1)draft/trade for All-Stars 2)fill in needs to field a competitive team (which Les demands) via free agency without doing too much damage to future flexibility
I'll just say this... Time to rebuild. Trade Martin,Lowry, and Scola. Give the youngsters the key to the Benz and see what they do with it... Thats all.
1) Clearly not happening given draft position and all-star's desire to be in big markets 2) Arguably this is more like "maintaining mediocrity" rather than fielding a competitive team
Question is, why isn't Houston a bigger market for stars? I've never quite understood this. Can someone explain in Cliffnote form?
No cool factor. LA, Miami or NY are MUCH better places for stars/celebs to live. The only exceptions to the rule are when teams build bona fide winners through the draft, such as OKC.
Let's look at it from the perspective of the other GMs from the other teams. 1. The rockets had a fine point guard situation last year Lowry with an excellent contract and Dragic behind him. Now, Lowry is disgruntled and Dragic wants to get paid. Both are basically available and in play - Lowry has to be a trade but you may have a little leverage cause he is not happy. 2. The Shooting guard position was ok - Martin is a nice offensive player but a defensive liability. He is not happy at all and is an expiring contract. Courtney Lee good all around player solid back up and boarderline starter. They just rescinded his offer Again. Rockets do not have the right to match your deal. Both are in play and can be had. 3. Small Forward - Chandler Parsons - good game, cheap, upside. Probably not in play unless you knock the Rockets socks off. i.e. he is part of a bigger deal Buddinger [Gone] 4. Power Forward - A Glut! 5. Center - None on Roster The Rockets Known Targets Big - Howard Small - Asik, Lin Question the GMs are asking: How can we take advantage of them? Contrary to popular demand . . other GMs have actually read a book and made a deal in their day as well. They not as stupid as we would like to think. Rocket River
It's just frustrating because if Les wanted to tank, it should've been last season... the shortest season for the foreseeable future. And if we weren't going to tank, we should have not just let Dragic/Lee walk for nothing. Why do we collect all these valuable "assets" just to let them walk? Dragic/Lee/Parsons were the only guys from last season I really didn't want to see go. And we've still got our vets: Lowry, Martin, Scola.
Do something no one has ever done, rebuild without tanking = fail so far Even the Spurs tanked a whole season!! Wake up Les and stop this mediocrity. Either we tank or we make a trade for a star that hurts. These trades for role type players where we need to "win" aren't going to work, everyone knows we are pathetically desperate.
Here's my take on the strategy: 1) Avoid paying superstar prices for borderline stars. (See: Dragic). 2) Seek out the true superstars. (See: Howard, Gordon) 3) Continue to develop talent from within. (See: Parsons, Motiejunas, Lamb, White, Jones, Patterson, Morris) 4) Try to move malcontents. (See: Martin, Lowry). 5) Use leverage when possible to improve the team. (See: Asik). 6) Make it more expensive for other teams. (See: Lin). 7) Maintain flexibility. (See: Lee; See also: expiring contracts in general). 8) Obtain good pieces that look like throw-ins in trades. (See: Leuer). 9) Be willing to move good players to help find a superstar. (See: Scola). 10) Find diamonds in the rough or players past their prime to patch holes in the team. (See: Camby, Boykins, Smith, Fortson, Simpson, Adrien). 11) Maintain assets overseas for future use or trade. (See Llull, Aldemir). So, assessing what has happened so far, I'd say we've failed at seeking a superstar, but avoided paying superstar prices to non-superstars, while continuing to develop from within. If we get both Asik and Lin, we're probably an upgraded team. If we get one of the two, all we've really accomplished is to get a little younger. If we get zero, while losing Dragic, Lee, Dalembert, Camby and Budinger, we're primed for tank mode while the youngsters get up to speed. Where I think is the greatest failing so far is our failure to move our malcontents. But the free agency period has just started, so perhaps there will be some sort of reasonable deal out there.
The strategy is to make something out of nothing. Its a desperate attempt of trading players who are not good enough to take their team to the playoffs and get all-stars in return. This is not easy to do and there are a lot of variables involved.
Step:1--Get Adam Morrison from the Nets (It probably take a 2019 2nd rounder) Step:2--Force Adam grow the stache back and to shoot AT LEAST 20+ times game. Step:3--Baby Bird
