Millsap is not young. 27 years old, that dude is a finished product. Also...Cousins is going to dominate in this league. Kings would be crazy to give him up but maybe...just maybe if T-Rob flashes potential and the Rockets offer pretty much their entire young crop the Kings might fall for it, the Kings are crazy for 'potential' I'd feel confident building around Cousins and Harden.
Obviously he isn't now, but Morey is BFF with Petrie and the Kings are a hot mess. Their whole roster is full of chuckers. Decent chance they'll end up in last place in the West. Evans will probably be first to go and it might take another immature act of Cousins for him to hit the block as well. Chances are he won't be available, but there's a chance he might. Spoiler
I'd rather keep the first rounder and send PPat/Morris, Aldridge & future lottery protected pick for Bismack Biyombo. Bobcats already have Mullens and Haywood at the 5. I know Jordan loves Biyombo (likens him to a young Olajuwon) but they need offense from the PF spot. Both Patterson & Morris can offer that. And Aldridge is a cheaper alternative or backup to Haywood when Mullens slides to the 4. Biyombo, like Harden, is very young but unlike Harden has not produced yet. Biyombo would be a great complement to Donatas and White. Unlike Aldridge, Biyombo is a high energy uber athlete that can erase any mistakes on D by the Motiejunas and White.
We need to figure out how to get into the 2013 lottery with multiple picks se we have a great chance to land Cody Zeller.
Terrence Jones will develop into a Josh Smith type player in a couple of seasons. Why would you trade him and picks for Josh Smith and sign him to a max contract? Josh Smith wouldn't make the Rockets contenders either, while eliminating cap flexibility so definitely not.
Josh Smith has a 100% chance of being Josh Smith. Jones has less than a 50% chance of being a Josh Smith type of player. I don't think they would be contenders yet, but very close.
We will land jsmoov... im confident in my assessment... whether its trade or FA who knows... but if it is trade i dont think we overpay at all... i dont see jones being traded unless its for top quality, hes our bluechip prospect now... I see us signing him to a max contract next offseason... hopefully Lin improves and can become a fringe allstar... harden will be an allstar... you add smith who is an allstar or atleast feinge allstar and you got a great core... add in solid role players such as parsons jones and asik, and thats a very good contending team... Anyone who honestly wouldnt want a starting 5 of Lin/Harden/Parsons/Smith/Asik is high as a kite... Of course id rather have LA or love, maybe even cousins... but im being reallistic...
I went through the entire league, looking for potential pickups that would improve the roster in a meaningful way. I left off players like CP3, DH, Love, and Derrick Favors because there is next to no chance they are moved or pass up the additional $$ from their current teams. Al Horford Josh Smith Danny Granger Rudy Gay Andrew Bynum LaMarcus Aldridge* Demarcus Cousins Al Jefferson Of these, Horford, Cousins, and Aldridge seem like very low probability events. They are the cornerstones of their franchises, and they are young, so their teams can still get a lot out of them. Also, there really isn't a scenario where Bynum is an option. Either he plays up to his potential, and the 76ers give him the max plus one more year than any other team can, or his health deteriorates, and we won't want him anyway. So that leaves us with: Josh Smith Danny Granger Rudy Gay Al Jefferson All of these guys are 2nd tier guys...ie, in the same group as Kevin Martin. Good #3 options on a contender. Their respective teams could easily be in a position to trade them at some point in the year. Josh Smith - If Atlanta tanks, they may try to get something of value before Smith is a FA. Then again, they will have tons of cap space in 2013, so they may not care about signing Smith to another big contract. Danny Granger - He's a highly efficient scorer who is rumored to have been a target of Morey's in the past. Paul George is an up and coming star, so how long will Indiana be willing to devote so many resources to one position? Houston can provide them with young talented PFs to develop beside Hibbert. The downside? Granger is 29, and will be in his Rudy Gay - If Memphis disappoints, I fully expect Morey to jump at this opportunity. Gay, at 26, is at the peak of his career and will still be at a high level when the Rockets are contending. He's expensive, but that's what really makes this deal possible. Memphis isn't a team that can spend tons of money without being competitive. The Rockets have a much more favorable cap situation, and they have pieces that will appeal to Memphis. Parsons and one of the Rockets talented PFs will provide the Grizzlies a way to shed salary and stay somewhat into the near future competitive. Al Jefferson - The Jazz have 4 legit bigs between Favors, Kanter, Jefferson, and Millsap, but the future of the team is Favors and Kanter. I could see them bringing back Millsap for the right price, but I don't see Jefferson returning. They could have an incentive to trade him, but I don't think the Rockets have the right pieces to make a deal work unless a third team is brought in. He would be a great compliment to Asik. In the end, I think Gay and Jefferson are the targets, but especially Gay.
Josh Smith is only 26, I believe he is just younger than LA. I would prefer LA too, but Millsap while a solid player, is not the cornerstone/all-star type player we will need to get us to the next level. LA or Kevin Love would make us a dangerous team.
The funny thing about that is if a trade did happen, I see Patterson being involved in the trade somehow.
The missing piece on this team is a low post presence. If Morey wants another star, I'd imagine he's looking at the most available superstar power forwards in the league. I'm thinking Morey wants to keep the core of Parsons, Lin, Asik and Harden in tact. Although he is beasting right now, I would probably not get too attached to Terrence Jones. The way he is panning out, he will be the center piece of a trade for another super star. Likely a superstar in post moves.
This, but especially the part about Kevin Love. He is the one who would make the most difference and he is on one of the worst teams despite his efforts. He'll want out, and when that happens, Morey needs to strike and kiss Adelman and Kahn's asses and get Love to Houston. Smith is too one dimensional for me. Good player, but I really don't think we need him on our team, because he's NOT the missing piece. Kevin Love has everything we need to go to the next level. Aldridge is the next choice and it pretty much stops after that. Going after any other PF short of KG or Bosh, which won't happen, is merely making a lateral move.
He's not, but neither was Harden. The fact of the matter is a) Morey has made multiple deals with Sacramento, and b) Cousins asked for a trade last year. Good enough for us to dream :grin: Love on the other hand, I don't see Minny trading at all.
Does a player like Ilyasova fit on this team? He's also young at 25, has continued to improve, shot 3s at a ridiculous 45% last season and averaged 8.8 rebounds per game (particularly on the offensive end) in 27.6 minutes. His stats make him seem like a mini-Kevin Love.
I only want Love or Aldridge for win now, or Cousins/Faried for the future. Anyone else is just wasting our cap space and will NOT make us into a serious contender. Morey should be patient and wait for the opportunity. In the mean time, just keep piling up assets by developing our rookie PF's. Worst case scenario is to acquire someone like Gay of Smith, we will be in a win now mode, our rookies will lose value by sitting on the bench, no cap flexibility for the next 3-4 years, and still can't contend with Lakers and Thunder. Please be patient Morey!
A low post presence would certainly be the traditional way to build a team, but wouldn't a stretch 4 also work offensively? Either the opposing 4 comes out to guard leaving more room in the paint for Lin/Harden to drive, or the stretch 4 gets easy open looks at the perimeter.
Love is only 24 and his game is such that he'll be good for another 8+ years down the road. Why would you not want him for the future? Same thing kinda goes for Aldridge. He's older at 27 but his game is still probably gonna be good for long enough to build around him and Harden, though his heart problems are scary.
