List of Free agents available: Who should we sign?

Why waste cap space?

 

Livingston only.

 

This guy will propel us to greatness.
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I am surprised Michael Redd is still available. I wonder if he is just waiting around for a team looking for a SG. He played well last year, I thought.

 

Cant get anyone without cutting someone. Otherwise I wouldnt mind taking a gamble on Michael Redd.

 

Save the cap space to try to get a great low post player.

Targets who fit the bill (But not necessarily want):
-Milsap (Free Agent)
-Al Jefferson (Free Agent)
-Zbo (Can be obtained?)
-Pau Gasol (Doubt it)
-LMA (Yeah that will happen..)
-Cousins (Best fit, but least likeliest)

 

How is Cousins the best fit? I'm as impressed by his physical attributes as the next guy, but at this point he brings the bad attitude of Carmelo Anthony with more potential than production. Not to mention the Westphal ordeal. I'll pass on him.

Milsap is a pretty good fit, but looks to be on the decline already.

Ryan Anderson is one of my favorite ideas. Would be a perfect fit next to Asik, and running the pick & roll with either guard. Not sure what the Hornets willingness to part with him is even with Davis.

If Jones or D-Mo show real promise during the course of the season, I wouldn't mind bringing Landry back for quality depth.

 

What a gimp.

 

Hassan Whiteside already pretty much out of the league. Like half of CF wanted that guy.

 

In my opinion, these guys should still compete:

Earl Boykins
Shaun Livingston
Rodney Carney
Chris Douglas-Roberts
Michael Redd
Ryan Gomes
Ike Diogu
Etan Thomas
Kyrylo Fesenko
Dan Gadzuric
Didier Ilunga-Mbenga
Hassan Whiteside

I'll even throw in Ben Wallace

 

I wouldn't mind Pietrus. Much better backup to Harden than Cook or Douglas. I think a defensive SG may make the best backup for us. I know most people say we should have a spark plug, but Lin and Harden aren't the strong defensive combo on the perimeter.

 

I agree...and cutting Livingston was also a minor mistake in the big scheme of things but a mistake none the less. Dougie has done little to nothing and I was actually suprised we cut Livingston instead of Dougie.....bad move as the second unit looks weak without Harden or Lin in there with them....

 

Roster is at the max of 15 right now. The problem is I would much rather keep any of the players that would need to be cut to sign someone off of this list.

Sure, some of these guys could help immediately, but in the grand scheme of things, its probably much more imperitive that the Rockets focus their roster spots on developing guys like G. Smith, Machado, or even Aldrich(although his option was declined, he could still be a nice trade piece with improved play).

 

I disagree as it may be worth waiving TD to add Pietrus. As Sanity mentioned in the post just above yours.

 

I disagree whole heartily and here's why. The Rockets need a #2 or alternate #1 player to be a pillar of their franchise. That's priority #1 right now.

The Rockets currently are sitting on 7.5 million in cap space for this season. Combine the contracts of DOUGLAS, Cook, Aldrich alone makeup 7.6mil in expiring contracts. Thats rougly 15 million the Rockets can take back in trade.

If youre up the speed on the makeup of the front office and their thinking you will understand how important it will be to hold onto those 3 expiring contracts. You waive Douglas, you end up losing a significant chunk of caproom because his contract is 100% guaranteed this season. That's why Livingston was cut, because his salary only counted 1 Million against the cap if waived before the season.

Is that making sense, or is this a lost cause trying to explain this to you?

Sorry, not Pietrus, and no waiving significant expiring contracts.

 

Just to interject here, I think what you outlined is a very persuasive argument in the light of signing a max FA or trading for a max type player.

I think where many are coming from right now is they feel we are close, maybe one piece away from being legit contenders. But they want something to happen right away. By that I mean, take the first guy available that makes us a little better rather than wait for the guy who makes us a lot better. While Harden certainly lifted our potential, we are not there yet and it may get painful watching us grind our present players into the ground via too many minutes or just losing games that we could have won with a small tweak in the lineup right now.

I think history shows that Morey is patient and will wait for the opportunity to push us to the highest level possible with the next high salary player he obtains. It would seem silly and counter productive to his philosophy of the last 3 years to simply sign the best guy available even if he isnt the best fit or value for the dollar. In the long term, waiting makes sense. It may well work out that no one becomes available at the trade deadline or next summer that really fits our needs in a close fashion. That seems like a long time, but given the age of our team, we have the time. It will be 3 or 4 years before most of our team gets into their prime. And while I certainly hope it doesnt take that long to find Mr. Right, signing someone like Josh Smith to a max deal could hamper us for half a decade and not give us the returns necessary to compete at the highest levels.

Personally, the ideal scenario would be to find someone of Hardens caliber at the 4 in a FA signing thus not depleting our roster depth. Its possible this player could be amongst us already in the form of Jones, Dmo or White. But that will take time more than likely.

So in the end, I wouldnt sign anyone who isnt a game changer to big money. Keeping our flexibility is key to being able grab the right player at the right time.

 

This.