expect to get worse at the trade deadline. That's the fate of a team that really has a low ceiling when it comes to these playoffs. We need to be thinking long term. Guys like Delfino, Douglas, Aldrich will be free agents by the summer anyways. Might as well get something in return for them.

 

Let Harden do the talking, Morey.

 

I believe Douglas is restricted and Delfino has a team option at just $3 mil, but I agree that Aldrich should be moved for something...if possible. Probably a 2nd rounder.