They better not even touch him. Probably Lamarcus Aldridge...well trade for him. I think they're a lot more likely to upgrade at 4 than 3. It would be hard to upgrade at 5, since really only DH would be an available upgrade.
Aldridge would be great. I'd rather Bynum though, yeah he has his issues but when he hits the FA market he'll be the best player out there. If he gets hurt you still have Asik, if he doesn't get hurt you have arguably the best center in the NBA.
If he gets hurt, they just wasted max money and lose contender status. If he doesn't get hurt, he'll get hurt later. There's no "healthy" in Andrew Bynum. Dude's broken.
Well to lose contender status would imply that they had it. We'll see, if Bynum has a great season this year I don't see how you don't offer him the max. I don't think Aldridge would get you contender status, he's a really good player though. Outside of the ones mentioned though it's hard to think of anyone else coming up. We'd have to depend on other teams giving up on young guys like Cousins and Love.
You are selling Aldridge really short. He absolutely is one of the elite power forwards that can push this team into contender status. He's definitely better than the current DeMarcus Cousins.
CP3, and i think there's a chance. After that... i'd just save the cap, i don't love any of those. you can basically wait for a couple years now until someone big is available.
The problem I have with Aldridge is the same I have with Harden though. They seem more like Robin types and not Batman types. I know he's a really good all-star player but I still feel like if we got Aldridge and paired him with Harden and Lin we'd still have no alpha male player.... Although we'd have a very strong starting 5 and if we had really good coaching & chemistry the team could go far ala the Pistons. That would be very similar to that Pistons team actually...
Aldridge is flat out better than Bynum. The better fit, better talent, and better teammate. He's a lower level franchise player already. He would absolutely get us to contender status.
I don't think Aldridge is better than Bynum. Either way both are players the Rockets should go after, I just don't mind risking it with Bynum when you have Asik backing him up.
it would, although Harden/Aldridge are both huge upgrades over Rip and Sheed. Parsons could be the next Prince, it's not far fetched, he's half way there already. You don't even need Asik/Lin to get to Big Ben/Chauncey level.
Okay, the Rockets have money, but they don't have CP3/Dwight Howard money. So even if for some absurd reason they're actually available, the Rockets can't make a run short of S&T. Also Aldridge is not a FA. And Portland has money. They wouldn't trade him as a salary dump if they do get rid of him. So not sure why our cap space would matter in this regards. Plus Portland fans loves Aldridge. He's not your Rasheed Wallace type. Josh Smith to me seems like a perfect trade target, but less so as a FA. The Rockets can pay him, but not give him his max(higher than your typical maxes). I think if the Rockets carry their cap space all the way to the offseason, it's probably someone that blew up this year and becomes a RFA.
Yeah that would be a great starting five. Although it's hard to see how the Rockets could get Aldridge. It'd take a lot to get him, likely one of the players we'd want to pair him up with.
Why do you even care who I put on the list? I just glanced through next year's FA list and wrote down a few names. He just seemed like someone who may break out, similar to Roy Hibbert or Marc Gasol the previous years. You know, guys no one on this board would give the max to before their 4th years.
Al Jefferson will be a UFA next offseason.Al Jefferson can play the 4 and 5. He's just one year older than Josh Smith. And he's one of the few big guys with a solid post game. As much as I'd love Josh Smith on this team, Al Jefferson would be great long term, because truth is that when players get older, their post skills are always more reliable than their athleticism. Hence Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and eventually LeBron James
i don't like Al Jefferson at all, and there's also injury history to consider, but that said, Al Jefferson might make sense with Asik carrying the slack on defense. But i wouldn't consider that team a legit contender, so you'd need a 3rd star or one of the current / future rooks to reach star level, imo.
