Keep hope alive... We can still help the Lakers get better and get ourselves Pau, lol.. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=d5zj88w
Neither are washed up if you actually watched the games and one guy on our team plays defense. We would be fighting for the 3 seed with that roster.
I know this probably won't happen, but imagine if we got CP3 This trade would of look even worst for us Look at the Hornets now - They have Anthony Davis (Time will tell how good he can be) I'm sure looking back they are glad they got the 1st overall pick instead of role players Look at the Rockets now- We have Harden!! Superstar!! Look at the Lakers now- 8th seed maybe 9th HAHAHAHA THANK YOU STERN!!!!
They needed someone now to replace Harden and do a good job as 6th man. Don't think the trade happens unless we have a good player to give back. Who knows.
Even if we ignored the Harden trade, the Gasol trade was never a good deal for us. I voted no. Morey was desperate for a star, any star. So I don't blame him. I'd rather have Asik + cap space than Gasol + Nene.
Lol @ all the people complaining about how the Rockets were screwed by the league after they rescinded this trade. The NBA did the Rockets a huge favor.
Whatever you say champ. Morey was asked specifically if they could still get the Harden trade done if the Gasol deal had gone through. He said yes.
It would have been more difficult to pull off a Harden trade, but I agree that it would have at least been PLAUSIBLE. (Take all this with a grain of salt, since no one knows how things would have played out over the course of the 2011-12 NBA season with a Gasol/Nene roster.) The Rockets still might have had the Toronto pick from a Lowry trade. They also still might have had the 18th pick in 2012 from a Budinger trade (which likely would have been either Terrence Jones or Tyler Zeller). But most importantly, had the Rockets made the playoffs that season, they would have fulfilled their obligation to the Nets and traded away their first rounder (in the 19-23 range?) and been freed up to trade their own future first rounders. So now, you're talking about a trade package that could include not only the Toronto pick and a recently-selected 2012 mid-first rounder but also potentially Houston's own first round picks in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019! That's a potential trade offer of up to SIX FIRST ROUND PICKS! Also, while I do believe that Martin WAS a key component to the trade (as he keeps the Thunder a top title contender this season), it's not like his salary was necessary to take back Harden (due only $5.8 million this season). The Rockets could have matched salaries without too much trouble. For instance, Patterson and Morris would have gotten it done. Another possibility might have been the Rockets trading a package of Nene and picks for Harden and Kendrick Perkins (who the Thunder really would love to unload on someone). Clutch and I like to have fun debating this issue, and it's certainly not an easy sell to say that the Rockets WOULD have still gotten Harden had the Gasol trade gone through, but it's not out of the realm of possibility and may actually have been within the realm of PROBABILITY. Remember, reports are that both the Warriors (Thompson) and Wizards (Beal) said "no" to a Harden deal, so it's not like the Rockets would be competing with offers containing significant young players. Just saying, is all.
