I like Gortat's very reasonable contract. Only about 7.73 mil in his final year for the soon-to-be 29 year old which is really good in today's nba. He can be a nice asset for deals down the line.
They currently have 2 all-stars(one of em is the best point guard in the nba) and the deepest bench in the league.
Id say be picky in free agency. We have to be the most appealing destination with Harden, Asik, Parsons and all the young players and all that cap room. Plus free agency this year and 2014 has to be one of the best classes in recent memory. I think we are destination #1 when you can take away LAC, LAL, MIA, MEMP, NYK, BKN, OKC, BOS, etc. being all capped out. Significant starting upgrades: J Smith, Millsap, D12, CP3, Al Jefferson, Iguodala, D. West, E. Bledsoe, R. Gay, Randolph, T. Allen, Bosh, Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Cousins, Calderon Significant vet bench guys: J. Jack, Granger, C. Butler, Jamison, S. Blake, Battier, M. Miller, Budinger, Pekovic, Kirilenko, K-Mart, Redick, Gortat, N. Young, Splitter, P. Mills, Ginobili, D. Blair, S. Jack, G. Neal, N. DeColo
The Rockets used their 5 year signing on Harden. The second star will more likely be through trade than free agency.
I think the best deal is to trade one of Patterson/Morris for a pick (best if it's the Rockets pick owed to Atlanta to help us get flexibility to trade 1st round picks back), and use the cap space to get Chicago's 1st round pick + take on Rip Hamilton's $5M contract this year + $1M expiring contract next year. And keep the cap space for next year open for 2nd tier guys like Millsap/Smith, or to have a combination of cap space, picks and players available to make a free agency/trade run next year. Selling one of Patterson/Morris will hopefully open up some time for DMo and/or Jones, which they could do with. We need some length (height or wingspan) in the PF spot.
I think Patterson is likely gone. Morris hasn't played well enough to be worthy for another team. And he has another cheap year. Patterson is about to be a RFA in 2 years and not worth getting a raise from us. But overall, I think the Rockets mentality is to w**** as many draft picks as possible. You need those picks to pick up a 2nd star, or try to develop one from within. Normally I'd agree, but recent problems have made me feel otherwise. The Rockets are really shallow right now at all perimeter positions despite trying to play small ball. They desperately need more depth and young talent. Hence why they signed Anderson and Beverley in the first place. A 14th pick this year would be quite helpful in this regards. Don't get me wrong, I'd take 8th seed and 1st round demolition over 14th pick. But it wouldn't be the worst thing to be a 42-44 win team and missing out on the playoffs.
Morey might be smart but his statistics basketball strategy is failing big time so he should just stick to trading and finances rather than the basketball side of things.
I like this thinking by Morey. I predict that Morey will be widely hated on this board before it's over, but it will be for the best. The 2014 free agent class is basically the 2010 class again...what we don't want to do is blow our load early like the Pistons did in 2009 with Villanueva and Gordon. Be patient, and let the second star come to us. I know we hate the wait to be successful, but I love the fact we have the youngest team in the NBA and we can afford to grow together. I think we'll be watching Harden, Parsons, Asik, Lin, one of Morris/Patterson, one of T. Jones/Motiejunas, and Beverly for a long time. We'll grow to love them.
Well Morey now your thinking, even though we desperately want same to bring a little more spice to help harden, it actually would work out better in the long run if we maybe picked up a average player like reddick, d.will, or brandon bass to help us build through the year as we mount up for the next year. If we make a move now for an borderline all star with a big contract we'd be fighting the cap, we don't mind waiting Morey its a young team with a lot of potential, take your time my friend and make the right move.
hope your delivered to us, screw it pull a Dwight and say you don't wanna go anywhere but Houston... lol, its bout time the stars showed us some love:grin:
Can some one form a petition for new jerseys, I don't know why they have our Rockets running around in those loose trash bags.. rather see the throwbacks every night, at least those are built like actual jerseys..
You should check out his AMA on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10mrkx/iam_the_houston_rockets_gm_ama/ The funniest part was when someone asked him what Yao was like in person:
Yep, and fire The entire coaching staff in the offseason because you can't really judge what the Rockets have with horrible coaching.
