I dont really care about what they say because they agree w/ EVERYTHING Daryl Morey does regardless of who's involved. I've stated this was a bad trade we'll see if Harden lives up to the incredible expectations you've given him
You can't look at the trade as including guys like Lowry or Hill or Courtney Lee (who was used to acquire the CHA second rounder). Their salary coming off the books is what enabled the Rockets to sign Omer Asik and/or Jeremy Lin (although I think it was the amnesty waiver of Scola that really opened up the room to make Lin the same offer they already had made Asik). All those players would have taken up a crapload of cap room, so it's really not apples to apples. But I know you knew this already.
I don't disagree with you here. But keep in mind, I said they needed a really good scoring PF to pair with Asik. Harden by himself obviously isn't enough. That's the second all star caliber player. I also wouldn't say it's out of the realm of possibility that Lin can develop into an all star. Furthermore, I consider championship contention a top 4 seed out West, and the talent to go to the Conference Finals or NBA Finals. With a strong power forward, they aren't that far away. Of those three trios you mentioned, the Spurs window is shut, and Gasol and Kobe are very old. The Lakers will have to find another all star to pair with Dwight in about 2 or 3 years, which is the time frame the Rockets are building towards.
Depends on if he signs a 5 yr max or not. The Thunder could only give him a 4 yr deal, so if we give him a 5 yr max deal then the difference is over $20M. You never know what kind of injury can happen in 4 seasons (see Brandon Roy).
Yep. In fact, it seems like the Rockets are making a real gesture of good faith to Harden and his agent by even offering him a max deal right now. If you assume that Harden is worthy of (and will get) a max deal, there is actually little upside to signing him now. They can always wait until next summer, then match any offer sheet. Heck, they'd actually end up paying Harden LESS MONEY if they did it that way. Of course, the Rockets realize that you just don't do that to someone you want to install as your new franchise player. They'll take care of Harden. And hopefully, Harden will take care of the Rockets and help lead this team to something special in the not-too-distant future.
Wow, I came back from out and got this news! So we trade an older flopper for a younger flopper? That's cool. But Lamb and Toronto pick is a bit steep. And will Harden be the superstar we've been looking for? I doubt. But we can hope.
Dwyane Wade last season: 22.1 points, 4.6 assists, 4.8 rebounds Yeah, I'd say it's superstar numbers.
Agree with you. To me the team of the future in the west and probably the entire league is still OKC even after losing Harden. Presti is an extremely good GM and is now loaded with draft picks ect. to help aquire an all star player to add to Durant and Westbrook. OKC would be scary they added a big who could play with his back to the basket. Also I like that the rockets were given Aldrich in this trade so McHale can have a chance to work with him. Today was a very good day for the future of the rockets.
I don't know if Harden can be the franchise player Houston is looking for, but my gut feeling is that OKC just got worse? I don't understand this deal on their end, unless they're not finished trading yet, and Martin is just a stopgap. But who can they get? I don't think Westbrook can handle all the playmaking.
WOW...went out trick or treating with the kids tonight and haven't been online at all and stop by ClutchFans and read this. I like this a lot. No, I love it. We finally got a young, healthy top 25 player. You have to go back before Yao and McGrady for that. While they both were top 25 caliber when healthy, neither was ever a lock to finish a season and play most of the year. Hats off to Morey. The guy has been stockpiling assets for a while and was finally able to land a big fish. Presti is too smart a GM to take inferior assets (looking at you Orlando), and Dictator Stern couldn't block it. Now we can really get the rebuilding party started up in here. Martin was not in our long term plans, and while I thought he was going to have a great scoring year, he was clearly going to be dealt at some point. It's disappointing to lose Lamb, but this was a guy who was not going to get a lot of playing time for a while. He might blossom into a great talent, but his upside is a solid role player who can occasionally go off for a ton of points. I don't ever envision him as challenging for an All Star berth. We gave up a lottery pick (Raptors), a likely high lottery pick or one in the upper teens ot lower 20's (Mavs), and the 31st pick (Bobcats) in the 2013 draft. None of those hurt, and most weren't even going to be available for a few seasons or more. I'm not happy about giving them all up, but such is life when you're trying to get a real talent in the NBA. We got the best player by far in the deal, which is always a good sign when evaluating these things. The other test for me are the fan boards. Clutch City is throwing keg parties and lighting fireworks. The Thieves and OKC sound like they're planning a wake. So we get to roll with a Lin, Harden, Parsons, Asik lineup the next few seasons. I like that lineup a lot, and I like Patterson there for now although I'm intrigued by one of our rookies developing into a real force. A Lin-Harden defensive backcourt is scary, but it's a step up from Lin-Martin. I really hope we develop a more sophisticated movement based offense. Pick and rolls and spot up shooters is not taking advantage of the playmaking abilities we have in the starting lineup. I wish we still had Rick right now. Hopefully McHale will bend and not be a stick in the mud as far as this goes. I'm still not sure what our bench is. Who's back up point? Does Morris get time now backing up Parsons or is McHale going to run out a three man rotation for the 2/3 in Harden, Parsons, and Delfino? Terrence Jones looks to soak up the majority of back up four minutes, and now we have a backup center in Cole Aldrich. Even with uncertainty of our bench, I think this is now a team that can challenge for a playoff berth. Certainly not a top 5 spot as currently madeup, but a lower seed is attainable. I'll take that for right now and for this season, but now the game is on to land another bona fide star to pair with Harden and some of our other pieces to make this a monster lineup. Whether that's via free agency (dying to get Bima's cap breakdown), trade, or if one of our rookies surprises us all and develops into a star. I see option #2 being the most likely. Of course now, the Asset Cupboard is a bit bare. I want to see what our rookies are made of as well as what we really have in Morris and Patterson (throw out the lockout season). Pump up their value and learn if we can depend on them down the line. There are only so many minutes, and the focus of this team is now to win and make the Playoffs so McHale won't be throwing young players out there to let them learn on the job. They'll have to earn their minutes. I see a lot of kids sent to the Vipers, and that's a great thing. Between burning three first round picks this year and sending out a lot in the Harden trade, Morey will have to accumulate more picks as trade fodder. He's shown repeatedly that he can manufacture this stuff, so I trust him here. It'll likely take him a few years, and a lot of minor trades, but I see us with another stockpile of picks, young talent, and cap friendly contracts in a few seasons. So a few seasons of challenging for lower rung playoff seeds and the high bar of maybe upsetting a top team and advancing to the second round. We develop more young players, land a few diamonds in the rough, accumulate more assets, make a play for another star, and then we can move back into contention status. Maybe we land Chris Paul when he's a free agent. This trade is not an instant leap into contender status that some want, but it certainly accelerated the process with a major piece. I'm so damn excited to get to watch this season now. After a few years of sporadic watching, this is going to be a great season to watch in depth. I can't wait to fire up the Magic Number generator later this season!
Hollinger explained it well. They were about to be in luxury cap hell. Trading Harden allows them to avoid that without having him walk for nothing after this season. They get Martin and Lamb in return, both good fits with their team, even though not as good as Harden obviously. And they get draft picks to help in the future. But most importantly, they get a little bit of flexibility and a lot of financial savings.
LOl - I read an article about 2 weeks ago saying something about how Lin can bring Harden to the Rockets... talk about prophetic...