Ignoring the juggernaut the Lakers might have had with a Dwight/Kobe/CP3 trio (though there would definitely be some adjustment as to how Paul and Kobe could coexist), after the Gasol move the Rocket rotation would stand as follows: Nene/Hill Gasol/Patterson Parsons/Budinger Lee Lowry/Lin Additionally, you've got all the '09ers and Morris to fill out the roster. That's a really good 9-man rotation that is fighting for home-court advantage in the first round. Moreover, it vastly increases the trade value of all the young role-players, particularly if they're able to contribute in the playoffs. We've already seen that effect with this year's Rockets; because they're contending for the playoffs, suddenly a package of 2 guys who were pure salary dumps in Aldrich and Douglas plus Patrick is able to bring back a top 5 pick. Parsons is now one of the best trading assets in the league, and Donatas Motiejunas is this incredibly offensively gifted prospect. I guarantee that if the Rockets didn't have James Harden and were positioning themselves for the lotto, we wouldn't be thinking nearly as highly of the current roster. With that in mind, you'd have to think you'd get EVEN MORE than just the Toronto pick for Lowry, who likely wouldn't be disgruntled considering he'd be the starting PG on a really good team. You'd also have to think that Budinger's value would also be substantially increased as the primary wing backup at both the 2&3, Patterson's value would be up since he would never have to play center with Nene and Gasol out there, ditto Jordan Hill, and Lee's value would be way up, considering he'd be the unquestioned starter from day 1 on a very good team with great passing bigs; pretty much the perfect setup for his 3s/off-ball cuts/defense. On draft day, you could offer the Kings Lowry and Patterson for the #5 and change, then offer up Budinger to any number of teams in the middle of the first round (Phoenix at #13, Utah at #14, Dallas at #18). That would give you #5,#13, Marcus Morris and future picks to make a run at Charlotte at the #2 spot, in order to go pick Bradley Beal, who could be easily flipped for Harden. All reports were that the Cats were shopping the pick pretty hard, and if you believe internet rumor, the 4 offers they had were: [rquoter]Dunno if anyone caught this but during the draft part (just before it started), they very briefly showed a whiteboard with all the teams slots on it. In the top right were four "trades" written down, as follows (edited for clarity). Thank God for pause on DVR. Cleveland: 2, (undecipherable name, possibly with a R or B? Probably Bismack or Byron?) [then and arrow pointing to] 4, 24 Minnesota: 2, Matt Carroll [arrow] 5, 2 future 1sts, Wes Johnson Houston: 2, Tyrus Thomas, Matt Carroll [arrow] 12, 16, 18, Chandler Parsons, Kyle Lowry Houston: 2, Tyrus [arrow] 8, 12, 16, Parsons http://www.bobcatsplanet.com/vb/showthread.php?14288-Bobcats-draft-special&p=227403#post227403 [/rquoter] My proposed deal certainly looks pretty close to the Minnesota deal, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. Roster would then look as follows: Nene/Smith Gasol/Motiejunas Parsons/Delfino Harden/Lee Lin/Beverly I love Omer, but outside of getting Dwight Howard this summer, I'm not sure if you can build a much better team than than that with the cap space the Rockets have available. Obviously with Gasol's heath issues, the Rockets would be in trouble this year and next; but considering Gasol's injury came out of nowhere, after a dominating Olympics, I believe it's massive hindsight to hate on the vetoed trade for that reason. But I do believe Morey when he said he could still do the Harden trade if he hadn't gotten Commished, largely because of that increased player perception/value when they're on a winning team.
Actually, the Rockets were positioned to trade for Gasol, sign Nene AND re-sign Chuck Hayes (whose cap hold was small enough to just barely fit in Nene's incoming salary before signing Chuck to a larger deal). It's at least a little speculation on my part, but I think THAT is what the Rockets were telling Chuck to wait for before signing with the Kings. When the Gasol deal fell through, so did the plans to re-sign Chuck. Having Chuck Hayes would have only increased the Rockets' cache of assets and would have given them one more key trade chip to include in a Harden package. If you think Sam Presti wouldn't have taken back Hayes on a reasonable long-term deal (presumably, Hayes would have taken slightly less than what he signed for with Sacramento in order to stay in Houston), then you've got another thing coming. Kyle Lowry/TOR first rounder Nene Chuck Hayes Patrick Patterson Marcus Morris Chase Budinger/mid-first rounder (Terrence Jones/Tyler Zeller) Jordan Hill (or any pick the Rockets could have gotten for him) 2013 HOU first round pick 2015 HOU first round pick 2017 HOU first round pick 2019 HOU first round pick You don't think the Rockets could have put together a decent enough trade package from all that to entice OKC, especially after they are rejected by GSW (Thompson) and WAS (Beal)? Maybe not. But I wouldn't shut the door on the probability that the Rockets could have made something happen on a Harden trade.
I never liked Pau... But I was still furious when this went down! The thought of getting James Harden never even scraped my mind... We sure lucked out here. With a good free agency this summer, we will be way better off than we would have been.