Maybe a pick to even it up? In the sort term yes it sucks, but in the long run it may be the way to go. Lin is not the answer here with Harden, IMO. (I understand why he was cut just last year). He makes 8,000,000 a year for the next 2 years after this one. Lets move him while we can. Foye is all we need next to Harden - jumpshooter that plays some D. for say 2 / 2.5 a year over 3 years team option on the third (I think he would take that). That puts 5,000,000 back towards the cap for about the same numbers (with less turnovers) and the ball in the star's hand. Where is Morris going to play? (a tweener that won't / can't score at will - slow for a 3 and small for a 4) plus we have Parsons, Delfino, Patterson, Jones, D-Mo. Burks is a wild card I would like to play --> 6th man scorer. IF he ever gets his shot to fall a burks/harden backcourt
I'm sorry but have you been watching the games? Lin has not been playing PG but has been told to hang out in the corner. How can you make any kind of judgement about him on that? The Rockets have not been playing defense (which is the coaches fault) and have been standing around on offense (which is the coaches fault). We definitely could use a PF but if we don't change coaches it would be tough to win with LeBron.
Its horrible all arou.d.. unless we gain an impactful post option or a worthwhile guard that fits next to harden...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!PERFECT TRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!! ******This is the way the Rockets should do there trades for the next couple of years. FIRST, DO NOTHING NTIL FREE AGENCY! SECOND, sign Al Jefferson. THIRD trade Asik, PPat or Morris, Aldrich, and maybe 1 more (pick 1 either Douglas or White), and maybe 2 future draft picks for LEMARCUS ALDRIDGE ! Imagine! 1 Lin/Beverly 2 Harden/Delfino 3Parsons/ Jones 4 Aldridge/ Morris 5Jefferson/ DMoe Lin running the pick and role allyoop with Aldridge, Jefferson in the post and have Parsons and Harden as sharp shooters or any one of them can take it to the hole. Both Aldridge and Jefferson both have good mid range shots and that would open up the floor for Lin and Harden to drive in. Clutch City, we deserve it, with 85% of the NBA over th cap, I believe we would still be on the lower end maybe 5 to 8 mil over, which is still great compared to other teams. I think this is a perefect idea even if we are over the cap. Time to spend Mr. Alexander!
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=bg84knp http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=b66zhe3 We make a move for Gortat to play the 4/5. I think with Ross and the emergence of Alan Anderson combined with the down year Derozen is having and the money owed to fields, Derozen could be available. Perhaps we'd have to add a pick or T. Jones to a team in that trade. He's young, fits the style and has room to grow/cheap contract. Hate to say it but LA looks much better. Lin/Beverley Harden/Derozen/Anderson Parsons/Derozen Gortat/Terrence or Moti Asik/Smith Sign a backup shooting 1/2 in the offseason. Mo Williams?
DeMar DeRozan sucks, and he has a large salary. Carlos Delfino doesn't suck, and has a small salary. Why would Houston or any well-managed team want to trade for DeRozan?
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=a7askam Howard/Smith Morris/Motiejunas/Jamison Parsons/Ebanks/White Harden/Anderson/Morris Lin/Beverley /Duhon
Chicago sends their first rounder and Rip Hamilton. We send Douglas somewhere for a low 2nd rounder. Then, I'd ship Patterson and Morris out for draft picks as well. Finally, use some combination of what we've received to end our pick obligation to Atlanta. This maximizes flexiblity.
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=b85mehu Beverly / Douglas Harden / Delfino Parsons / ??? Patterson / Jones Howard / Smith This leaves us about 15 million in cap room for any number of pieces in the offseason. Should be able to shore up the PG and PF spot failry easily.
Think about the future. The great years of this team is not in the present but is in the future. We can't make absurd trades that will only slow us down. We are looking for title contention in a distant future. So ask yourself, does the player that you want to get a championship caliber? If not, then don't post it.
When you take a look at the Lakers' salary obligations beyond the 2013-14 season (that's next season, by the way!), it becomes completely obvious what they're trying to do. They're planning on having Dwight Howard on board, long term, and Steve Nash (in what should be his final season in the league, 2014-15, if he's still on the roster, that is), and they're hoping that this is enough to lure a summer 2014 free agent-to-be whose name rhymes with Nebron Tames. And I can totally see Lebron signing with the Lakers. Kobe Bryant would presumably be asked to take a massive pay cut if he wants to stick around for another ring (or two); otherwise, he'll be shown the door. Houston fans should give up on ever acquiring Howard. Also, Howard is an incredibly immature human being, and I think that it is always a mistake to build around an individual like that. Compare Howard, the human being, to Tim Duncan, the human being. There is a huge difference right there. You win with guys like Duncan; guys like Howard, not so much. Although I agree that Houston can put together an attractive offer for Howard, if Howard were to be made available, since Houston has all of that cap space, which allows the Lakers to drastically reduce its 2012-13 luxury tax penalty. I just don't think that Howard WILL be made available. You know which Lakers player the Rockets might be thinking about making a pitch for here? Steve Nash! Nash is still a heck of a player, is relatively cheap, represents an upgrade over Jeremy Lin (who would presumably be dumped on a team that might want him, say, Utah?), and is not doing the lottery-bound Lakers a whole lot of good right now (since they're lottery-bound). This works, I think: Steve Nash, Raja Bell (expiring contract), and Randy Foye (expiring contract) to Houston; Jeremy Lin and filler from the Lakers (Robert Sacre, Darius Johnson-Odom) to Utah; a Jazz first round pick and filler (Royce White, James Anderson, Kevin Murphy) to the Lakers The Lakers drastically reduce current and future payroll here, and receive what figures to be a decent first round pick (around #15 overall, if it's this year's draft) from the Jazz. The Jazz get their "PG of the future" in Lin, who will presumably fare better in Utah than he's faring in Houston alongside James Harden, and Utah isn't really giving up anything particularly valuable in order to get him. And Houston gets what I believe to be a pretty significant upgrade at the PG position in Nash simply by agreeing to help reduce the Lakers' luxury tax penalty. [And the Rockets probably do themselves a favor here by dumping Lin's contract before his trade value gets even worse.]
