Will post link to podcast later when it comes available. Spoiler H: How's it going? DM: Hows it going Brian, Marc? H: A lot of places Miller could've ended up. DM: Yeah, Chicago, Cleveland. A lot of quality guys and good coach which might of helped us in our favor. H: What does he bring? DM: High post guy with passing. Quality 5, in a year where Yao will have limited minutes. Hill can challenge over time for minutes at the 5. H: Report that Rockets brass not confident in Yao? DM: I guess the old Yao Ming connection in Wisconsin. He's fine. In China right now. Surprised about that report. ... H: Rockets have won 61% of games since you took over. You are over the cap. Has Les given you a hard cap? DM: No, think its gonna be a special year. No way we werent going to be over the cap. Credit Mr Alexander. Key year for us. .... H: What did you learn from SL? DM: We liked guys on the team. Taylor showed some good things. Chase started slow but had a great game in the end. Hill showed improvement early on. Focus wasnt quite there. Patrick did what we were looking for. Smith could get or challenge that 3rd PG spot. H: Minutes for Patterson? DM: Limited. Feel we're set up like when we had Yao, Tracy, Ron. Hedged pretty well. Got mix of young and old guys. Allows young guys to push the vets. [Mentioned Von Wafer from back then and how he surprised them then, which is why he got minutes.] H: [Missed question] Got size and athletcism. Put importance on this year. Didnt want to have to count on Hill so we brought in Brad on a reasonable contract. If he can beat him out for minutes, good, if not, we got Miller. Again, credit Les for allowing us to do this. Best of both worlds we feel. H: When you look at 2 and the 3, tough to get playing time. DM: Yeah, huge battle for minutes. Want the best man to win. Shows we're 2 deep. H: You got many assets. Are you done? DM: FA-wise, likely done. Might bring in guys on non-guaranteed deals[again mentioned 3rd PG job]. Everything else is through trade. H: You have the assets for S&T for Paul, would you consider that? DM: Wouldnt be a S&T but I cant comment on other players. We're set up well for such a situation if/when it came to that. .... H: Thanks for joining us. DM: Thanks, talk to you soon.
Just that Paul does not need to be SIGNED then traded. He is already signed. I think the host just threw out that phrase without knowing what it meant.
I'm no cap expert/captologist or anything like that so I could be wrong on this but Paul is not a FA, therefor no S&T. Edit: Others already said it. And nice, better recap mogrod. More detailed.
A couple of other interesting things. DM mentioned towards the beginning without a question directed at him that they are set up to make a move between now and the trading deadline, which leads me to believe that Morey is still working to get a star caliber player. When asked about CP3 he mentioned that trading for a star caliber player like Chris is rare and difficult and the only time is when a player is unhappy and is trying to force a trade. But if and when a palyer like Chris is available, the Rox will definitely be in the mix. He also also threw in that Miller's contract was fair ... he had to have read comments on the GARM to have made that comment.
CP3 + Okafor combines salary for 2010-11: $26,735,153 (min trade value: $19,951,364) Brooks + Patterson + Hill + Battier (expiring) + Jeffries (expiring) = $20,822,792 Trade sweeteners: $3M max cash, right to swap 2011 NY pick, 2012 NY pick, future HOU pick/s, rights to Llull & Eliyahu. The Rockets would be adding another $5.9M ($11.8M incl. tax) to their payroll. Paul, Lowry Martin, Taylor Ariza, Budinger Scola, Okafor, Andersen Miller, Yao, Hayes Brooks (RFA), Collison Thornton (RFA), Battier (expiring) Peja (expiring), Posey, Wright (RFA) West (ETO), Patterson, Songaila (expiring) Hill, Jeffries (expiring) 2011-12 Brooks (RFA), Collison Thornton (RFA) Posey, Wright (RFA) West (ETO), Patterson Hill
wow. Chase has as much ability as anyone he's had on a team. that's pretty strong praise... or is it increasing trade value :grin:
I would do it. Love Brooks, but Paul is a special talent. If we could somehow get him without losing Brooks, even better...then we could upgrade even more elsewhere. By the way, off-topic question worzel gummidge...your user name sounds familiar from the old days, but it says you only registered in 2008, did you have a previous account with that name or a similar name?
Morey has flat out said that -- in terms of raw basketball skills -- chase has an ultra high level, as high as anyone on the team. he noted that chase went to basketball camps as a kid and so he has been trained in the fundamentals well. The inference is that Chase's upside is dependent on his heart and head.
Lik I said in the realgm thread, he's only targeting superstar talent and is ready whenever one becomes available. AI isn't that superstar. Funny how people want something to happen so bad, they don't want to hear the truth...
Not only do you have Miller ahead of Yao, which is laughable in any scenario where Yao is remotely healthy, but on a team with Okafor, you have Miller over him as well? That makes no sense. In the event Yao was unable to log significant minutes, Okafor would start at center.