Does Morey pull the trigger on a deal for anyone other someone in the league of James Harden or Kevin Love at the expense of disjointing the potential product on the floor we have with the current roster? Sure, we may not have the star power of Miami, or the proven continuity of the Spurs and others, but we also have the highest potential along in the league that leaves the ceiling for our team to be filled with uncertainty. In the past, Morey has shown he's been more than willing to go after someone like Pau Gasol or a Josh Smith, but how can a GM effectively add to a roster when the finished product is a (pleasantly) difficult one to predict?
i hope not, one wrong person in the locker room can spoil everything. they should just wait until summer to make more big moves....
What? We aren't real contenders without another piece, whether that involves one our young players blowing up or trading for one. Imo, the target to pursue is the headcase Cousins.
Though the finished product is a year or two away from completion, the Rockets can ill afford to just sit around ala OKC. If the Rockets' players do develop into their best-case scenarios, it still won't be enough to compete for a championship. What this team needs is an established star - preferably young - that is willing to sign with the Rockets during the off-season. Trading is an option but would most likely deplete the team of a key player (Lin or Asik, for example) or several very good role players (Parsons, Morris, Smith, etc). Since we have enough cap room to sign a max contract this coming offseason, I say we use it to tie up a young star. Then we can sit tight and follow OKC's strategy. We're OKC - 1 star right now.
If you read Morey's AMA he said pre-Harden the only real concern he and his team had was getting a franchise guy, whether that's via trade, draft or FA. DM said they were so desperate he didn't mind rolling the dice on someone with 90% bust rate, so they were going after guys like T-will and White and Thabeet, and trying to trade for risky guys like Cousins or Rubio during the draft. Now that we have our franchise guy though, does DM and his crew still stick to that 90% bust rate strategy? I would think not, whereas before you don't lost out when your prospect busts out (since all the other players expandable), now you have an element of time, Harden only has a short window (5 years) with which Morey can build a contending team. If he wastes his time extremely risky guys like Cousins then when the 5 years are done there's a high chance Harden will look around and not see any progress. I think Morey's next plan would be to trade for an established star like Love or LMA, or a 2nd tier guy like Millsap. We'll see what happens.
We already ARE real contenders...and you'll realize it when Harden explode to the next level and the team chemistry as well...it's bound to happen...with so much practice PT and experience he is gathering hes bound to heavily improve...harden and the team simply can not stay at this level...we can not help it but become extraordinary successful.....in 20 games time or by the playoffs time it doesn't matter...barren some grave injuries harden is going to publicly announce his contesting for new MJ and our team gonna chemistrize and develop to the unimagined levels...
You being serious? We are not REAL contenders yet. We are a promising young team with a great player in Harden, but we're not there yet, and probably won't be for 1-2yrs. I like your enthusiasm though.
We need defense here. We need someone who can block shots and rebound. No more scorers! Adding scorers is not cumulative. Notice how this team got better in scoring efficiency when a scorer (PPat) was taken away.
I think we make a minor move this deadline, IE helping Chicago or Brooklyn escape from the apron and pick up a few more trade assets. A couple we already have take steps forward and then we have the pieces for a big move next deadline.
I totallly agree with this. But i feel like morey in his mind has to always make a deal or it might look like hes not working... Hes always making deals.... I like our roster at the moment even more with its potentual so i hope we wait it out...
To be fair, Morris is a better scoring 'fit' at the PF spot with his range. So it's not like we subtracted scoring, if anything we added some to the starting lineup.
This. Unless a deal comes up that we can get good value for, this is the best play. We are one of a few teams with cap space in a market where it'll be in greater demand than usual. We should take advantage of the market while we can.
I think we can only contend if we somehow get a LMA or love type of player without losing both Parsons and asik and hopes Jeremy Lin continues to improve to be a fringe all star.
We've been here before. Good potential, but not star potential. What did that get us? Wins, but no ring. The bottom line is we need stars to have great playoff success. Morey knows this and that's why he's looking for stars. Doesn't matter if he breaks up this young core. He can go back later and build around stars. Remember, the role guys are easier to find. As of now, we only have one star in Harden. Lin has some potential to be one, but isn't likely to be it. Dmo, Morris, and White (giving him the benefit of the doubt) have slight potential. No one else has the skills/tools to become one. Get another star or two more, then re-configure the team around them.