With Howard gone and DMo not a great fit next to Anderson, our biggest hole in the roster is a second center that can either start or back-up Capela. Ideally that would be a defensive-oriented player with decent rebounding and rim protection. Given D'Antoni's system, ability to hit the mid-range shot would be welcome, but not a priority. There are a few options available to us both via trade and FA: Option A - sign an affordable FA in the $7-10m range that would keep us under the cap: Miles Plumlee, Pachulia, Nene and Hibbert Option B - create additional cap space by trading Brewer and/or withdrawing qualifying offer to DMo to sign a top-tier FA in the $12-20m range: Gasol, Ezeli, Hill, Dieng Option C - trade for a player that is in a team with a heavy frontcourt rotation or redundant/unwanted assets: Vucevic, Koufos, Monroe Vucevic, Monroe probably do not provide the defensive presence we need (although Monroe could play some minutes next to Capela). Gasol would probably reject us. Nene, Hibbert are probably well past their serviceable days. My preferred option would be Ezeli, but he is likely to cost more than we can afford. I would not mind a $10m/year offer for Plumlee or a trade for Koufos who I think is signed at $8m/year for the next 3 years (Kings already have WCS, Cousins and rookie Papagiannis). Both would be great compliments for Capela, while he develops his game over the next two years. Thoughts?
Dieng should be the target. Kid is athletic and active onn defense. Nice mid-range jumper when needed
Would not be surprised to see the Rockets go after Cole Aldrich. The Rockets love bringing back former players.
What about the Second Rounder we drafted. Exactly how 'RAW' is he? Can we expect some minutes this season or is he a long term project Rocket River
Not sure if you necessarily even need a true center on this team, but someone who can give you 20+ minutes a night of doing the dirty work, and can rebound the hell out of the ball. Brandon Bass and Zaza are two names that jump off the page to me, and seem like they could be had at a discount if the Rockets get some good luck and they sit around for a few more days on the market. I think alot of teams are going after Ezeli right now, and he's going to go for a hefty price. The Nets, Mavericks, Chicago, Portland, Washington, and more have all likely made calls to Ezeli over the past 48 hours. I don't think 9 mil per year is going to get it done there.
Noel and Okafor would be amazing given their upside and rookie-scale salary. However, I am not sure we have the assets to make a realistic offer to the Sixers. Chandler is not good enough anymore for a playoff rotation. He was outplayed by Len last year. There are cheaper options in FA or via trade that can produce at a higher level.
From your list I think Koufos and Hibbert are obtainable and maybe underrated. I like Onuaku a lot but we'll have to see if he can even handle the NBA in his first season. The decision for me falls on: can Capela start and can we win with him starting? If yes, then Dmo, Onuaku, maybe J Smith could backup (if we keep them). Dmo seemed to be serviceable at D when Howard was out. But if Capela can't start then we really need to find someone!
didnt we draft 2 centers so we dont have to sign one? our center rotation is set with cap, a rookie, anderson and dmo. defense at center relies entirely on capela. dmo can play d not strong enough for c we still need better perimiter d and have plenty of cap. they should def trade at least one of the brick bros or dmo. dmo and a brick bro should be decent trade value
I like Koufos and Dieng, Ezeli not so much but I guess he would be okay. Dieng is a pipe dream though.
We have our center already. His name is Ryan Anderson. Coach D'Antoni is going to start: Beverley Gordon Harden Ariza Anderson.
