It is hilarious reading many of the reactions about the trade today. I've seen things like the "tank is in full effect" because we trade Donatas Motiejunas? I was a big fan and today sucked. He's a likable guy and frankly has potential to do very well in Detroit. However, we have to ask ourselves if we really believe that he is the heart of the franchise or that he could elevate us out of this mess of a season. The answer should be pretty simple. We traded a guy who was clearly unhappy here and someone with a qualifying offer coming up who just had back surgery. Is that so bad of a trade for a bigman heavy draft? I'm aware that the Pistons got better but at their current position we would have a shot at some very nice prospects. Stephen Zimmerman and Cheik Diallo could be in that range and those are both far better prospects than Dmo in my opinion. Also consider the fact that we still have a lot of young talent on this roster who could increase in value with time. KJ and Sam Dekker are two players who we haven't seen a lot of but could have an impact down the line. Montrezl looks like he could be a steal at his draft position. It isn't as if we don't have young talent, they just haven't played much. Yes I know Dekker had back surgery and is "injury prone" but we just traded away someone who had back surgery and is injury prone and no one wanted him gone. We just need patience. As for the present, we have two scenarios. Dwight Howard has played well for us this year all things considered and we still have him for a playoff run. Harden and Dwight know it could be the last chance they have to do something. The team is still good. You have James Harden and Dwight Howard in the playoffs and you let the chips fall. Dmo wasn't a part of this years squad anyway and Marcus Thornton barley got off the bench. Some of you are acting like this trade solidifies the notion that we are tanking but in reality it is just risk mitigation. If we don't make the playoffs we can start the rebuild sooner. If this scenario were to happen, we would have potentially two good first round picks and 2 high second picks and a lot of money to offer in free agency. Draft a stud center and let Dwight walk. As I stated earlier the Rockets still have young talent. Develop chemistry with that squad with a real coach who is obviously coming next year. On that note. One thing about this issue I keep hearing pertaining to chemistry. Didn't Morey say he wasn't going to mess with the chemistry once the team was successful? Isn't this the exact same team that was in WC Finals? I didn't see Dmo there and I didn't see Dmo this year either. The team is in tact and has been for two years now. Morey made sure of that by re signing our players. The Rockets start losing and everyone wants the rockets to blow everything up. The Rockets trade two guys who had no part of the playoffs run last year or the team this year and people are mad because of chemistry. This season sucks for all of us and it is extremely disappointing. Possibly the biggest fail in franchise history. However I think some of us may be placing our disappointment in the season on this trade when in reality as clutch put it, nothing from the trade deadline is going to fix the Rockets. We still have a good team if we get into the playoffs. They played very well together last year and all the players from that squad are on this one. It hurts to lose Dmo and it is frustrating to watch the rockets right now but we are set up very nicely next year through draft and cap room whether we make the playoffs or not. I for one am not giving up on the Rockets and like many of you a Rockets fan for life.
The franchise will live on with the NBA however GMs come and go Morey will not survive another disappointing season at least in a normal NBA world he would not but you never know with Alexander
He might indeed go. If that were to happen, hopefully the new GM will know how to utilize the large amount of cap room and draft picks we will have going into next year. Whether Morey stays or goes it doesn't change the fact that we are set up decently. This thread is only about morey in a very indirect way anyway.
We are set up similarly to the Post championship Dallas Mavericks. When we are playing our best we can reach 3-5 seeds. When we don't we will fall to 7th or beyond. We have young talents but our team is in win now mode. Other than that we are going nowhere spectacular. I do not understand why folks are demonizing tanking so much We have the opportunity to get better talent than Harden even.
