I think Carmelo Anthony is likely to end up with Rockets

I am assuming that the Rockets could trade Ryno and get a TPE that could be used to acquire someone. In such a case, the Rockets could trade for someone making as much as $20m. In this scenario, the acquired player could easily make more than the MLE. However, they are likely limited in how much LT they are willing to to pay for an additional rotation player (this assumes Capela resigns for more than the QO).

 

What clear Ariza replacement is even out there that does what Ariza does better than Tucker? Defend all 5 positions if needed and hit open 3’s.

Your not getting a long athletic 6’8” + SF who can shoot 40% right now in free agency. Maybe they can pull off a trade but even then not sure what their options are.

A 3/4 rotation of PJ/Ennis/Melo isn’t the end of the world honestly. You probably move to more 3 guard rotations anyways where Harden is the 4 on defense. Technically you could even start Gordon and list Harden as your Ariza replacement.

I just simply think that people are over thinking this thing. Ariza was invaluable at times, but the other 80% of the time, I don’t think he was this pillar of the franchise you cannot replace with more minutes going elsewhere or some different type of looks.

Yes the team is going to take a step back on defense, but we can see a path forward to being even better offensively.

 

Agree with you. Also, if Melton can progress to play at least 15 minutes per game and be a spark off the bench either backup up CP3 or the 2 or 3 spot that will help a lot with our versatility. Another potential 10-15 minute contributor that might surprise a little is MCW. I am not counting on either but I do see what Morey is doing as we could have used a versatile 1-3 last year as a spark off the bench to play solid 2 way basketball.

I can actually see a lineup of MCW (or Melton), Gordon, Harden, Tucker, Capela playing pretty well together. Harden will technically be your 1 on offense and Capela your pick and roll 5 but everyone else is basically positionless and versatile enough on both offense and defense. I think MCW can be decent in our offense and setting up his teammates instead of looking to shoot. He should honestly never shoot unless he has a wide open layup. If he moves around a lot on offense off of cuts, screens, etc. it will be tough to just "leave him open" as he won't just be standing. He will be able to dish to Capela for an easy dunk or kick out to Gordon, Harden, or Tucker for the open 3.

Here's to hoping either Melton or MCW can step in contribute at least 15 minutes of solid, versatile 2-way play at the 1-3 position because it will lessen the blow of Ariza and LMM leaving since we still have other versatile players in Harden, Gordon, Tucker, Green, Melo (to an extent), Ennis seems like just a 3 but could play the 4 on occasion. I can actually see Melo playing a small ball 5 on occasion with Tucker as the 4 since Tucker is such a good rebounder.

 

This is an excellent point. We don’t want to build our team so that when our Arizas are hot we win and when they’re not we lose. You only lean on your superstars.

 

wish we could have kept ariza or luc as well. that would have been a squad!

 

Impressive guess!

 

who else thinks we need a last-minute poll on whether he goes to the Lakers or comes to Houston

 

Do we have definitive word on who had the most threads.....Melo or Dmo?

 

wow. I bet it's close though.

 

Sergio Llull

 

Llull C

 

Damn, thats a good one.
I'd say DMo wins the sheer volume of threads, being part of the rockets for years + "I know my rights".
Melo wins in the quantity within the threads, Dmo's longest thread is around 400 pages, Melo's approaches 700.

 

Lol. Better late than never.

Just one thing.... you forgot that Lebron James guy. But that’s minor.

The bigger gaff is we missed out on Bobby Brown! That was the unicorn we had to land if we were gonna compete with GW again.

 

Im hoping one of those guys get bought out lol...