Call me crazy, but wasn't D. Cousins in trade rumors last season towards the deadline? Yes Sactown would be crazy to let him go; but, the dude has a brighter future than a lot of these guys mentioned in trade talks. Why not go after him with our good relationship with the Kings? I think the Wolves and Kings and Rockets will become trade partners for years to come
We should really go after Rudy Gay. Memphis would be looking to shed some salary and the Rockets could do a complicated Amnesty-and-trade type of deal.
Memphis looking to shed salary? good that they signed Zach Randolph to that mammoth extension then...
If we get Gay, Rockets don't stand much of a chance being a player in the 2012 free agency for CP3 and Dwight unless we do a trade involving Gay. I still want to see what Morris can offer at the 3 spot.
Can we get anyone to bite on Marcus Morris by the Feb trade deadline? The dudes gonna have a pretty, stat-packed promising(read: rookie surge before his type dies down into a massive ditch), and he's gonna be among Rookie of the Year candidates before Feb ends. That said, he's just another dinosaur-armed one dimensional scorer with an ego that puts on a facade makes him look much better than what he actually produces on the bottom line. If we can get a team to bite on him for a pretty good price, i.e. a high-mid first round pick in 2012, then I'd call Morey's short-term property investment a good one. Marcus Morris is like a house that you buy that you never actually plan to live in yourself; you sell it off as soon as the mining towns booming and you go with those earnings to buy a piece of land in downtown Manhattan that you can either leave there and watch the prices soar in a few years, or you can build a nice mansion on it to live by yourself for many years to come.
It took a package of the 13th, 18th, and 23rd pick to get the 7th pick (Eddie Griffin). Playoff teams that may hold interest in Martin and Scola aren't likely to have the desired first round picks and IMO other teams aren't likely to offer an unprotected pick for any of these two. I reckon the best chance the Rockets have to trade for an unprotected 2012 first round pick is to offer the right package of young players. For e.g, Patterson + Morris + Lee, high value Lee + Twill + Hill, lesser value
Program Scenario for improving Rockets: 1) Trade for Al Jefferson, offering Kevin Martin. (The Jazz's biggest need is a scoring perimeter player, especially a 2 guard and Jefferson has become somewhat expendable with Milsap, Okur, Kanter and Derrick Favors. Meanwhile, Jefferson can play the 5, block shots, and be a all star level force inside the paint and Martin is a defensive liability and an injury risk, making his replace Lee a viable alternative). 2) During the Amnesty bidding of Brandon Roy, make a sufficient bid to claim him. (I think 4-5 million would be sufficient to win the auction and still be an acceptable amount to risk on bringing in a potential all world talent. Meanwhile, having Lee on the roster means that the Rockets would not be dependent on Roy panning out in order to have a solid 2 guard position. A Lee/Roy sharing of that position would be solid, even if you only got from Roy what the Blazers got last year.) 3) Bring back Hayes. (Chuck is getting better each year and has not reached his ceiling yet on offense, and has several more years of elite post defense along with stellar team leadership). 4) Option a) stand pat. Roster would be: C/PF rotation of Jefferson, Scola, Hayes, Patterson and Hill SF: Buddhinger, Morris, Twill SG: Lee, Brandon Roy PG: Lowry, Dragic, Flynn 4) Option b) Use the amnesty auction to also bring in a center (either Biedrens or Brendan Haywood), and then trade Scola, Buddhinger and Thabeet's contract for Iguodala and our 1st round draft pick back. Roster would be: C: Al Jefferson, Haywood or Biedrens PF: Hayes, Patterson, Hill SF: Iguodala, Morris, TWill SG: Lee, Brandon Roy PG: Lowry, Dragic, Flynn. This would be a better defensive team, a bigger team, and, if Roy pans out, a more veteran and talented team.
ESPNSteinLine Marc Stein Word is GSW (re)shopping Biedrins in hopes they find trade taker to free up more cash for pursuit of T-Chandler. In long-shot hopes, that is.. Rockets in- Biedrins and 2012 GS first round pick top 5 protected GS in- Flynn and Battier 7 million exp. Salaries match, GS get 9 million 3yr off the books, and we get a lottery pick? kinda like Cleveland got from Clips in 2011
Someone tell me we will win 2 more games than last year with Biedrins... Thabeet at this stage is no worse than Biedrins. No joke.
in all honesty.. if were gonna get a center.. make sure we dont spend too much on one.. i think we would have a legit shot at Dwight Howard. Im sure there are a couple of Centers out there that would improve our team but at the same time still leave room for a big time free agent(Dwight Howard).. or two...
To get anyone worthwhile we will have to give up what we want to keep. It will be either Lowry, Martin or Scola packaged with combo of Lee, Bud and Pat. There is no-one else anyone would want on their roster.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7vkfmd4 Most people on this board will utterly murder me for even suggesting this, but think about it for a few seconds............I am salivating right now :grin: Arenas/Dragic/Flynn Lee/TWill Morris/Budinger/Parsons/Blakely Patterson/Hill Howard/Cousin
1: The chance of Howard or CP3 being an unrestricted free agent is minimal. Think Melo last year. 2: Howard and CP3 have two completely different market values. Sign and trade vs just being traded with no guarantee of being under contract in 2013. 3: Even if we overpay for Nene he would retain most of his value in the market. Big centers who can both score and defend will always be a premium asset. We have maybe best case $12m or so to offer. 4: Houston has a number of good assets. Perhaps the best one is DMo. If you have not been following the Euro league recently DMo has shown significant improvement highlighted by a 19/18 game vs. a VTA team. I believe if the draft were held today DMo would have gone 10 - 15 positions higher. 5: In order to even attempt a sign and trade for Howard you have to have a serviceable center plus other good assets. Nene + Scola/PPAT + Flynn/Dragic + picks would possibly get you in the ballgame. 6: In order to even attempt a sign and trade for CP3 you have to have a serviceable pg plus other good assets. Lowrey + Scola/PPAT + Lee + picks + cash might get you to the table. 7: After center sf is our weakest position. Iggy has been shopped (I think). Bud + DMo might be considered (snapped up in a heartbeat?). 8: I don't believe that Morey will bet the house and trade for CP3 or Howard without them being signed for the 2012/2013 season. If he did and they walked it would be blow the whole team up time. If Houston went first with 3 and 8 our lineup would be Lowrey/Martin/Iggy/Scola/Nene. Certainly a team that would be competitive. It probably would be one superstar away from making a serious championship run.
Too bad you would be over the cap and cant afford a superstar with that line up. More represents the Detroit era of Champions. Although Iggy would be a close Allstar.
Too bad you would be over the cap and cant afford a superstar with that line up. More represents the Detroit era of Champions. Although Iggy would be a close Allstar. At that point wouldn't it just be getting a sign and trade to balance the salaries? I really doubt either CP3 or Howard will be available after the season. And we might have a strong enough roster to intrigue a superstar. They probably put winning a championship above anything else.
