[Reaction] 3 baffling aspects of our moves at the deadline

Briefly:

1. We don't know all the details yet, just from a quick inspection it seems like the Rockets shed ~3M in salary in these deals, mainly by losing Battier and Ish to Memphis for Thabeet. They would still need to lose around 1M more to get under the tax. We'll see if/how that happens.

2. Memphis sucks at trading obvi. I wished they would have made this deal so they could have given us Indy's pick this year/their pick next year, but the fact remains that we still have a possibly unprotected pick coming to us through Memphis. As you said, if this year's draft sucks then it benefits us more to have it next year.

3. The Suns pick doesn't have to be Orlando's, if Phoenix can make the playoffs (as it seems likely to me they will with the impending tankjobs of Utah and Denver) then their pick is ours, that would be around 15.

P.S. There is no guarantee this draft will suck. It's impossible to tell beforehand. I said for two years that the 2009 draft would be the worst since the Kenyon Martin one, but Griffin, Evans, Curry are showing me that it was a regular draft rather than a bust.

 

Brooks vs Dragic:

1. They have the same style. The upside, Dragic is hungrier. Brooks is all headache.

Thaabet vs Shane:

We lost a guy with +10 BBIQ and received one that has -10 BBIQ.

I'd like to see Thaabet + J Hill on the floor together. That would be a dumb and dumber lineup.

 

This.

 

All those picks can possibly packaged for another deal come draft day or maybe used to move up in the draft.

 

In summary:

The rockets couldn't land a star player. Morey has collected assets for years. But, he is still unable to transfer those assets into a star player.

 

Ticket sales.

 

Marsarian,

1) Why complain about paying the luxury tax? It doesn't inhibit us from making any moves. I'm PROUD of the team for not giving up an asset (like the Clippers 2nd rounder) for a team to take Jeffries. We should be applauding the front office for that, not criticizing (or wondering why they didn't). I would be upset if we let go of a second rounder to save our owner a few million.

2) to trade for OJ Mayo, you also have to have room for OJ Mayo. Who are you pulling from the rotation: Martin or Lee? Dealing for OJ, without a subsequent deal for Lee, would just further the unhappiness with our depth chart. We don't know the protections on the Indiana pick, so it's hard for us to compare. But the ONLY pick we could trade is the Knicks 2012 1st rounder or the Rockets 2014 1st rounder.. not really comparable to Indiana's 1st rounder at all.

3) There's a solid chance that we'll receive the Phoenix 1st rounder, not Orlando's. Rockets fans should instantly start rooting for Phoenix to sneak in as an 8th seed. If we land Phoenix's 1st rounder, I'm good with the deal. If it's Orlando's 1st? Meh -- like you said.

PS: The only thing I'm truly baffled by is the Grizzlies pick. They do NOT own their 2011 1st round pick:

In other words, the earliest pick we could receive from them would be Memphis' 2013 1st rounder, should they make the playoffs this year. However, the report stated that Memphis' pick was protected in some form -- so we may not receive a 1st rounder from them for a while.

 

Maybe T Williams will also qualify in that class with Hasheem Thebust and JHill.
It's incredible how Morey has just lowered the bbIQ of the team.

The crop for next draft and the consequent ones have no prominent potential franchise player. Considering that Morey just lessened the number of his assets and that the potential of his harvest of 1st rd drafts does not povide for potential franchise changers, the desire of many of the fans here have come true.

The Rockets are now in a septic TANK and there is no relief in sight for the next several years. If the current team is boring, infuriating, yada, yada, yada, to watch, then I can only imagine Morey's team for years to come unless Alexander gets fed up with him and throws him out.

 

Looks like TWon't and Bud will get more playing time...

Share will be badly missed...will never forget the series against the Fakers a few years back.

 

Deals looked okay at first until the picks ended up being protected. These moves are a real head scratcher for me.

 

Which one is which?

 

We missed out on Wallace and Perkins.

Dalembert and Camby would've been good pickups too.

 

I think a lot of people are looking at it with a narrow mind.

We don't have a core of star players to build around. Scola and Martin are complementary players, not building blocks. We're better served stocking up on picks when we can and involving a player that isn't going to be around when we are ready to contend (Battier), and another guy who was unlikely to be re-signed (Brooks).

It doesn't matter that we "lowered our team IQ". It's just temporary. As far as I'm concerned there is almost nobody on the roster now that is a guarantee to be here long term.

 

Are people seriously upset about these trades? I mean, I kind of understand the Battier trade because of how classy and great he's been for the franchise.

But personally, I'm completely fine with the Rockets getting rid of the headache that is Aaron Brooks. And the fact that they got a 1st round pick out of it (regardless of whether it's Phoenix's or Orlando's) just sweetens the deal.

Now the Rockets don't have to deal with the headache of overpaying for AB.

 

The rockets needed to get younger,more upside,maintain flexibility,and got firepower. Shane was a great example of thinking you're 1 role player away. The thunder have 2 high end players and an emerhing talent in Ibaka, they needed that big body defender in Perkins. The rockets needed a 3rd scorer in 2006 and I like others thought battier would be closer to his rookie year than his last year in memphis. It didnt work and the rockets couldve gotten more 2 summers ago. I'm glad they finally addressed the lack of size accross the frontline.So basically, the rockets get a 1.5 yr look at thabeet. Adelman probably wont play him this year,but the coach next year hopefully will.

 

My immediate reaction is that I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. It's cold water to the face seeing just how badly the stock of our assets bottomed out. Morey was down to plan Y at the deadline to go with these deals.

It's only so much comfort knowing that he's even less happy about this outcome than we are. More top 10 players have moved in the last 9 months than I can ever remember, he was swinging hard for a blockbuster....and nothing. Just flipping for minor future assets.

I'm really bummed to see Shane go. I don't care at all about his offensive production. Just having a guy of that caliber and class represent the team meant something to me.

I don't see Thabeet as anything more than a small minute backup center. He has good instincts for team defense and is a wonderful shotblocker, but his offense is atrocious and almost certainly salvageable. He makes $5.1M next year before we can kill his rookie deal.

I'm fine with moving a disgruntled and hapless Brooks (who was done with the team in two months regardless) for a trial run with Dragic (team option this summer).

The picks aren't impressive. Especially if Phoenix's becomes Orlando's. The team is overloaded with role players and this is a role player draft. They'll only be worthwhile if we swing a major trade using them. And we know how well that's gone lately.

I know Morey's just as frustrated (more than) as I am, as we are. He's the one that's been killing himself trying to make these deals happen to no avail.

There's not much to be excited about or hopeful for. The best silver lining we've got is that the team is well positioned to come out of the other side of the CBA talks ready to deal with a hard(er), lower cap. Lakers, Celts, Magic, etc could be in a jam if the cap-hawk owners get their way (and there's a lot of them).

But yipee. We'll suck the rest of the way, and next year looks just about as dismal.

 

The Rockets could have done something stupid like sending a boatload of assets to get older, middling talent like Gerald Wallace that would keep us in mediocrity hell. The priority should be in getting cap space and working the draft. The team maintained their flexibility, opened up the roster and have some players with upside to experiment with. It's not my dream scenario, but I'll take that.