In the event that the Lakers DO decide to trade Dwight Howard, I think they'll want two things to happen: a) get back a really good player, and b) reduce 2012-13 payroll (thereby reducing their 2012-13 luxury tax penalty). In which case the Rockets, a team that has the cap space to absorb several million dollars worth of salaries, could get in on the action. Here is the sort of trade that would make sense to all parties: Dwight Howard ($19.3 mil salary in 2012-13, unrestricted free agent at the end of the season) to Atlanta Josh Smith ($13.2 mil salary in 2012-13, unrestricted free agent at the end of the season), Atlanta's 2013 first round pick, and filler (James Anderson, a minimum salary guy) to the Lakers Kyle Korver ($5 mil salary in 2012-13, unrestricted free agent at the end of the season) and Houston's own 2013 first round pick (presently in the possession of Atlanta) to Houston The Lakers reduce their 2012-13 payroll and luxury tax penalty pretty drastically, get back a relatively young All-Star-caliber player in Smith (who they'd presumably want to re-sign to an extension this summer), get back a first round pick, get rid of the headache that is Dwight Howard, and are able to move Pau Gasol back to his natural position (C). They might even be able to turn things around and sneak into the playoffs this season, and if that happens, this means they'd be playing around .700 basketball during the second half of the season, which means they'd be a hell of a team to contend with in the playoffs. The Hawks get their guy to rebuild around although I happen to think that Howard is a poor investment due to all of the personality/immaturity issues. They'd be giving up a player (Smith) who they don't seem to thrilled about re-signing and two non-top ten picks in a bad draft (the 2013 draft). The Rockets get a very good role player (Korver) for the stretch run and they get their first round pick back. They'd let Korver walk at the end of the season. Unless the Rockets wind up trading for Steve Nash (seems unlikely to me, but who knows), this is the only sort of trade with the Lakers that makes sense to me, i.e., a trade where they're the third wheel and wind up with a valuable asset in exchange for absorbing a $4-$6 mil salary (e.g., Korver). Korver is similar to Carlos Delfino, who Houston maybe isn't really wanting to bring back next season, as they may value the additional $3 mil in cap space more than one more season of Delfino (nothing against Delfino, who's been great for Houston). This allows Houston to trade Delfino to a contender for a late first round pick or an early second round pick (along with a useless player who makes around $3-$5 mil this season, and whose contract then expires at the end of the season). Suggested Delfino trades: Delfino to Oklahoma City; Eric Maynor and OKC's 2013 first round pick (probably around #29-#30 overall) to Houston Delfino to Chicago; Chicago's 2013 first round pick (probably around #20-#22 overall) and expiring contracts (Richard Hamilton, Vladimir Radmanovic) to Houston (NOTE: Houston would need to first waive Cole Aldrich in order to create a necessary open roster spot) I believe the deal proposed above with Chicago allows the Bulls to get below the 2012-13 luxury tax. Delfino is a big upgrade over Hamilton as far as I'm concerned (Radmanovic is a non-rotation guy who I can't believe is still in the league). If this deal doesn't get them below the tax line, I believe a Marquis Teague salary dump (in exchange for basically nothing, e.g., "cash considerations") onto a team that can absorb his relatively small (less than $1 mil) salary does the trick. Somebody out there would take a flyer on Teague if they can have him for free. With these two deals, Houston has gone from zero 2013 first round picks to two 2013 first round picks and they haven't given up anything especially valuable, particularly since I kind of doubt that they plan on exercising the team option on Delfino this summer. And, again, Korver = Delfino, pretty much, so you'd be replacing Delfino in the rotation with Korver, and you shouldn't really miss a beat. I doubt Hamilton would really play much for Houston and is a likely buy out candidate in late February. Radmanovic is almost a sure bet to get waived in late February as there is for sure at least one young low risk/medium upside player out there (a la Patrick Beverly) who he'd rather scoop up. If Daryl Morey isn't able to acquire a Marcin Gortat or a Paul Millsap, these are the sorts of trades that we can expect Morey to make over the next few weeks.
Lakers trade- Dwight, Duhon Get- Lin, Zaza, Ppat, TJones, Hou 1st (via ATL), 2013 and 2015 ATL 1st, NYK 2nd rd picks (via Hou) Rockets trade- Lin, Jones, Ppat, NYK 2nds Get- Horford, Morrow Hawks trade- Horford, Morrow, Zaza, Rights to Hou first, 2013 and 2015 ATL picks (top 10-protected) Get- Howard, Duhon Why Lakers- They get Lin's cash cow abilities, and expiring, serviceable center in Zaza, depth in Ppat, a prospect in Jones, and 1st rd picks since they almost gave all of theirs away. Better than just letting Howard walk away for nothing. Pau Gasoft can slide back into the paint where he's more effective. Houston- Horford is an upgrade at the 4 spot and Morrow provides more depth at the SG spot. Horford could also be used in a future as an asset for a guy like Kevin Love. Could work if they believe Beverly can hold down the PG spot. Hawks- They get to pair Dwight with his best buddy in Josh Smith. That could be a scary defensive duo in the paint for years. Beverley/Douglas Harden/Morrow Parsons/Delfino Horford/Morris/Dmo Asik/Smith
