Running it back by benching Reed and having Smart take his minutes lol. I know the offseason isn’t over but dang.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/li...red_gift_live_blog_copylink&smid=url-share-ta Strangely enough, according to team and league sources, the belief is that the Rockets will be the team most likely to land Smart once free agency opens on June 30 thanks to a multi-year deal. Smart played for Rockets coach Ime Udoka in Boston.
I would be super surprised if it's that straightforward. Signing Smart to even something as low as the TPMLE puts us within ~$21M of the second apron without Tari, while also hard capping us at that second apron. Among other things, that makes Tari an easy target for other teams as an RFA. It would also straight up cost ownership an incremental ~$25M/yr bc of the tax payments, for a team that isn't a contender. My personal guess is that there are other moves lined up here that cut salary elsewhere (by a lot).
Reed doesn’t deserve to start, let’s be honest. And I like Reed but him being a cone on defense is probably why they’re about to sign Smart.
Or he's a potential Eason replacement. Marcus is built like a slightly shorter PJ, or a even thicker more defensive minded Gordon, similar to Lou Dort, etc. He guards wings and forwards with ease. Thompson / Durant / Smith fill all the minutes you could ask for at PF, so Smart could have a space to fill backup SF and SG minutes. PG: FVV (30) / Sheppard (18) SG: Thompson (20) / Okogie (12) / Smart (8) / Sheppard (8) SF: Durant (20) / Smart (18) / Thompson (10) PF: Smith (32) / Durant (12) / Thompson (4) That's Thompson (34) Smith, Durant (32) FVV (30) Sheppard, Smart (26) Okogie (12) Or, if you're Ime, you cut Okogie out of the rotation and play Fred/KD/Thompson 36 minutes a piece. Still, people seeing Smart as a PG addition might be seeing it wrong.
By my calculations, we'd be closer to $24-25M below the second apron without Tari. I'm guessing Tari either doesn't get a starting salary that large or ends up being S&T'd if he does.
It can go a few million either way depending on how they handle the end of roster minimums etc. My takeaway is the same IMO. And agree - a planned S&T or new contract with Tari that cuts team salary vs expectation would help. But also: are we really to believe Tilman is paying a $40-50M tax bill to add Marcus Smart to be the ~8th man on a non contender next year? My intuition is that somebody’s contract number that is currently penciled into the cap sheet isn’t actually gonna be there.
The thing is we have too many lineups with TOO many bad shooters. Yes, there is a difference between a bad shooter and a non-shooter, I'd agree that Smart is more of a bad shooter than a non-shooter, where the latter it's like "Oh wow, he made a three pointer this week" while a bad shooter can knock down a few per game...but we have too many lineups with bad shooters. I worry about that. But hey, he's an improvement over other guards we have, I agree there.
It all depends on the number and Smart's expected role. I like it as insurance, but I want the youngsters to be the priority, or they should be moved. Two words that illustrate my point: Roddy Beaubois. Beaubois was an untouchable player in Mavs trade talks until he was suddenly out of the league. I don't want whatever husk of a player Marcus Smart is now to have a significant impact on the Rockets most important decision making.
Are they really doing this again? We need spacing and young talent. But they’re chasing another old vet who can’t shoot, and on top of that, the man is constantly banged up. They are just setting themselves up for the inevitable. The second he gets hurt, which we know is coming, they’re going to use it as an excuse for why the season fell apart. They’re self-sabotaging while pretending to compete, so they can continue fleecing an absentee owner to keep this charade going. It’s not a basketball operation anymore, it’s a complete grift. I can’t wait until this era of rocket basketball is over. The whole front office needs to go. Feels like Bill OBrien is in charge of things rn. I wouldn’t be surprised if they burned it all down on their way out.
