Do not ever trust or believe some smart arse guy from MIT 100%. The perfect PR guy... better at it than making trades even
I think what he meant is that we have a good core with Harden and Howard leading and Ariza, DMO, and others under the contract. Wouldn't read too much into it.
It's funny how market changes. Just two years ago PG position was the deepest in the league. Lowry, Dragic, Holiday, Thomas, Lin...were all looking for a new home. Now PG is a hot commodity.
Is it really though? Or is it a hot commodity for some teams. I think George Hill is an interesting name. We know the Pacers like Dragic. Might they pursue Dragic? If so, they'd need to clear space. You could free up $8 million with a simple straight up trade of Hill for the non guaranteed deals of Prigs/Papa plus #18.
Awesome analysis. This post is as realistic a description of the team as anything posted, so far. Kudos.
The Clippers and the Warriors exposed our weaknesses. Our overall defense was weak against the Mavs. Portland had no problems against us when Dwight was out. Even his presence wouldn't have compensated for our problems at the 1 and shooting. We had problems against the speedy backcourt of the lottery bound Orlando Magic. Stability is important, but it won't be enough, even with a fully healthy squad. The Rockets are hampered because of their cap room, but Morey will have to be creative here to some extent. Message to Morey. Bev, Grandpas, Johnson won't cut it at the PG position. We don't need Ish Smith or Canaan at the start of the season. Any competent PG will be better than them. Don't run after Rondo or Lin. They will not be good for the team's chemistry.
First, the Rockets were not very far behind the Warriors at all, and that is without the starting PF and PG. It is quite possible the Rockets would have won the Championship with them. I am not someone that thought this team was at that level before the season or going into the playoffs, but they clearly have the look of a team that took it to the next level. Also, what does Morey mean by stability? Does that mean he isn't going to turnover half the team? I don't for a second buy that he won't get a point guard. If Lawson is available for Jones, #18 and a future #1; does that really upset stability? My "guess" is we are going to follow the model of the Jazz in the 80-90's and some other teams. You add pieces where you can but you don't rip apart the club. Remember it was 2 months ago that we almost brought in Dragic. Stability is a relative term.
Hill does fit several of the Rockets needs, he can guard shooting guards... doesn't turn the ball over and is solid enough shooting from the floor. The issue with him is that he has extremely poor lateral quickness. He cannot guard point guards that are quick, nor shooting guards.
I agree everything except DMO is not a playmaker. I think he is. With his back to the basket and his ability to score, he is a playmaker.
He did get rid of half of our rotation to position ourselves for the Melo/Bosh chase. To be fair, the guys who were gone were not going to stay anyway, with the possible exception of Lin. And the year before that, he got rid of half of that year's rotation.
All this stuff is kind of ridiculous. Here's the realistic thing that will happen.... In short... Out: K-PAP PRIG Dorsey BEV TERRY In/Keep: Smith Brewer K.J McDaniels (even though I think he's gone....trade) This leaves the Rockets with a roster of... Guards: Harden, Nick Johnson, Brewer Forwards: Ariza, T Jones, DMO, J Smith, KJ McDaniels Center: Howard, Capella From here on you see we have no PG... but this is where we will add a significant piece/upgrade. I don't know where the cap will lie with this but if you need more then you can let KJ, Brewer go to add other significant pieces. Bottomline is that the Rockets will not make this team worse, but better. We will add the little pieces to help make it easier on our 2 stars. It's crucial. This is the realistic thing that will happen. Even though I'm all for additionally letting go Brewer, KJ McDaniels, Ariza only if it's for a star...
Hill/Bev/Jet + Harden/Dunleavy/Jet would be a tremendous Guard rotation. 1) Decent to Great Defense, 2) 2 Playmakers, 3) 5x 35% or Greater 3 PT Shooters, 4) Depth. I'm not sure how reasonable a G. Hill/Dunleavy/Bev offseason is but, assuming DMo & Capela continue to improve, I think this makes us a legit threat to GS and the rest of the West, and keeps the core in place, i.e. provides stability.
I think the faster we collectively realize that keeping this team together for next year means that Morey just bought himself another year until the big free agency of 2016 the better we will feel in the end. Stability is paradigm but if the Rockets can bring back Smith, Terry, and Brewer on cap friendly contracts it will give Morey another 50+ win team to hold over the fan base and Les until we go after big fish in 2016. Stable...until chaos can be had.
It all depend on hibbert not hill. Sadly it looks like he will opt in. Pg is hard to find only for the rockets. Lol last deadline 1/3 of the leagues pgs were traded.
