Waiters and Zeller are signed, so nothing could happen with them until much later this offseason. Thompson was considered an enormous reach when drafted and hasn't shown much promise, if any, since. As for the picks, Cleveland's not doing this deal unless Bynum sticks around (and he's reportedly expressed a willingness to do so). They've made it pretty clear that that is a priority. The other picks? The Heat and Lakers are not only non-lotto, but they'll be in the bottom five of the first round. Virtually worthless. The top-10 protected Kings pick is mediocre, and certainly lacks the high-end potential of the Toronto pick. Basically, the Cleveland deal they can offer now isn't much better than the trash from New Jersey, only Varejao's contract is two years as opposed to four for Lopez. Combination of mediocre, overpaid big man, marginal prospect(s) and late first-round picks for a top 3 player in the NBA? Not happening. The only hope Cleveland has, short of an extreme Morey low-ball offer, is to wait until Waiters can be moved. But even then, I'd say at least 50% of scouts, if not more, preferred Lamb to Waiters in this draft. Waiters was considered an extreme reach at 4. Moreover, Lamb has substantially outplayed him in summer ball. There's no "I don't know" to it - unless Rob Hennigan is on drugs, the Rockets' potential offer is miles better.
Don't know if this is actually true due to how Knicks told everyone they'd match then didn't. Maybe Bulls just doesn't want another Morey contract renegotiation to make it harder to match.
I agree, but I don't know if I'd go as far as "awesome." Yeah, we might be getting pretty good contribution defensively, there isn't much to look forward to offensively relative to Bynum or Howard.
My original post went to last page. But I have a question: how many cap space does Rockets have after Lin and "if" Asik?
I think I read ~15m. Enough to take back possibly two of Orl's bad contracts. Hopefully the ones with a buyout next season.
McHale likes big guys. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some Howard/Asik combo at times similar to Yao/Cato when JVG was here. Not to mention Howard may not start the season 100%. Not to mention even backup centers are very expensive. See 40yr old Camby getting half the amount that Asik would be getting. I mean, centers just don't come around that often, and Morey does not have the ability find them in drafts. So overpaying for one on the FA market shouldn't be a big deal. After all, Morey can always seem to find hidden gems at other positions.
A lot of the veteran posters have been dropping some serious knowledge on me this off season. I love me some CF.
I dont understand after asik lin and maybe bad contracts from magic we will have zero cap flexibility
If we got bad contracts that means we already got DH. What would you need flexibility for if you already have your superstar?
All rookies (Waiters and Zeller) can both be traded 30 days after they signed their contracts, so I'm not sure where you got your information.
Is it really that expensive a mistake? If he had blown up in Houston, he would then be Houston's restricted free agent and some other team could poison pill and we'd have to match, which means we would end up paying about the same. Also, he wouldn't have blown up because he would have never seen the floor first with Lowry playing well and then Dragic playing well.
The Rockets arent looking to trade the farm...and cap space...its just gonna be one or the other...ORL...is losing so bad by stalling on better offers from the Rockets...In the end ORL will really not get much from anyone by trying to "w****" themselves out..."you gonna pay more for my services or what, bc i got this dude thats gonna pay me more"...Morey is just gonna wait...bc in the end he has the luxury and time to wait... For all the poker references that have been floating around.."even pocket AA's get cracked once in a while"..while ORL may have the best asset, they may not get everything they want in return....Keeping him till the season starts might be a bigger mess...ORL is just trying to Pimp their number one asset! Take the 2 picks (lottery picks), 2nd rounders from the Knicks, take a rookie, take PPat and/Morris or Parsons, martin's expiring contract, and dump one bad contract on the Rockets plus Howard.... and you have a deal!
No way Orlando does this deal. Absolutely no way. Did you hear about the Lopez deal? Brooklyn was willing to take 3 bad contracts from Orlando. That is 3! The reason why it got leaked is because that is Orlando's asking price. Orlando would probably take at least two rookies too. Houston is loaded with wing forward or combo forward. You really thought Houston drafted White and Jones is because they are needed? Comon...
Backups don't get any better than him. At that price, it's a very tradeable contract considering he's a young and elite defensive talent. Howard, if we get him, might not be able to play big minutes if at all come pre-season. Asik is great insurance.
