well first I'd rather try to trade ego, house, and/or pj with those picks for better/younger players (like wood) who can be good for now and for a rebuild. that would mean staying over the tax. which might also convince James to stay if he sees tilman is willing to pay to win. but, if tilman gonna tilman. say we spend those picks on a salary dump to move ego for someone like George Hill. its not the direction I'm hoping to go though. lets hope tilman pays the tax and we use those picks to get better players to convince harden to stay!
Wouldn’t James lose his **** if they traded Tucker? I know I would. Our defense would absolutely go to ****. He is way to important. Especially after the Roco trade.
It would depend on what other moves were made or not made. James just wants to win a title. No one gets in the way of that. James doesn’t want to leave the city of Houston, he just doesn’t think the Rockets can win a title. If the Rockets moved Gordon and Tucker for a player that Harden really believed greatly made the team better, he would likely be fine with it. Essentially the front office and owner want to have a level of success that persuades Harden that the Rockets can win. The question is whether Harden will give them that chance and whether they can deliver a team good enough. The trade of Covington and then signing of Wood is risky. Covington is a known quantity and Wood isn’t so the Rockets are taking a real risk. However it is only 3 years and the upside is they get a long post player that can score with the ball, shoot 3’s and play with both Harden and Westbrook because he is a great trailer. Defensively he is good in a switching defense and he is more of a center than Tucker or Covington.
Wood was the easy move. The next one will not be so easy. I think before we do anything else, we need to figure out Westbrook. If he stays, maybe you move Gordon for a pure spot up shooter like Reddick so Russ can have the ball in his hands exclusively when he’s on the floor. If he’s gone for Wall, you might do the same thing. If he’s traded for someone like Lowry, then you keep Gordon. We are on step 1 of 5 I think for this team. Step 1 - Get Wood Step 2 - what to do with Westbrook Step 3 - shop for an upgrade at any position Step 4 - depth behind Tucker and Wood Step 5 - minimum vets
Right now they are operating with idea Westbrook and Harden will both be present and try to win and make them happy. Now that could change if offers improve but for now they are focusing on moving contracts around Harden/Westbrook more than those two guys. Rockets want to move Gordon and take back minimal salary. That is harder after tonight. They know it would cost them assets. They want another starter level big and a quality back up PG that can create some for others and defend with caproom they would create.
