Sam Smith: Rockets "quietly sending out signals they’d trade Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin"

All right Les wants to win even more but Lin is not a big part in this equation. He's not that great that trading will bring a championship to you.

 

All right Les wants to win even more but Lin is not a big part in this equation. He's not that great that trading him will bring a championship to you.

 

Everyone on this team is a bargaining chip...Harden just happens to be at the highest shelf. Morey will be zipping his paints for Durant or Lebron, so NO one is safe. But on a serious note, no player in the prime and right mind will move from a large market such as LA to a smaller market like Houston, if they are not forced to....see Harden. I think Morey and Rockets fans are a bit delusional to think CP3 and Howard will flock over. Harden has had a great year so far but will require a few more years of the same level of play to even draw any true elite players purely based on his name.

 

Lin is a 3pt shot away from being a solid 2nd tier PG. If the Rockets want to trade him, they'd be wise to give him another season to ripen.

However, I'd hate to see the Rockets just blow up their roster again. Such moves are needed when you're trying to climb out of perpetual mediocrity, but this team has a real future and what you gain in pure talent, you may lose in lack of team chemistry and spirit.

 

I doubt CP3 would leave the Clipper to come here. He's on a very good team, full of sick talent, and he's the toast of L.A. right now. Why go to Houston? To play with Howard and Harden? He's got to believe he can win big in L.A. with Blake and the pieces they have there.

 

Everyone on this team outside of Harden is fair game for the right price.

 

Yeah...you can't blow it up every year and expect to win it all, even with great players. Even Bosh, Wade, and James required their full second year to win it all. Let's say they get CP3 and Howard my bet is the first year is still growing pain just like Miami's first year with the big 3. Also, as good as Harden is now and as raw as Lin is now, things may be different in 2-3 years.

 

Not true. I doubt Harden has a no trade clause like Kobe or Garnett.

 

Not sure if he does or not, but I guarantee you that there's absolutely no chance that Daryl trades Harden.

 

Do you honestly think that getting CP3 and Dwight will have less odds of winning a championship than letting our inexperienced team grow together. Wow, just wow.

I think what you're saying is that roster turn over hurts chemistry - Yes it does. Morey has turned the roster over a lot over the last 2 seasons, no doubt, but should he not have? We weren't on the path to championship then, but we are certainly heading in the right direction now (upward trajectory rather than downward). Even Morey said this trade deadline that he was happy with the players we had and didn't expect any moves to be made. That said, he did move players but that was him being opportunistic (while the pessimist, optimist and realist argued over the glass of water, Morey the opportunist, drank the water).

Morey is making good business and basketball moves (calculated risks - low risk, high reward type moves - e.g. saving cap space for the offseason when another star might like to partner with the current 5th highest scorer in the league and has his name mentioned in MVP discussions, who is only 23!!!! Where is the downside with that?). He sent out PPat and Morris for T-Rob - the 5th pick in the draft and a 2nd rounder that looks to be pretty darn high. Every move Morey makes aligns well with the team goals and at the time are smart moves. Some of his moves when looking back aren't the best but at the time you wouldn't really question them.

What I really am getting at is, the roster turnover will reduce dramatically once we have a team that is on its way to competing for a championship. We have Harden (All-Star and starting SG - Some may say superstar in the making [I would]), we also have some other good complimentary pieces - Parsons (could be a starting SF on a championship team), Lin (Jury is out whether he could be the right piece to help us win a championship), Asik (while his rebounding and defense are great, I can't see someone who misses easy shots around the rim to take us to the promised land, especially when we are playing a 4 out 1 in starting 5). D-Mo could be great but only time will tell.

We should continue to expect changes to be made until the team looks to be in contention or on its way to contention. I for 1 don't see it absolutely crazy that CP3 and Howard could come to Houston as a package.

Clippers:
Apart from Griffin, where is the upside for the Clippers over the next 5 years? They have older players that will need to be replaced - Odom/G.Hill/Billups/Butler/Crawford. How do you replace the production of these players going forward? I can't see the Clippers being contenders for too long, they have their 2 year window and they will then be searching for good players to fill out their roster. They might be a little attractive to free agents but when you have max contracts for Griffin and Paul with Jordan getting a hefty salary too, there isn't much more to go around. If Paul chooses the Clippers is it for a short championship window and then a partial rebuild for his contract term.

Lakers:
Same goes for the Lakers. After this year Kobe is only under contract for 1 more year, as is Gasol and Nash. Does Dwight really want to hitch his wagon to this team for 5 years where only 1 of them will be actually competing (if that's what you call this season). Sure, they might land a nice free agent in the summer of 2014 but without exceeding the salary cap (which will be hard once you let all your highly paid players go) you will have to rebuild with less money as you won't be able to exceed the cap so much. If he really wants to compete for championships you really have to do something similar to Miami or OKC/SA.

