Cannot let this play-off run cloud your judgment: Morey HAS to get another creator, by whatever means necessary. Only Howard, Harden & Ariza are untouchable imo.
I want team stablility and chemistry. I don't think bring in another superstar necessarily helps things, especially if you have to gut your bench. What I WANT is a superior coaching staff around McHale that forces all of our current guys to play to their full potential every time while ALSO greatly improving by leaps and bounds. The roster can remain stable or change all it wants, but the foundations and systems of the team are built on sand, and that needs to change or no roster will get you a championship.
There's more to life than shooting 3 pointers. Motiejunas, Jones, Capela, Beverley, McDaniels, Nick Johnson, and Paps all have potential to be markedly better next season than they were this season. If Capela is suddenly a monster next season, it'll still help the bottom line even if he can't shoot 3s. Sure, go ahead and get good shooters too, but it's not like the secret to organic growth is only shooting.
I see something like this minus Smith, unless a whale decides to come to Houston. Rockets have Paps, Prig, and Dorsey as flotsam in a trade for a team that wants to cut salary before 2016.
This is not news to me. His plan has been laid out since before Harden ever got here. Incremental improvements until a viable foundation is formed. Small tweaks afterwards. That's exactly what we have seen in my opinion.
He said the exact same thing in his Grantland interview with Bill Simmons a while back. He said he was happy with the core and this was the best team he's ever fielded. "Small to medium changes" is what he said was going to happen at the most.
If you dump papa, prigs, bev, and somehow Dorsey you can resign everyone maybe KJ too and use the MLE on Llull. Llull/NJ Harden/terry Ariza/brewer/KJ Dmo/smith/jones Howard/Capela That's crazy depth right there and opportunities abound to move someone. Wouldn't surprise me to see jones and # 18 be moved for a future first rounder. Going to war with this group might be enough in Moreys mind apparently he is really high on LLull. Maybe he's enough.
Thanks for posting this. Even Harden recognizes that another playmaker is needed to relieve some pressure from him. Look, if the Rockets are hitting their 3s, we look good. Otherwise, this team looks, at times, painful to watch. If the offense does not implement constant movement like GS or the Spurs, then it is obvious that the first order of business is to get a damn pg who is not 70 years old. Back on topic, keep the core intact and get rid of players McHale had no trust in using in these playoffs: Dorsey, Johnson and Papa.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">James Harden wants the Rockets to get a PG/SG?: Yeah definitely, that’s one of the conversations that me and Daryl (Morey) are going to have</p>— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/604308606654234624">May 29, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I like yours and Will's takes. Whether we are a contender as is depends on whether our two stars have what it takes to win championships. TBH, I still cannot decide. And I don't know if Morey has. Last offseason, it was clear to me that Morey did not have enough faith in H&H and he tried all he could to land another star. After this past season, he seems to have gained more faith, mostly because of Harden's improvement, especially in the playoffs. Howard has passed his peak and is not going to get any better. The only question is how much longer is he able to play before he steeply declines. This is not an idle question because Howard's game depends largely on his physical abilities. And the answer is hard to predict. Harden is still young and still can improve. I think he has peaked in terms of skills but his mental game is the major concern. Will he be able to perform at an elite level every single game during the playoffs? Will he be able to take over in a positive way when the team is down? And here is a big one: Can Harden play well with another playmaker? Can he play in a structured system or is he just a better Josh Smith? There are lots of questions we will find out about Harden in the next season or two. That said, I don't think Morey is going to get rid of him any time soon. It's just bad business getting rid of your franchise player unless he wants out. So even if he turns out to be irreparably flawed, he's what we have and we'll roll the dice with him, maybe bringing in one more star like what Morey tried in the past. And then there is the question of player development. Motiejunas and Capela are promising to get better. Will they reach a level where they can be stars, or at least top level role players? I have given up on Jones. He has stopped improving. I think he has hit his ceiling. He is good but not reliable. Beverley looks like he has peaked too. He is good to have but not as a starter. Papanikolaou has potential too, if he can improve on his shooting. But his contract is not good value at this point and I think Morey is not going to wait for his development. Knowing Morey, he is not going to rest. While he might be honest about stability at this point, I am totally certain that the moment something good is available, he will jump on it and throw all the stability/chemistry talk out the window. Aldridge and Gasol would definitely make us better. I am not sure about Love. I used to want him and defend against his critics. Now I am inclining more and more toward agreeing with those who say he is just empty stats. The PG position is obviously the top priority. Lawson and Lowry would be perfect. Llull is a big unknown, both on his availability and his ability. What we all know is that Beverley/Terry/Prigioni is not going to cut it.
Good, glad Harden is at that level that he feels comfortable asking Morey for help. The load Harden had to carry on offense was just way too much, probably the most since Lebron in 2007.
I'd be stunned if that happened. Morey's gonna do everything he can to find someone. Now it wouldn't surprise me if the price is too steep for guys like Lawson, Collison, or Lowry to see Bev return as the starter, a backup PG brought in, and Terry as the 3rd stringer. But that would likely be a short-term solution until Morey can get something done before the trade deadline. I still think something will get done this offseason though. When even Harden is openly demanding help at the PG spot, Morey knows he can't neglect that position any longer.
I will believe it when I see it. I just can't see him largely standing pat rather than going out and chasing another "key to a championship formula."
He starts the offseason with a conference finals team this year. He needs a healthy team with a couple tweaks and a little luck to get them over the hump. His challenge is to make those tweaks (I'm sure he wants a 3-and-D PG for Moreyball) while maintaining as much stability, continuity and chemistry as possible. So, yeah.
Hope you're right - we've got enough assets (1st rounder, T Jones, expirings, etc) to make a run at a Ty Lawson or Darren Collison.
