@BimaThug what are the rules of the MLE and biannual MLE? Are there time constraints where the Rockets could make a trade, then sign someone and still retain the MLE? Is there any loophole for them? Maybe something that people are overlooking?
They will have the $4.3MM room exception if they go the cap space route if I'm not mistaken. Might take that to re-sign Nene. Also I think they have the $3.3MM bi-annual exception.
paul will choose between the rockets and spurs... and the spurs have the advantage unless we can trade for a second star before cp3 makes his choice, which is very unlikely. we have to hope hayward chooses boston to take away a serious contender for blake. blake would have to pick between us and miami. i think we have the edge because of the great fit with MDA and james. we'l have to dump ryno and one more to make enough cap room. the obvious choice is bev since he's getting traded anyway. at that point we have a team of: capela-nene blake-dekker ariza-dekker ego-lou harden-lou if we got blake, that means hayward went to boston, which also means they traded for george. so at this point, is it worth trading ego/ariza/lou to have a shot at the next best free agents like lowry, holiday, or gallinari? probably not worth giving up all 3 for those kind of players. would it be worth giving up ego and lou for a shot at george hill or jeff teague? or in a trade for someone like bledose? also probably not. so that's where we stand pat and add a vet minimum stretch 4, pg, and rim protector to round out the roster. maybe blake can recruit his clipper teammates speights (brings championship experience and a leader in the locker room), and felton (who had his best year in nyk under mda). joel anthony is a good rim protector just incase nene or capela go down. plus anyone good enough for pop is good enough for me. final roster: capela-nene-anthony blake-spieghts-nanu ariza-dekker-troy ego-lou-summer league standout harden-felton-taylor easily a 60 win team, but still 3rd in the west lol. we'd be better if we kept bev and moved lou for cap space instead, but oh well.
If the Rockets elect to use cap room this summer, as far as "MLEs" go, they will only be able to use the Room MLE ($4.328 million) and would LOSE their rights to use the Biannual Exception ($3.29 million) and either the Non-Taxpayer MLE ($8.406 million) or the Taxpayer MLE ($5.192 million).
Harden wanting cp3 is great news. Obviously MDA has finally broken Harden and made him understand that in order to win big you gotta have someone else who can do what you do at the same level. If I'm houston I'm grabbing cp3 and if I can't get Paul George also I'm going all in on Demarcus Cousins in trade of gear up to sign him in the offseason. If we can land cp3 with only giving up Ryno and Bev the rockets are left with a pretty flexible roster. I'm guessing they think dekker can become the full time power foward, and besides shooting he can do anything Anderson does as good or better. Cp3/Lou Harden/Gordon ariza/Troy Williams Dekker/Harrell Capela/nene Still have the ability to trade Lou or Gordon for help at either foward spot. Rockets could be on to something with cp3. It seems weird on paper but if your goal is to out shoot the Warriors and score with them than having one of harden or cp3 on the court always would make the offense run at a top 2 level all game. And if cp3 and Harden mesh and learn to play with each other and off each other.... then your really on to something. If Capela grows and becomes the center the rockets think he can be and becomes this double double defensive monster with added weight. Well than fellas the rockets are ready to blast off.
After thinking about past superstars joining forces with questionable fits: Lebron/Wade, Kyrie/Lebron(before the 3P rediscovery), Celtics Big 4, I am all in on CP3 joining Harden. I actually feel you can maximize both guys on this team if one sacrifies the keys to the car and plays as a scorer. Harden can play as Wade or Kyrie and score a ton while being a secondary playmaker to CP3, who controls the offense and limts the turnover count. Getting the fit to work and maximized could take a year, but there is a path for this being a great dynamic duo and possibly be the best backcourt in the league. Harden will need to buy in.
The Rockets are not stopping with CP3 if they acquire him. We all know that chasing the Warriors takes even more than Harden + Paul. They need to add Patrick Patterson to compete.
Harden has bought in.......finally. I'm very happy about that. Took a long time. But this is that right move. We determined Paul was our #1 target since right after that trade deadline. And now it's obvious Harden is on board. Thankfully. Hopefully we get him.
There is still the process of figuring out who is leading.... CP3 is a true alpha, not as great as Lebron, Kobe but still an alpha.
