No big trade until next year's trade deadline

I'm looking forward to what Brooks and Martin can do this coming season since they will have more time together. Hopefully Morey keeps em so we can actually see how it works out.

 

"big" as in a C?

 

No, thanks on Joe Johnson. Now that the team has Kevin Martin, they don't need another prime time wing scorer. What they DO need is a defensive wing like Ariza or Battier. Otherwise, the Rockets starting lineup will be a collective defensive sieve.

Plus, I don't even think the Hawks would be interested in a sign-and-trade. The ~$13M in salary they'd have to take back would inhibit their ability to use their MLE without going into the luxury tax, and they actually still have a fairly decent roster without Johnson. Sliding Crawford into JJ's place, the Hawks won't be significantly worse than they were last year. I also think they think Jeff Teague and Jordan Crawford will be quality players for them at the guard positions.

As for the OP, I completely agree. Maybe Morey signs a Brad Miller type. Maybe a not-so-big roster shuffle move is made (Rudy Fernandez?). But I doubt you'll see Morey seriously disrupt this roster for anyone short of Chris Bosh (Lebron and Wade aren't coming here).

Nice thread.

 

We don't need Yao to be a superstar to be the core of the team. What we need is another star player to pair with him and Martin and ofcourse to stay healthy. Tmac was not able to get the rockets into the second round without Yao. Without Yao teams drive to the basket because there is no shot blocking. Yao without Tmac got into the second round and won a game in LA in second round before getting injured. We dont need a superstar if we can have multiple stars playing good. The Pistons, the Spurs nor the Celtics dont have a Kobe, Lebron or DWade. They have a core of stars and on different nights one star will carry the team and then on another night another star will carry the team.
In game 7 Kobe had a subpar shooting night, but it was Gasol and Artest that carried the team, so your core does not have to put up superstar numbers everynight because they cant win without support.

 

You make some good points, but I don't think that's the way it's going to happen. The team will make a significant trade this summer, and shore up the backup center need before the season begins. After last year's "lost" season (in terms of competing for a championship), management isn't going to want to bide its time and see how things play out. Morey is going to be aggressive about improving the team and filling needs this summer, with the intention of competing for a championship this coming season.

 

To be honest. If we cannot get an elite player this off season, I am completely okay with staying the course with our current team and not making any big moves.

Tweaks would be okay, but frankly this upcoming season potentially has the fewest questions/concerns I can remember compared to the past few seasons where we knew to some good extent what to expect from our team. Yes I realize, that Yao coming back from another injury and surgery will add some transition to the team this fall, but look at the past few years:

2004-05: Add McGrady & Howard. Lose Francis, Mobley, Cato. Huge team shake up as we virtual change our entire team.
2005-06: Add Stromile Swift, Alston, Anderson & Hayes. Two new starters, plus a failed one.
2006-07: Add Battier, Wells, Mike James. Superstars returning after first time with major injuries. Chuck Hayes starting..what?...oh I get it.
2007-08: New coach Rick Adelman.
2008-09: Integrate Ron Artest into a team.
2009-10: No Yao the entire season, replace Artest with Ariza, McGrady Soap Opera
2010-11: We keep the same coach. We have reintegrated Yao after injury before. Most our entire team has been here for an entire year, and Martin, Hill, & Jefferies have had 25 games to gel with the team. No soap operas.

Yes it is important to keep improving your team, but there is something to be said for the coach and your major players having stability from the previous season, having experienced the current situation before, and growing stronger as a team.

 

This.

 

The problem with biding our time, to see how things go is
WE'RE LOSING TIME!

We can waste another three seasons making a tweak here, a tweak there. I'm not saying we should make poor decisions, but if there are good moves out there to be made, we need to get them made.

 

I beg to differ Yao imposes his will on games a lot of the times and must always be accounted for. No he's not the most dominant center ever but he does impose his will. He imposes his will on Dwight Howard
All big men have injuries it comes with the territory. look at Bynum, KG Amare, Gasol, just to name a few bigs injured for significant time over the last couple seasons.

 

First off I really don't want Joe Johnson unless he comes with a fair price not Max level. I just have a feeling he's the secound coming of t Mac.

I really do agree with this thread. If we don't get bosh we wont make any trades I don't think.
We'll try to maybe sign someone with our mle (with so many big free agents, one might slip to us for the mle ).
Morey knows how to showcase his players talents with the system adleman puts on the floor and that builds up his players stock.

A half season with our current roster should only raise they're stock even higher.

Plus, I don't know about u but I kind of want to see the team that morey has currently built and see what they can do. See yao play along side hill. See Brooks and martins chemistry grow. Also love to see what budinger can do in a secound year but this time with a yao Ming on the floor to open more open three's for him.

This will be able to build Patterson, hill, budinger, Taylor with a summer league and a half season under there belt which equals more team chemistry.

I just don't know who our target would be at the trade dead line this time around.

 

I think that's exactly what the Rockets are trying to do. Hence, the "all-in" approach with Chris Bosh.

But if there isn't something truly special out there, this roster is good enough to go into training camp with. Maybe a minor free agent addition, but not much else.

The OP is right that the most value can be extracted for our assets in February, barring a major sign-and-trade this summer. Hence, the best thing for this franchise is to maximize those assets.

The one asset that could prove valuable in the coming week or two, if Les is willing to spend the money, is the $3M trade exception the Rockets got from the Carl Landry trade.

A team like the Bulls may be desperate to clear enough room for two full max contracts (they're just a bit shy right now) and could be willing to part with a future first rounder if Houston would take back James Johnson's ($1.71M) contract. The Rockets will be taxpayers this year, so it will cost Les a pretty penny ($3.42M+). But they could either keep him long-term (dude has potential) or they could decline the 2011-12 option on him in October and then just cut ties, either after this season or even immediately if they waive him. This gamble doesn't even have to affect the Rockets' 2011 cap space if they don't want it to. And how much would the Rockets be willing to pay for a mid- (if Chicago strikes out) or late (if Chicago gets a big name) first rounder? Probably at least $2-3M.

It's not my money. But I say, "Go for it!" if such a deal is available. Let's just see how desperate Chicago gets.

 

A move that like that add an additional asset might be handy for any Bosh S&T dealings. That said, their are other teams that have that cap room (not counting Miami,Chi,NY, Nets etc) to take on that small salary for a 1st rounder.

 

What are you talking about? Jordan Hill does have a good Jumper. He can play Center position and can take the starting Center position for Houston. Hill has a great hook shot and he is athletic and can run the floor. Even if he doesn't have a jumper, he can always develop it but in this case, his jumper isn't bad.

Hill has potential. If Houston decides to trade Hill, it would be for a star. But most likely the Rockets are keeping Hill. Patterson is a PF while Hill can play both PF and Center.

 

maybe Big Al?

http://www.twincities.com/timberwolves/ci_15381451?nclick_check=1

Shane, Hill, Harris, Johnson and a conditional pick. I think Al is gone but the question is do we have enough spare parts to trade for him.

 

I also agree with the OP. If there are no "home run" trades to be made, I'd be fine if the Rockets stuck with the current roster for the first half of the season.

I'm looking forward to seeing how guys like Hill, Budinger and Taylor have improved, and how Yao will be integrated into the lineup. Then around the trade deadline, Morey can reassess the players' worth and make a better move.

 

no, I wasn't referencing Al. Nor was I referencing necessarily a big man. I was referencing big as in significant.