Not being sarcastic or flippant, maybe I remembered wrong: weren't you our poster who very much believed we'd land Howard at the deadline? Not that you can't change your mind, and not that it was even you. That was 3 whole weeks ago.
I will cover the story: -Orlando did not want to trade Howard unless they were getting a fair return. -No one offered them a fair return without a commitment from Dwight. Teams mostly wanted to take advantage of Orlando's situation. -Dwight does not want to end up like Carmelo in NY, instead he would rather form a great team in NJ. -Orlando decides they have to trade Dwight if he doesn't sign an extension. Dwight said no. -Orlando's only option is to trade him to the top bidder. -Houston came up with the highest bid. -Orlando does not like the trade, but they have no better option 24 hours before the deadline. -They told Dwight he was being traded to Houston since he didn't commit. -Dwight said no, no I will sign for one more year.
I was very optimistic that we were the leading candidate to land Howard by the trade deadline if he was traded. And I am still convinced we would have gotten him if he had not agreed to opt in for next season. And I still think we are the leading contender to trade for him this offseason......if DWill doesn't sign elsewhere. However, once DWill signs elsewhere, all bets are off. I don't think Morey is going to be willing to rent Dwight without a commitment to sign an extension and if DWill is gone then we likely won't be able to get Dwight to commit to an extension. However, Orlando knows what's up with Dwight. If they are convinced he's walking at the end of the season, they have 2 opportunities to trade him, during this offseason or at the trade deadline. NO ONE is going to trade for Dwight at the deadline this season without a commitment from him to sign an extension. Orlando is most likely to deal him this offseason and Dwight will have a lot of say in where he is traded to at this point because he can tell any team that he isn't going to sign an extension with them.
Agree. Some fans are content with whatever bs the front office rams down their throats and still be happy. some fans want, nay, rightfully demand that the management quit giving us bs and get the team back to the elite group of NBA teams where it belonged for many decades. The teams make money from fans in general, including tv coverage and ads, whose ratings are fan-based, so Rockets fans have every reason to demand from ownership to get the team back to its glory years. There are no more excuses that have not been expressed to justify this team's middling status for more than a decade now.
I have had the same experience with MadMax lately. He doesn't seem to like anyone responding to his posts with a different opinion.
I think a lot of long time fans like us are just getting frustrated with the seemingly terminal just-above mediocrity status of the team. Houston is a pretty negative sports environment, generally. Maybe it's all rubbing off on MadMax.
Dwight doesn't want to be here, if he did he'd be here right now. Any superstar that isn't at least willing to give Houston a try IMO is a fool. This organization has done everything in it's power to win. They have simply been punished for eeking out every win they can. These superstars always challenge their GMs and Owners to have a winners mentality and not sit on the their butts while the seats fill to watch a player like Dwight. Dwight wants his team to care, makes sense...so why not come to Houston? A franchise that is doing everything it can to get marginally better despite the temptation of tanking. Why go to the Knicks (Carmelo) or Nets (Dwight) when those franchises have proven over and over again to be dysfunctional and unable to build successful teams? Players like Dwight don't want to just win they want to be superstars and don't think Houston will let them do that (and they'd be foolishly wrong about that) I think it's time to give up on Dwight being a Rocket, it would be a PERFECT fit it's unfortunate he doesn't see that.