"Draft stud center" That easy hunh, lol. That's like saying "Sign Kevin Durant". Not easy. Not likely to happen.
not much to do, just get a lebron or durant and an elite defensive/rebounding center. then some 3d players and a pg with handles, defense and a 3pt shot. and a good coach with a good system. its a cakewalk. we'll all get fat together, daryl will become fatter, huge boobs. my boobs will stay the same , op might get permanent boobs but its too early to tell oh yeah and curry sucks
After some time to chill, still bummed we salary dumped DMo for a pick likely in the range of someone who won't crack the rotation. I'm sure there's teams like Philly who needed to add salary to get above the cap floor for that I'm sure there was a suitor in that regard for Lawson, Jones or Terry. But maybe they asked for too much in return. I get the long term salary flexibility this creates, just thought DMo was the glue guy the Rockets desperately needed if they wanted to hold onto Lawson & Co. and try and make a real run (like they are intent on-winning now). Rockets better smooth everything with D12 and have dynamite presentations for top PG's and PF's or the ability to make a deal for one or the other or both. And JB and co. need to work overtime at making Lawson, Jones, Brewer, etc fit effeciently again. They have the ability. Maybe getting the eighth seed and getting humiliated by GS in four will be the best thing for this team too stop going through the motions like this was going to be easy and for Harden too grow as a leader and actually put in the work during the offseason not racking up 3G tabs at the klub w/ khloe.
Treading water. The Rockets will be alright, if they are already alright. They aren't. But, yes, they may surprise in the playoff.
Coach is not playing Josh, TJ is basically not a real basketball player, Montrezl will not get a shot so D-Mo was our only hope. If you're going to trade him, make sure you at least get some PF back..then there's our only shooter and creator off the bench. If the guys get it together, our guys start shooting threes like MT and our big men can play, then we'll be just aces but I doubt it.
Good post but "draft stud center" ? If it was that easy everyone would have a couple lying around. And this draft sux. And the posibillity of drafting even a good C that back in the draft is very low, not to mention someone who is even comparable to DMO as a prospect. Also just listening to the Vertical trade deadline episode. Woj himself said that personally and professionaly Harden and Howard can't coexist together and unless something miraculous happen in the last two months , you can't bring them back together, we have passed the point of no return. http://sports.yahoo.com/video/nba-trade-deadline-show-180000105.html Minute : 45 Everything is fine Everything is fine
The people who constantly yap about firing Morey crack me up. Between him, Harden, and Alexander, he should get most of the credit and the least amount of blame. All he's done is exactly what the owner ordered him to do, to not tank, to acquire stars, and stay below the cap. Morey traded for Harden, because Harden was available. He signed Dwight, because Dwight was available. He traded for Lawson, because Lawson was available. See where I'm going with this? Houston isn't Miami. Houston isn't LA. We don't have the luxury of being picky. Perhaps the only criticism that is on target is the hiring of McHale, but that's not enough to fire Morey over, especially if it was Les who showed JVG and RA the door.
There are gems to be found in every draft. Not that I trust Morey to find them but people call nearly every draft "weak" yet 1/2 unlikely stars almost always emerge.
The post-champion Mavs are not a team you wanna emulate. They have an aging superstar, a bunch of caproom that's resulted in Parsons and Matthews, and a string of first round defeats sandwiched around a trip to the lottery(due to an injury to that aging superstar). Ironically they're a lot like the post-champion Rockets who kept trying to plug in aging stars and overrated free agents in order to keep the title window open and only wound up with first round knockouts and low lottery picks instead of blowing it up for a few years and stockpiling young talent. I really wish this Rockets group would take a page from the Rockets from the early 80's. After they made a surprise trip to the Finals and then let Moses Malone go, they decided to go into full tank mode and got Sampson and Dream in B2B drafts. Had it not been for injuries and cocaine, that could've been a potential dynasty. And it all happened within just a few years after that 1981 Finals run.
My only concern is now we have no bench. At least Thorton played well. We are in the same spot we were in the beginning of the season. No assertive PG and no stretch PF. But now we have no bench. Hope we sign a couple of players up. The thing with wanting Durant is that we still won't have a role players. Are we just banking on that in Durant comes every one will want to sign up for vets minimums or take less money.