Both the Lakers and Clippers are not built for longevity but putting CP3 and Howard with Harden and Parsons would certainly give you 4 years of a run towards a championship. If both these players want a serious chance at a title while in their prime Houston is the best option for them, what other team could offer them the opportunity to play together, 3 all-stars, while getting 4 year max deals. Yep, both could get more money elsewhere (slightly mitigated with less taxes in TX if they went to Houston) but slight paycut for the potential for championship success? I'd do it. . Get it done Morey

My last point (sorry for the long post - my longest of my time on this board infact) is, what if Pat Riley dismissed the pipe dream of getting Lebron and Bosh to sign on with wade, taking a little less money. This for him was surely a long shot (outside of rule breaking). We should give the same allowance to Morey to offer CP3 and Dwight the opportunity to play together alongside Harden, it will be his best pitch yet!

 

There is absolutely no way Harden is traded from the Rockets though. He's the best young shooting guard in the NBA right now, and the REASON why the Rockets can even be considered players in free agency. Morey has worked so hard to acquire a superstar of Harden's stature.....why on Earth would he turn around and trade him? It's simple common sense that Harden is untouchable.

 

Love is signed through 2014/15, so it's unlikely Minny trades him until next Summer or perhaps even the deadline in early 2015. Aldridge is signed even longer. A stop gap would be needed.

Both Paul Pierce and Gasol expire at the end of next season, though it's doubtful if either would be happy playing without an extension, nor would the Celtics or Lakers be an easy trade partner. Both teams would demand a ton of "assets".

 

I just want to see what Lin and Asik could develop into. If Lin becomes Tony Parker-lite and Asik a DPOY caliber player, I don't see what could go wrong there.

I'd like to see what we could do with Harden-Lin-Asik-Parsons. Hopefully we can upgrade at the 4 spot this summer (Millsap? Smith?) or Robinson will live up to his potential and see where that takes us. I really don't think CP3 or Howard are leaving LA. Not now.

 

Hey.....I agree, but just spelling the fact that Harden is no Durant or James so at the right price is out of Houston as well. Everyone on this team is dispensable at the right price. It's just that players like Harden is higher on the pyramid....so only that "impossible" deal can be a deal.:grin:

 

We have a second round pick right? I remember Morey explained the Morris trade by saying he didn't want to be left out of the draft. Maybe Morey is looking at Erick Green. Great shooter, great in the transition, great catch and shoot. He's not a great defender but he has good wingspan and is really quick, so he's capable. Nation's leading scorer. He's really low in the draft since VT sucks ass aside from him. He can play off the ball to Harden since he's a natural scorer.

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To be honest I really don't think this team is a good fit for Lin to truly develop his playing style. A good fit would be Lin swapping with Parker (Spurs), Curry (GS), or Lillard (Portland). I'm not comparing the players but more so type of players and how the team is run. He needs to play with a team that has a proto-typical shooting guard and not a ball dominant shooting guard. Those teams have solid players at the 3 and up positions.

 

Nothing wrong with your long post just be clear it is based on your dreams. With rare occasion do players walk away from Money. When they do with even more rare occasion are they walking to a team like the rockets. We begged for Bosh and he said no. The only free agents we have managed to acquire are those whose teams have refused to match.

Howard and CP3 are not walking through TC's doors wearing Rockets red. Not without being forced through a trade and a snt is not happening either. So while its nice to fantasize make no mistake its pure delusion.

 

Hmmmmm ... So we should trade Lin and play Douglas and Beverley as PGs on this team. What an upgrade.

 

Morey heard a mouthfull every day during Linsanity from Les for cutting Lin in preseason. I may be wrong but I don't think Morey will trade Lin unless it's for a CP3 typle PG. If I was the GM I wouldn't risk it. We all know Lin can beast. He did it in NY and he did it several times this year. Imagine Lin goes to another team and is the 1st option and avg 25 ppg 9 apg 2 spg like he did during Linsanity but for a season. Morey would be the man to let Lin go twice.


Asik might be traded if the Rockets land DH otherwise no way do we let him go. The team will be holding on with a kung fu gripe these 2 players.

 

Time is on this squad's side.

Wouldn't it be better to wait out the potential Heat Dynasty? Wait a few more years, and Wade will probably be done and Lebron too will probably begin to break down. The Spurs will probably finally be finished by then. The Celtics will probably breathe their last gasp too, not to mention the inevitable decline of Kobe.

Fine, the Thunder will probably be better, but at least with the Heat and Spurs on the decline, there's more room at the top.

I don't see the need to mortgage the future and hope that we can take on the Heat and Thunder while they're at the top of their game. Any Rox Big 3 will likely need a season or two to gel anyway.