Sources: Rockets have Lowry as 4th option after Lebron/Melo/Bosh

Cool - even the Kyle Lowry thread makes me disappointed in Chris Bosh.

 

I was always on the bring back Lowry plan and fill in the roster around Howard, Harden, and him. Too bad I was right. This is one instance where I would have loved being wrong.

 

A little would you rather question....

Would you rather sign Lowry, not be able to sign Ariza, and keep our assets?

Or

Sign Ariza, and trade assets like Jones, Pelicans pick for Dragic?

 

Hindsight is 20/20. Morey is a huge gambler and has said that he is championship or bust which guides his decision making. A starting lineup of Lowry/Harden/Parsons/TJones/Howard would have been awesome but Morey gambled for an even better lineup and lost. It's not that Morey can do no wrong, it's that he can't always do right.

It's not over yet, still time left in this trade deadline and then midseason to make a good move. Maybe we can snag Dragic or Taj Gibson or both if they get moved... who knows.

 

If you told we weren't going to get any of them I would've believed you.

 

This news combined with Melo's statement that it was always between Bulls/Knicks REALLY infuriates me.

 

This offseason never fails to worsen...

 

Wow. IF it's really true that Morey didn't want to make an official offer to Lowry until Melo made his decision, I'm shocked.
How hypocritical is that? Having a meeting with the player right at the start of the free agency which could indicate that he's the first option just to tell him to wait for another guy's decision that might take a while? How could you ever expect the player to sign for you afterwards if you don't show him the respect he can get from other teams?

"Hey Kyle, we want you. We really like you game - always have - and we're sorry how things played out last time. Also, we can offer you a lot of money. So, if you want to come back, you're welcome."
"Great, where can I sign?"
"Well, maybe you can't sign at all, in case we get Melo. Or Bosh. But these guys haven't made a decision yet, so you'll have to wait a week or two to find out whether you can sign with us."
"Seriously?"
"Well, you know, we want a third star like Melo, and, umm..."
"GET OUT!"

Yeah, of course, Morey believes that "we need a third star", but what about having a strong TEAM with two star players and some really good complementary players, in case of Lowry even a borderline all-star? Why risk wasting another year of Dwight's prime to preserve flexibility? Do you really want to wait another season to put the future success of your franchise into the hands of some upcoming free agent's gut feeling again, even if you do already have an amazing core? At least some real playoff success would be nice, getting to the conference finals in an incredibly tough western conference wouldn't be that bad, would it?
Lowry can pass the ball and run the offense, he's a solid defender, he shoots 44% on catch-and-shoot threes, he's tough. What else can you with for from the PG spot on this team?

Sorry for the rant.
And now let's get Dragic! :grin:

 

Morey probably got too cocky and thought that every top FA would choose winning over glamour and money because Dwight did make that decision. So he felt we really had a good shot at Melo or even LeBron or Bosh. Then it turns out that LeBron wants to go home, Melo wants to be da man in NY, and Bosh wants money. And he's left with nothing. I still think he's a great GM, but this offseason has been total crap.

If anything, it's kind of ironic that Dwight Howard of all players turned out to be the guy who wanted to win more than anything else.

 

Ugh. I wish I hadn't read this.

 

INB4 "I would have gone to Houston, but the GM told me they wanted to wait on Melo to make me an offer." - LeBron

 

The Rockets could have fit both Lowry and Ariza in salary-wise. Maybe even keep Parsons depending on whether they manage to work out a S&T deal for Lowry like they did for Ariza or are willing to trade away basically ever player from last year other than Dwight, Harden, Beverley and Parsons.

Remember, they were prepared to give Bosh a $19M starting salary via cap room if needed so there was quite a bit of room to play with. $19M cap room would have been enough to give Lowry 4 years $48M and Ariza 4 years $32M-- Just start Lowry at $11.25M and start Ariza at $7.5M in year one and increase their salary 4.5% year season.

 

I AM LEGIT UPSET ABOUT THIS.

All I really wanted out of this offseason was Lowry.

 

Washington would have upped their offer knowing we couldn't, the only reason they didn't was because they felt Houston would match anyway and potentially cost them their contingency.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Is there a published report or "insider" post talking about WAS's plans with Ariza? Seems like they were comfortable moving on with Paul Pierce at the MLE and facilitated a S&T once Ariza chose Houston at the $8M number.

 

Yeah, their GM said he was told $10m per to beat the offset tax/cost of living advantages

Another effect is the agent though, while people despite Dan Fegan, it's not like all agents hate Morey, Ariza's agent, Rob Pelinka (who also happens to be Harden's agent, Kobe's too, there's no discount in Dollar bill Bob there) seems to have a good relationship, probably because they both think the same way (Morey thinks "they'll take the most money", Pelinka's clients take the most money), who was Boozer linked to if he cleared amnesty? Houston, his agent? Pelinka. Pelinka/Ariza quite literally saved this team from disaster.

 

How many of you actually believe Morey's approach made a difference regarding Lowry? If you listen to what he said in his post-signing press conference, It really seemed like Lowry wanted to stay in Toronto and build on his legacy. Even with Derozan and Valanciunas, the Raptor fans love Lowry and consider him to be the leader of the team. He surely wouldn't have gotten that with us. I'm pretty confident he would have remained a Raptor one way or another.

 

This brings up all sorts of interesting possibilities. A small ball line up of Dwight, Parsons, Ariza,Harden and Lowry would be incredible offensively. There would be no rush to trade Lin. you could even make a good argument for Bev and Lin coming off the bench with Lin backing up Harden.

 

Him saying they weren't the favorites sure doesn't make it sound that way.

ETA: Couple that with the other recent interview he did where he said that he didn't want to be one of those guys waiting on the big FAs to sign to make his decision, and it certainly sounds like it was a factor.

 

Didn't we have to let Jones, Donatas, and everyone else go if we had gotten Bosh? I'm not sure I'd do that if we switched Bosh with Ariza and Lowry.