I can definitely see the Rockets going afterJames Johnson. He played small ball 5 with RoCo when they were at RGV so he would fit in perfectly. I think the money works straight up and the Rockets would save a few million. You know TF would be on board with the savings. Morey and Gerson having a good relationship also helps. Idk how Gerson feels about Gordon’s new contract but EG would be able to slide straight into the starting lineup in Minny and is probably better than what they could get on the open market. Johnson can help the Rockets move on from PJ a bit. I think they extend PJ for a few more years but his time starting is definitely ending soon. Having the below rotation would be amazing for the Rockets. WB/Rivers Harden/McLemore House/Carroll RoCo/Green Johnson/PJ Ok, the Rockets being able to retain Rivers, Carroll and Green is pretty unlikely but I think 2 out of the 3 will be back.
I'd rather have Thad Young over Millsap in this scenario because he is younger. If you move Gordon for Young you also save money.
Yeah, Millsap at 35 makes me not hot for him. I don't dislike him, but the age issue is something. If the Rockets move EG for someone I do like the suggest of Thad Young. That would a younger-ish (32) Tucker replacement.
To the Kevin Love proponents, setting aside the money, would he not get abused in our switching defense?
You know the year everyone b****ed about CP (last year) the Rockets had a .646 win % and went 6-5 playoffs, still taking 2 games from the Warriors? Then we also give up 2 first round picks for a lateral swap that forces us to ditch the C position and go wild. Everyone wants a quick answer to whether the new team is better but so far its a solid "TBD". This year, .636 and 2-2 praying for Westbrook to play against a team not projected to make the playoffs - with our former HOF clutch dagger on it. Theres a lot riding on the next few games.
I like the RGV connection but I don’t want to pay that much for Jsmes Johnson. We need to be ones that not only finds but keeps players like him and Covington. Not the ones that train then a few years later overpay because we let him go for nothing. I truly don’t think our answer is a name player at all. It’s a fit player that most teams have at the end of their rotation or bench.
Tough defender, underrated playmaker, and can shoot the 3 ball! If David Nwaba comes back healthy losing Carroll would be negligible. I would like the Rockets to have at least 1 guy on the roster 6'9+ that can is an elite threat as a roll man and catching the lob.
James Johnson will make $16,047,100 if he opts in otherwise will be a free agent. Not really overpaid, IMO, for a veteran player that fits the scheme well. Eric Gordon will make $16,869,267 next plus more in following years. So Johnson is cheaper than Gordon short term and long term. Finding a cheap veteran that checks all the boxes is a gamble.
James Johnson would be unbelievable on the Rockets. Great fit. Demarre is no loss, but need to re-sign Uncle Jeff.
I don’t disagree with you but Johnson only has one year left on his contract and makes less than Gordon. Johnson is also older and shouldn’t command anymore than an MLE in FA. If healthy, then Gordon is the better player and the Rockets might be able to hold onto that FRP that they still have. I just don’t think that “find the player don’t pay the player” mentality fits this situation. Hopefully Nwaba becomes a good player for the Rockets but the team can’t really wait for a player to develop right now. They need to bring in players that’s they know will fit the system and add to it. Harden and WB have maybe 4 more years of being top end talent and the Rockets cannot BS around waiting and hoping that players will turn into what they need.
I didn’t take the timeline and Johnson taking a smaller contract into consideration. My thought was with two super maxs plus Gordon and the cap going down where is the cap fit. The player makes all kinds of sense just can we afford him. By all means do it if we can.
I think it's highly unlikely any of the guys with player options opt out. There just isn't going to me much money out there in free agency , just about every team will be over the cap and limited to MLE and veteran minimums and those will very likely be reduced. The projections pre-covid showed a reduction of about $3m as a result of lost revenue from China , now that a 11% of the season was lost and no fans in the stands for what remains , fans in the stands equates to about a third of league revenue - I think it's safe to say that it'll see a much greater reduction than that $3m. 2021/22 will likely see an even greater drop than 2020/21 if a solution to Covid isn't found and they go the entire season without fans.
Ya, I’m talking a straight swap of Gordon for Johnson. The money works so there are no cap worries. But, if Gordon can play more like he did last night (attacking the basket and not going 2-10 from 3) then he makes the offense very dynamic and difficult to guard. Gordon can easily take a teams third best defensive player to the basket and finish strong around late help defense which is a perfect fit. The questions are... Can the Rockets get the same production from a cheaper guard? Could Rivers and McLemore make up for the loss of Gordon’s offense and defense? I think they can. Does the swap of Gordon for Johnson take the team to the next level? I think it does.
Hard pass on EG for James Johnson. EG is the far superior player, and that trumps all other factors in this case, IMO. Even if your motivation is getting out of EG’s contract, that would still require an asset attached to it. Trading for inferior talent along with attaching FRP’s or other assets just to get rid of a contract doesn’t exactly spell out win now. Somebody suggested an EG (+ assets) for Gallo S&T in another thread. That’s a much better use of this ‘EG + assets package’. Gallo isn’t an alpha, but is basically a homeless man’s Dirk that can reliably hit an open jumper, create his own offense and play small-ball 5.
Pass on James Johnson He will be 34 next year. Do y’all not get it we need to get YOUNGER! Have to find and or develop a young player who can take over after James and Russell. Similar to kawhi with the spurs...you had Duncan Parker and Ginobli...but kawhi was the young star of that team.
I’ve told multiple people on Clutchfans but I’ll say it again. The Rockets CANNOT perform a S&T. The team who receives the S&T player is automatically hard capped for the next season. The Rockets have to operate over the cap bc they have too many big salaries. The only way they would be able to trade Gordon for a S&T player would be to send out either Harden or WB in a separate trade that brought back $0 in salary.
You’re absolutely right that the cap math has to add up, and it would be complicated. Which is why a third team would have to be recruited. I was just using it as a counterexample. Above all else, it’s very difficult to justify an obvious downgrade in talent. Even if your goal is to dump EG’s contract.
