Absolutley! Also if they went after Lowry and he didn't sign here those same people would be saying that going after Lowry was what cost the team a chance to sign Anthony.
Like REEKO said above, Lowry was within scope and probably had a better chance of becoming a Rocket than Carmelo would have. At that time was Carmelo better than Lowry? I'd say yes but that doesn't mean Lowry was crap. He would have complemented with Harden and Howard moreso than Melo would have. lol how is it a having a loser mentality when all I'm implying is that they could have built a better TEAM around Harden and Howard, which doesn't necessarily mean going after Big Fish year after year? Would I like a Durant in a Rockets uniform? No duh. But at what point are we going to realize that going after him is a fool's errand as there are more than one glaring factor that points to him staying on for at least one more season in OKC? At least with Melo and Bosh you got a sense they COULD have left because there were better options, teamwise, out there. But money talked. Durant? What other situation, besides putting his tail between his legs and joining SA or GSW, is better than what he has with OKC?
So here's a question for the members here: After what's transpired with OKC choking away a 3-1 lead, and knowing the financial impact of signing a one year deal with OKC, what can Morey and Les sell Durant on about this team/organization that would make Durant consider joining Harden in Houston?
What they'll try to sell him is chemistry. The Thunder was basically just Westbrook and Durant so selling him on coming to Houston next to Harden and potentially another max FA like Horford would be attractive in theory.....except for D'Antoni. They'll basically have to make him forget about D'Antoni and sell him that Harden is a better superstar to be paired up with than Westbrick for one more season. They can also try to sell him on young guys like Capela, Harrell, and Kj McDaniels. I mean, it's not like OKC has an impressive supporting cast around Durant and Westbrick, only 3 players scored in double digits for them last night when they needed it the most and only Durant scored over 20 points.
Uh-huh, so maybe in hindsight it would have been a slightly better chance, for a player that wasn't as good - maybe. ZOMGS - I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE FOOLS DIDN'T LEARN FROM THEIR NON-OBVIOUS MISTAKE WHICH MAY HAVE HAD NO IMPACT! There's plenty of reasons to be upset with teh Rockets ownership these days- trying to get the best players is not one of them, nor is the made up story that Kyle Lowry was ready to sign but subsequently jilted bec ause he saw a picture of Carmelo Anthony in a Rocket jersey, nor is the nonexistent opportunity cost of the 12 hour pursuit of Chirs Bosh...
Yeah, where were you 2 years ago? Lowry was the first guy Morey spoke to when free agency began at midnight July 1. But instead of offering him a deal right away, Morey arrogantly told Kyle to wait around while the Rockets wined and dined Melo. And that POS took forever before announcing he was returning to the Knicks(which everyone except for apparently Rockets management knew would be his decision). Not surprisingly, Lowry decided to take Toronto's 4-year deal instead of sitting on his ass waiting for Morey to call back. One would hope Morey and Les learned a valuable lesson from that disastrous offseason, but odds are they're gonna do the same garbage this summer only this time with Durant and Horford.
Sources: No that wasn't quite the whole story. Rockets offer for Kyle Lowry DOA because Raps Won't Trade BTW, Lowry resigned on July 3rd - he didn't exactly seem like somebody who had to be sold on going back to Toronto.
? who provided that made up story? all i'm trying to say, and apparently i need to apologize to the deities of this forum for my mistake, is that this front office needs to put some kind of focus on building a team (whether it be a max player, a glue guy, a 6th man, whatever) rather than putting all of their eggs into one basket with the top tier players. I think most of us can agree that the overall talent on this team the past couple of years has been less than stellar and that's because Les/Morey looks like they're shopping at both ends of the spectrum (max player and garbage) rather than spreading it around.
I get the chemistry point bc why would Durant even want to think about Houston if it weren't for Harden but the crop of young guys we have, the ones you mentioned, aren't any better than what Durant has in OKC right now with Adams, Roberson, Payne (if that dude ever got PT), Waiters, etc. At least with Melo it's because he was on a crap team. At least with Bosh the 2nd go around it was because LeBron left and it seemed everyone was waiting to abandon ship in Miami. With Durant it's different. He has a very good team already.
What's the argument here? Is anyone really advocating that the team should go all in on getting Durant while potentially missing out on other free agent acquisitions this offseason? Obviously Morey should do his due diligence. But a balanced and dynamic approach is what's best here. Cast a large net and pounce where the fish are.
I disagree. Not only would you be selling him on bringing in another max FA like Horford who would instantly be better than the 3rd best player on the Thunder, but guys like Capela have a higher ceiling than guys like Adams. Also I think Harrell and KJ McDaniels have pretty high ceilings. I think KJ could be better than Roberson if given playing time. When you say he has a very good team, I just don't agree, that team is basically just KD and Westbrook playing with the Pips. I don't think that supporting cast is actually that good and they have one season at the most before the whole thing blows up. If you're the Rockets, you try to sell KD that going to a more stable team like the Rockets where it will be KD and Harden playing together with a 3rd max guy for 4 or 5 years is preferable to one more season in OKC and then rolling the dice. I don't think it works because D'Antoni, but that's what you try to sell him.
I thought there was an article or something where Lowry was quoted as saying he had interest in the Rockets in 2014 but was turned off by them telling him they wouldn't make him any actual offer until they found out what Carmelo wanted to do? Can't find anything like that on Google but I really thought that was a real thing.
We could sign Horford and Conley which would put us over the Thunders roster IMO. They would just have to sign for 21 mill a piece, and we would have to deal with filling out the rest of the roster with vet min players (although super teams usually get pretty good vet min players) Conley Harden Durant Horford / Beasley / Harrell Capela
Having Harden is a huge plus here imo, i think they'll talk as soon as possible so, probably Morey will know early if Durant wants to be here or not.
We don't know how Durant feels about MDA... Young players aren't going to help sell him. He wants to win now, so we can throw that out the window. I think he's joining the Spurs though or going to the Heat. Just a hunch. Maybe a team like the Blazers or somebody.
At the top of my post I said " If Conley and Horford sign for 21 mill a piece". Durant at his max - 26 Conley + Horford at 21 a piece - 42 Harden, Beasley, Capela, Harrell -21 Roster cap holds - 3 = 92 mill
