What does it need to look like for us to content? I figure there are several things that needs to happen. 1. PJ cannot be our starter. If we run ANY other type of offense PJ cannot start. Him dribbling the ball makes me deeply concerned. Him passing the ball makes me deeply concern. Him shooting off the dribble has me deeply concerned. etc etc etc 2. I think Covington can be our starter 3. That means the Center Position is open and we thin there. Need a Starter and an Backup. Even if Covington can play back up for spurts. Even without Capela I think I could have liked to have kept Hartenstein. 4. Jeff Green can mix in the PF/Center convo but I dunno if he is a starter at either position. 5. Where does Bruno fit in? Lastly - Who is out there that could be interesting? What will we expect from these positions? Rocket River
Realistic? Noel as a 20-25 MPG rim runner. Use Tax Payer MLE. Bobby Portis as a young risk on tax payer MLE or less. Semi realistic? Christian Wood Via NTMLE or Eric trade. Mo Bamba or Richaun Holmes via House trade. Ibaka via MLE. Less likely? Myles Turner.
Ideally Covington plays 90% of his minutes at the 3/4. Tucker comes off the bench to play minutes at the 4/5. The Rockets go out and sign a PF that can also start at center if necessary..... this will be the hardest player for the Rockets to get, because it will require the Rockets to get someone that is quick with long arms but also capable to cover the 5....... last the Rockets will likely look for a more traditional center for close to the minimum.... this will be someone that can play the 5 for 10-15 minutes a night. As for the 1-3, the Rockets will likely try to get Nwaba rotation minutes at at the 2/3 with him possibly even covering some 1's and 4's on switches. The question is whether the Rockets have to trade Eric Gordon for that to happen or not. Defense is going to be the emphasis for certain. Rivers isn't coming back unless he wants the minimum and there are others as well that may not be back. Everyone wants Christian Wood to play the 5, and while that would be nice, I don't think that is very likely. There are some useful free agents for the MLE (possibly) but the question is would they want to come and also would the Rockets use the full MLE Favors, Whiteside, Thompson, Henson, Herna-gomez, Noel, Zizic, Tolliver, Noah, Leonard, Lopez.
Westbrook (30) / Mac (18) Harden (22) / Gordon (26) House (26) / Harden (10) Covington (32) / Tucker (16) PlayerX (22) / Green (18) / Tucker (8) If we can bring back Jeff Green for vet min, if everybody can stay healthy, this seems like a solid rotation. Question is, who is playerx that we get at center that delivers size, rebounding, defense and 3PT shooting? That combo of talents is rare, and a player who fits it for the tax payer MLE doesn’t exist. Offer Marc Gasol 3/20 and hope he takes it is my best crack at it. There were reports that he was heading to Europe but he denied it. He’s the only guy that remotes fits that description who I could see taking that kind of money, Ibaka and Wood get that double easy. Don’t like going the trade route, can’t lose our 2022 1st when this team is likely to implode next off season.
What's the story on Patrick Patterson? Why did he fall out of favor? His last contract was 2.3 Mill he is a UFA Rocket River
Bleachers Report says Paul Millsap - Full MLE Jeff Teague- Vets Nerlens Noel - Bi Annual Potential finding a good trade for Gordon? Josh Smith would have to recruit to get them here.
No matter who it is, just bring someone who is a legit big man, and bring james to shoot mid range shots and lobs
I don't know who wants to play like Stephen Adams with Westbrook trying to pound the paint on both ends of the damn court. Also, if we're trying to trade Westbrook with a high value, he needs the paint to be free for him to be effective. It's really hard to see us get a top-tier 3nD PF/C when Westbrook needs that space to be effective.
Noah Vonleh is a UFA PF. He might be available for the 5 M plus MLE. He can give rebounding, defense and an occasional mid range shot. He isn’t inconsistent like Bruno and is fairly mobile.
He was a jack of all trades and master of not much.... Now they turned him into a 3 pt specialist and he only shoots them about average. Defense also got worse. Percentages bounced back some. Then he lost minutes, playing only sparingly.
Wait....big man you say? May I interest you in some: https://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.ph...-baynes-of-houstons-small-ball-lineup.307428/ ? It all depends, really, on how committed Tilman is in "going all in" and "winning a championship". If it's all talk like he's been since owning the team then we're going to see the likes of Jeff Green, Bruno, Tyson Chandler and another old player on the vet minimum come back. If he's somewhat committed then maybe Rafael Stone can be cleared to use the MLE and get a player like Baynes. If he really wants to play ball, well, I've said this many times before in other threads: you gotta move Gordon for either a S&T and get back a Christian Wood or your move Gordon with a pick to take back a $16 million trade exception. The latter would be more likely given that Tilman could just limit Stone from using the entire $16 million to save on salaries next season. People want to move on from Covington but, at this point, he's a better player and is more versatile than PJ Tucker. Once he found his rhythm he was probably our best 3 point shooter in the bubble. And the dude can actually block shots which is something Tuck-wagon can't do. So would I trade PJ? Of course but his market is limited (team that needs a bruiser and is ready to compete now) and your return on him would be dismal given his pending free agency and age.
People want to move on from Covington??? I've been working on PJ scenarios. Play along... PJ for Jerami Grant (sign and trade) works and leaves us under the cap. Offering Grant 16m/3y so not lowballing either. Leaves us like 700k under the cap or so (remembering numbers from last night, oy). Denver expects him to opt out and looks like they're losing Millsap or Plumlee too, if not all 3. So PJ definitely steps into that team as a needed power forward, some cap relief soon if things don't work out. Then we go House for Bamba? Maybe shed LMM contract with a 2nd round pick and resign the Greens? Westbrook, Harden, Covington, Grant, Bamba Rivers (PO), McLemore, Gordon, Gerald, Jeff Clemons I believe we could resign Rivers then on bird rights? So we still wouldn't be paying tax right?