He reminds me a lot of Klay on offense is what I ment, certainly not defense, as I mentioned i'm aware of his defensive woes and that's why I'm not sold on him and might prefer Barnes instead. Fournier is 6'7 200, he's big enough to guard SF's, he played some SF with orlando. Also just to say even though this isn't the topic, DeRozan would be fully capable of playing SF full time at 6'7 220 with his athleticism. I'v mentioned in other post, if we could get DeRozan, I'd take him in a heart beat, I wouldn't have any worries about him playing next to Harden or at SF full time. I think DeRozan and Harden would be a dynamic duo that would kill opposing defenses.
The thing is we can't sit and wait any longer, eventually we have to sign the best options available and make our run with Harden. We have Harden, who is a top 5 player in his prime, Morey swung and missed out on the big stars the last 2 off seasons instead of trying to sign quality players. I don't blame him, but we can do that any longer. The excuse was the last two years for not optimizing our roster is that "We have to keep flexibility for Durant". Well Durant is coming and going this off season. Meanwhile Harden gets older. If we really want to keep flexibility for next off season, we shouldn't have signed D'Antoni IMO. The absolute best way to keep flexibility for next off season, while not sacrificing this next season, is having Howard opt into his deal. Morey should be begging Howard to opt in his deal, and we should be offering Gasol a 1 year 30 million dollar deal, but with D'Antoni there is no way in hell we pair Howard and Gasol together in the front court again. We can't sacrifice another season for flexibility, we just can't. Not with Harden in his prime.
Brady Heslip put up big numbers on an NBDL team that ran the Grinnell system. Is Heslip really any better than David Stockton? They both put up large numbers in a gimmick offense. Brandon Rush is fine. He can hit threes and be a mediocre defender. You can live with him getting 15 minutes a night, but he isn't a real difference maker. The Magic would not make that deal for Hezonja. He has played one season, is barely 21 years old and was a top 5 pick. He had a so-so rookie season but has the type of skills that do well in the modern NBA climate. What maximum free agent will the Rockets be able to attract in the next two seasons, before Harden is a free agent? There are a number of teams flush with cap space for the next few seasons; and teams are holding onto franchise players as hard as ever.
Fair enough i guess, personally i would sign them only as a plan C/D, let's say as a last resort but yeah...
The biggest names are Paul and Griffin next summer, they can opt out. George and Cousins the yeat after, same as Harden.
You also have to look at the motivation of the parties involved. Alexander is nearing 75 years old, he is not going to be willing to rebuild. D'Antoni is 65 years old and this is his last chance to be a head coach in the NBA, he is not going to be patient of want to rebuild. Morey is fighting for his job and reputation. He has a family firmly rooted in Houston and is aware of just how hard it is to get a GM job. He isn't going to rock the boat without a lot of discourse. He is motivated to improve the Rockets and get Alexander off his back. James Harden is 26 years old, and doesn't care about the long term health of the Rockets. He wants to win now, and knows he can leave in two years. So.... when you get down to it, the only one that would support a real tear down would be Morey; and he knows that he would likely lose his job. The reality is that the Rockets are going to be "going for it" from season to season until ownership changes. Les Alexander enjoys owning the Rockets, and is very unlikely to sell the club before he dies. So hope for the best.
Agreed, and what are the realistic option of any of those players choosing the Rockets if they are not winning 50+ games a year? Hell, you are more likely to LOSE Harden to LA than add Paul or Griffin. The Rockets are in a trick box, mostly because of Alexander's insistence that the Rockets contend every season; and the GM is smart enough to know that there isn't much he can do about it at this point.
FWIW, I'd rather have Parsons than Barnes. That said, neither player will end up being a Rocket. Just saying. Never once have I watched Barnes play and thought, "Wow, this guy could be the main act somewhere else". He's probably the least remarkable player on the rotation of a championship team. Good for him, of course, but it doesn't make him worth a max contract.
Defend your comment then. That was my original request. How do you look at NBA history and conclude that big names don't bring championships? Don't post stupid crap and then whine about being disrespected. Your previous posts leading up to that thread were really ignorant too. That other poster was dead on that your lineup proposal would never result in success. Nevertheless, the comment that big names don't win championships was the capper. So, defend it.
Coach hired, now let's get some players to maximize D'Antoni's success with Harden as focal point. Off season target options: 1A Kevin Durant 1B Hassan Whiteside 2A Nicholas Batum 2B Al Horford Options 1&2 are Max contracts. Any combo of A+B will do. 3A Luol Deng 3B Joakim Noah Deng & Noah are not max guys but bring some veteran leadership, work ethic, passion and most importantly the D mentality to go along with their all around basketball skills. Rockets may even be able to swing ONE max guy plus both Noah and Deng. Then package a trade for Eric Bledsoe. Sign Llull or Gentile. Draft Thon Maker or Zhou Qi, or both. Roster would look like thus: Harden/Llull Bledsoe/Goudelock Batum/Deng/Putney Beasley/Harrell/Maker Noah/D-Mo/Qi
When you say "breakout", I hope you mean pimples. Or a rash. I'm sure Thomas Robinson would looooooooooooove to come back to Houston. "We acquired you because you'll be easier to trade." Then he ends up traded to the very team that humiliates us in the playoffs (jacked-up ref calls notwithstanding). Survey says..... X X X !!!!!!!!! Let's send it over to the Smith family....
