I wish we had rested Bev and Nene, but obviously that's easy to say with the benefit of hindsight, I'm not "I told you so"ing at all. I understand the other side of the argument. Just thinking it would have been good for us with the coming stretch affording us little to no rest. Probably Ariza too since he has historically responded well to rest. Oh well. We can afford a loss, not worried about it. Some losses you gotta take and given the circumstances, this was bound to be one of our top 3 or 4 most difficult games of the season.
Delicate ecosystem, exactly. It is all set up to revolve around Harden and then when Harden rests the team needs a scorer like Gordon to keep the ship afloat. And like @KlutchQT said, if Bev isn't contributing offensively then the Rockets have even more trouble. I love the troika of Harden/Bev/Gordon. But with the injury histories of Bev & Gordon, the Rockets need 1 more "combo-guard" as a safety net. Not that it will help this season, but I am on record as saying that Sergio Llull would be a great 4th guard to add to the team for shooting and dribble penetration if Harden or Gordon are out.
Llull ain't coming man. Would love to have him, but he's signed until 2021. He'll probably never come to the NBA.
He has a buy-out so there is a chance. And the MLE is going to rise to 8M next season. I am not closing the door and Morey hasn't acted like it isn't an option.
Would take Tyson Chandler-Leandro Barbosa-Thabo Sefolosha but would much rather have Nerlens Noel-Aaron Gordon-Mario Hezonja instead. But if both those scenario's are too costly or not doable then would still like to add the following for basically free: Larry Sanders-Lance Stephenson-Jimmer Fredette Final Roster: CC-Larry Sanders-Nene Ryno-Trez-Dekker Ariza-Brew-Lance Stephenson Bev-Splash Beard-Jimmer Fredette KJ, Ennis, Nanu, Brown, rights to Gentile & Llull, etc. can be packaged for future picks/pieces. Would even throw in Dekker for right deal.
Tyson chandler is a bad trade target. He would help this year but he's still On the books for 2 more years after this one and he's only getting worse. He's not even that good right now but for the rockets he would help. He's owed over 15m moving forward. He's not worth that right now and def won't be worth it next year or the year after. He's already 34 years old and a 16 yr vet who came out of college. At this point in his career he should be on a nene type deal for a contending team. Good teams don't pay or trade for Tyson chandler at 34 in his 16th year making 15+ with 2 more years to go. No thank you. Would much rather have koufus who's on a better deal and a better player.
i think it means putting teams away by the middle of the 4th quarter so we can rest our starters. Not starting off hot, relaxing, and barely winning.
D'Antoni says he's day-to-day. Which means we likely won't know til this afternoon right before the game.
"Eric Gordon (toe) is available to play in Friday's game against the Grizzlies, Calvin Watkins of ESPN reports." link
Eric Gordon will play. But he still has some pain in the toe but will push through it. We'll see how this effects his play. I would think it would most effect his "drive game" because of the stress of launching off that foot. Thankfully, his jumper should be ok.
if EG was on a bad team, he'd likely sit out as long as he could. Players will play through some injuries if they really are a big part of a winning culture.
