I'm having a difficult time understanding why we haven't signed Camby (or somebody else) yet. These last 2 games without Dwight/Bev on the road...we had no defensive umph other than Asik. What are we waiting for?
Can any insiders here verify whether or not whether the Rox have any front office people over in Europe trying to sign a free agent? I keep wondering if we are waiting for someobody over to come free after their Euro season. They're down to the elite 8 and everybody has about 2 games left before another 8 teams are eliminated. Some of those teams on the verge of elimination have some pretty decent players on them. Do we have any insiders that can give us any info on whether or not we are targeting a free agent to be over there?
Not an insider, but Morey did try to sign Papanikolaou for room exception, but he isn't a free agent and it was during the Euroleague season while his team was still undefeated.
I agree..... even if we were rolling & howard was healthy wouldve been nice to give howard a rest going into playoff and give asik 25-30 mins to get in shape. Lack of 3rd center is costing us we are a ankle injury away from losing a playoff series we have to hope asik & howard can go every night in playoffs
Yeah, that attempt plus knowing we picked off Beverley last year makes me wonder if we are holding out and trying to sign an actual free agent over there now. Otherwise, why not just bring in Camby for Greg Smith already? I'm wondering if Bev's injury has stalled Camby's signing? Can't think of any other reason why we wouldn't have already given Camby the Room MLE. Now with Lin dinged in his back still and Dwight and Bev both hurting I'm thinking we may possibly try to sign Camby and possibly a scorer/shooter type (McCalebb) just in case. That second player would necessitate probably Troy Daniels being waived...or maybe even Hamilton or Casspi being waived. Just combing through the Elite 8 here are some players who are on the verge of being eliminated and their seasons being over: 1. Bo McCalebb - on second season of a "2+1" contract. I am assuming that +1 is a team option that will be difficult for him to get out of so probably no play here. But he'd be a great fit with his quicks, shooting, and scoring if here were free. 2. Derrick Brown - his team is currently holding the last spot in the Elite 8. A loss or two could eliminate them and he's a free agent. A swingman but probably an upgrade over Hamilton. 3. Nik Caner-Medley - pending free agent whose team is on verge of elimination. Sweet shooting swingman. 4. Justin Dentmon - 6-foot point guard, 2 games left, team already eliminated, dude throws up about 7 3-balls a game and knocks down over 40% of them. has knocked around d-league before going to Europe. 5. Milan Macvan - 6'9" wide bodied PF/C, looks like Mr. Pudgie but can really play (think Scola here). 2 more games left and he's a free agent.
Jones will be back soon. There is no place in the rotation of Asik, Jones and D-Mo for Camby. I assume that if Camby is rostered it means that Howard is not coming back this season. It has been about 2 years since Camby contributed anything on the court.
No place in the rotation for Camby, agreed. However in the playoffs you need 3 guys that can play the middle. We just seen Dwight go down and we don't have anybody to stick in the middle. Contrary to all those defensive ratings you are pulling on DMo, DMo cannot man the middle defensively if Asik or Dwight go down. DMo is a sieve in the paint defensively unless he's playing with another great defensive big. That's why we need to get 3rd center. I suspect we're going to finally get around to signing Camby. But now with Bev and Lin both hurt.....point guard is coming into play as well. We may have to drop Smith and possibly Hamilton or Casspi for a point guard if Bev/Lin don't get healthy.
Camby or really any vet center would have been nice to have this past week or so, and for the next week, but after Dwight gets back they probably think they wouldn't be needed. Also note that Morey just got back from Europe 2 days ago. I'm sure he was there primarily to scout, but I wouldn't be surprised if he met with some agents and players while over there about potentially joining the Rockets either this year or next. Wouldn't be shocked if he met with Llull's representatives even if just a checkup knowing that bringing him over at this point just isn't going to happen. As Morey elluded to this morning on 790 the backup wing position is probably where they've seen the worst production & disappointment thus far this season, and the Beverley/Lin situation can't send warm fuzzies up your spine. I also have to think that there might be a possibility of Greg Smith coming back in a couple weeks as well. I know he had surgery months ago, but I think i recall his timeline being only a few months, and not the entire year. However if we get two weeks down the road and Smith A. has no indication that he's even trying to get back before the playoffs, and B. the Rockets haven't signed SOMEONE to help down the stretch ala Camby/Euro player/retired nba vet. etc. I will be quite shocked, and scratch my head as to why they didn't make that move unless for some reason they think getting Greg Smith next year to accept his 1 mil qualifying offer has some type of benefit to them.
Thought about putting Malcolm Delaney on this last but thought his shooting percentages were a little on the low side.
Really? Do you have the numbers to back that statement up since the beginning of 2014? I agree about the PG situation. Canaan is less than ideal. However I do not see any US point guards as being ready. Europe?
Hopefully we will find out the reasons why. However one thing is for sure, based on WINS from earlier this year against Elite & Playoff teams, the Rox can play a heck of a lot better than they have been lately without Howard, Bev, Jones, Camby and Smith...
DMo's +/- when he is on the court without Howard/Asik is ... not good. As far as Europe, I suppose Morey is probably interested in Delaney because of his defensive ability as well as his 3-point shot. He is 6'4" and has a good defensive reputation. Justin Dentmon is probably the much better shooter. He is flat out bombing over there. And I think Goudelock is still playing in the Eurocup. Goudelock can flat out light it up but his D is Aaron Brooksish. I haven't seen enough of Dentmon but I suspect his D must be trash also for Morey to be more interested in Delaney.
really comes down to is morey going to give the qualifying offer to greg smith. if he is them im against it to bring camby in but if he isnt them why not we have literally nothing to lose minus les monetary loss which i guess wouldn't be significant considering the leash he has allowed morey to have in the past 2 seasons especially
No reason to give Smith a qualifying offer. He's a minimum salary player....if he even gets a contract in the NBA.
on a side note, anyone think we should ship out lin and asik and sign hawes, mo williams, Ariza, Thabo during off season?
I am not seeing that. Well, that is not true. But I am not seeing that D-Mo, without Asik or Howard, in any lineup that is not garbage minutes is insufficient. http://stats.nba.com/teamLineups.html?TeamID=1610612745&pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=100&GroupQuantity=2
