Rockets pick up option on Patterson and Morris. Aldrich Awaits.

Might be better to make this a contract year for Aldrich, and see how he plays.

 

I can't believe the Rockets picked up Morris' option and not Aldrich. A backup center has far more value than a tweener PF/SF that we don't need.

 

Interesting that some people are still interested in Morris. So he has a better attitude....awesome.

Is his game any better? Not really. Then I don't care.

 

The only problem with THAT approach is that, under the CBA rules, if a team declines a team option on a rookie scale option, the player becomes an UNRESTRICTED free agent and the team is then CAPPED at offering that player as a free agent only up to the option amount originally declined.

Using Aldrich as an example, if the Rockets decline his option and then he goes on to have a very good season, the Rockets would only be able to offer Aldrich a deal starting at $3.25 million. If another team swoops in with a more lucrative deal, there is no way for the Rockets to match/beat it.


That said, I have a feeling that 2013 cap room will take priority over retaining rights to Cole Aldrich beyond this season.

 

unless Aldrich is better than Greg Smith, which it seems to me he isn't. I'm with those that believe all the work with Greg Smith has finally paid off. I admit I know very little on Aldrich, so I can't really compare the two, but Smith seems like a legit backup that we already have for cheap. No need for two, especially if you are thinking about getting one next year. You also have Donuts and although he isn't technically a center, he might not ever play if we have a legit backup C with Patterson/Jones in place at the 4.

 

Aldrich makes more money, has been in the league longer, has just joined the organization, and has proven about as much as Morris has in the NBA.

 

Third year option of Morris is cheaper, and it's easier to trade with one more year at team option.

Besides Rockets knew it's gonna take time for tweener to transition, and Morris is showing progress.

 

Perhaps they're planning on using him for a deal before or at the deadline, and the potential target team(s) has a real need for cap space, ala the Thunder. The team that gets him can try him out. If they think he has value, they try to sign him. If not, they got a rental for half a season and get the cap room. Which may be exactly what Morey's going to do.

 

If Aldrich lives up to being worth more than $3.25M, the team will trade him by the deadline.

 

Hill was worth his option, they only turned it down for the cap space.

He doesn't play, which is enough for me to think he probably isn't very good. They can get there with his option, but it becomes harder. $13.6M isn't plenty of room if you are looking at offering a max deal. We have replace the guys we are cutting somehow.

 

I thought they declined Hill's option because of what they saw his second year, where he actually regressed. TWill, Thabeet, and Hill all had their options declined. Was that to maintain cap flexibility or because of their play? The front office really hasn't had a chance to evaluate Alrich at all.

 

But keep in mind that the team to which Aldrich is traded would be subject to the same limitation on being able to re-sign him. That could hurt his trade value.

The Lakers faced this situation with Jordan Hill. Fortunately(?) for them, Hill didn't quite play well enough to totally price himself out of his option amount range, so the Lakers managed to lock him up on a multi-year deal starting at Hill's fourth-year option amount.

 

They have actually had Aldrich play for 45 minutes of every hour since the trade was finalized in order to fully evaluate him. They'll know by the deadline (if he's still alive)

 

If we extend him, I think it points to him being the primary backup to Omer over Smith. If we don't extend him, it would appear he is stuck in dleague and used as an expiring contract for trade purposes unless he really lights it up in dleague and somehow works his way into the lineup here.

 

Maybe, just maybe... this is an indication that Morris has dramatically improved? Too bad we did not get to see a lot of him during pre-season.

 

I guess the question is would Aldrich the expiring contract be worth more than Aldrich the player for two seasons at 3.2 mil next year?

Cole had a nice pre-season in comparison to the past two seasons in OKC, but there is no indication as to whether or not he is that much if at all, an upgrade to Greg Smith & some small ball lineups going forward.

Plus, given the Rockets history of picking up options vs. capspace for iffy rotation players is almost always 99% of the time to decline their option and offer them as expirings at the trade deadline. I dont see Cole being a slam dunk NBA player by any stretch.

DECLINE, play to boost value, and trade in February.

Who knows, maybe you can work out a way to get a 1st rounder for him like they did with Jordan Hill.

 

Agreed with this. The other difference is, Hill's contract as an expiring was valuable to the Rockets for trade purposes. This year, we're already well under the cap - we don't need to use expirings pick up dead weight, we can do it directly.

Aldrich's value as a true center is a big differentiator relative to Hill. If they think he's capable of being a 10-15 minute backup center, that 3 million is pretty much the going rate.

 

Granted. However, Aldrich is a 7-footer with a 7'4" wingspan and a reputation as a good defender with soft hands. Morris, on the other hand, ... has a twin brother.