Rockets not even trying to upgrade the PG position tells you all you need to know they’re not serious about competing
I haven’t really seen much of that. But, I don’t read every post in every thread. I think the main point was that we would have been a better team last season if Fred hadn’t gone down. Probably not good enough to be a true contender. But better. I don’t see Fred as our savior next season. If he can come back fairly healthy he should help just because our point guard play was a disaster last season. I’m not expecting any miracles. But, hopefully he could bring some sanity to our helter skelter offense.
I'm pretty sure that talk came from Fred only because he "needed a goal for rehab" and nothing coming from the team.
While I realize the general consensus is that Stone is an incompetent moron, and I fall into that thinking quite often myself, I think it’s possible that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to these negotiations. And no leaks are probably by design. With Tari’s extension looming, the Rockets cannot make any roster moves without likely going into the second apron. This means that they are currently in a holding pattern. We’ve heard little about this. Are they negotiating? Will they wait and let another team set the price? There are a lot of layers and implications with this contract alone. I doubt Stone is just laying on the sofa watching White Shadow. As for FVV, he has three options: 1. Decline option and hope to get more than $25M in FA 2. Decline option and renegotiate with the Rockets at a lower annual rate 3. Pick up option and collect $25M Knowing what we know about the injury, the Rockets would be pretty crazy to approach Fred about extending, even though that is the only way to add a decent PG. And Fred knows that would be taking less money to sign his replacement. By not negotiating an extension, they are forcing Fred to make the decision on picking up the option. If he declines the option, the Rockets have $25M off the books. While they are still over the cap, it allows them to use (I believe) both the MLE and TPL on free agents without going into the second apron. And using all of them would still come in cheaper than having FVV. if Fred picks up his option, he is immediately tradeable. So you have to believe there is a little bit a game of chicken here. Fred isn’t getting $25M as a free agent. He wants his money, but the Rockets can’t do anything until he makes his decision. I don’t worry that we haven’t heard anything. Stone is working. I’m not positive I’ll be happy with the ultimate outcome, but I understand why we aren’t hearing anything. On the 1st, think we’ll hear about multiple transactions. I’m confident that the Rockets aren’t doing nothing as many fans like to think.
Very possible. He realizes once he picks up his option he is likely to be shipped anywhere. He is screaming “damaged goods!” Probably upset the Rockets haven’t approached him about restructuring.
On a human level, i kind of feel bad for Fred. His NBA career (at a high level) could effectively be over. If Fred retires, Ime can make Fred his offensive coordinator.
