I believe dmo is who we need to excel out of all the Pfs to take that next step as a contender. He has the skills just needs to get confident and of course stronger. His shooting percentages are poor but he has the stroke to be a consistently good shooter. I wish he would get in a triple threat position when he catches the ball instead of passing/swinging the ball so quickly right when he touches it. Overall once his confidence catches up to his skill he has all star potential.
If we can get a second tier star on a short contract,I can live with it. Getting a big star in the frontcourt will be very hard.
A defensive playmaking player on the perimeter. If Morey drafted Kawhi Leonard, Rockets would've been in a very favorable position.
I most certainly do not, but when it comes to top 5-15 players on the planet, you can't be picky. This is what Morey has stated on numerous occasions. They're hard enough to acquire as is, we can't afford to get particular. You grab the stars when they're available and figure out the rest of the roster afterwards. If Morey can turn David Wesley/Ryan Bowen/Juwon Howard/Rafer Alston/Scott Padgett/Jackie Butler type players into Shane Battier/Luis Scola/Carl Landry/Aaron Brooks/Kyle Lowry/Ron Artest/Courtney Lee/Goran Dragic type players-- all while we had highly paid superstars on our payroll, I have faith that he can do whatever needs to be done to the rest of our roster after getting a second star.
Needs for next season: 1) A defensive wing stopper off the bench who can come in and shut down opposing players late in games 2) Better overall team defense. Needs to be harped on during the off-season 3) Improvement at PF. This is definitely a spot that can be upgraded via free agency, HOWEVER, I think with 3 rookie PFs who all bring a unique set of talents, it is very possible that one or more of them take their game to the next level. Their main weakness is inconsistency and getting a feel for the pace of the game. TROB brings superior athleticism, shot blocking and rebounding, TJones seems like a solid hustle guy, rebounder. DMO has amazing offensive moves/post skills. They all need to become smarter, relax more, and eliminate stupid mistakes. There is a lot of potential in the bunch and I think an offseason of non-stop work and building chemistry with the team will work wonders (after all it took Dirk 2-3 seasons before he caught up to the NBA-style of play..cough cough) 4) keeping a core group of guys together. At some point, we need to stop flipping assets and developing what we have so the guys can develop some serious on-court chemistry. I think we may have the players on the roster to do so. 5) Getting rid of LOFs. Seriously get lost. In fact, you can start leaving now before the season ends and get behind Rockets ball or pi$$ off
Morey is good at drafting undervalued role players. Most of his first rounder drafts have been either low risk+low reward, or medium risk+bust, or high risk+#headcase.
Maybe one of our PFs can shine in the playoffs and at the least become trade bait or our future fixture at that position. Harden/Parsons/Asik/Lin are all still on upward trajectories (probably). Two probably All-Stars there. Not sure if Lin qualifies as he can easily be undeservedly voted in. I've always liked Aaron Afflalo.
in order of preference: 1. Super-duper star you'd blow up your roster for: Lebron, Durant, young Kobe, etc. Likelihood of obtaining: Zip. 2. "Obtainable" stars that fit our needs and system: LMA, Bosh, etc. (Guys that will take you to the promise land as a #2, but would keep you in the low lottery as a #1). Likelihood of obtaining: Low. 3. Up and coming 6th men: Gerald Henderson, Ersan Ilyasova, Gordon Hayward, etc (guys that you need to come off your bench as a contender). Likelihood of obtaining: Moderate. 4. Let it ride: keep our guys and let them mature. Likelihood: high. 5. Damaged goods/incompatible or flawed stars: Dwight, Smith, Love, CP3 etc. Likelihood of obtaining: moderate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In an ideal world, we would be able to grab a lengthy PF who could score 1v1. That would set us up to have a twin towers situation (i.e. Pau and Bynum) that would not only rebound well and score in isolations, but also cover up the porous perimeter D of Harden and sometimes Lin/Parsons. However, it is almost impossible to predict whether Morey would be able to pry a LMA or Bosh away from their teams without blowing up our roster, so we shouldn't really bank on getting these guys. It'll be a happy day if it happens, but I wouldn't hold my breath. What we DON'T want is to get a secondary star that takes up all our salary cap and stunts our flexibility all the while only giving us the ILLUSION of being able to contend. You bring you Josh Smith and you'll get exactly that, barring some miracle he suddenly overcomes 10+ years of bad basketball habits and low BBIQ. You bring in CP3 and he'll make you a 50 win team for sure, but the collateral damage to being so dependent on 1 player who isn't Lebron or Kobe will show up as everybody will be waiting around for him to save us. Ask him to share the ball-handling duties with Harden? Yeah right- he'll be gone before the next trade deadline; CP3 is known as a notorious complainer and control-freak. Dwight is a popular choice right now, but he comes with considerable risk given his back surgery and history as a malcontent. He may be worth it if we can get him as a FA and then move Asik/Parsons for LMA and round out the roster, but that would take some doing. The best move IMO is to not desperately chase these big names, but instead take advantage when a situation presents itself like Morey did when OKC needed to cut salary with Harden. We are so young and even our bench players have so much potential that we absolutely can play the waiting game until something fortuitous comes along. Unless something great comes along, we should be moving in small steps- picking up a great 6th man who can playmake and score would be a perfect move. Otherwise, develop our guys. We've survived so many years of mediocrity; lets not try to cash out way too quick and screw over our flexibility and future.
your first 4 points are excellent, but I wanted to add a caveat to your 5th. Often times here on the boards, anybody who says anything positive about Lin is denounced as a LoF. Being a fan of Lin and a fan of the Rockets team is not mutually exclusive. For example, having Lin on your team and not letting him attack the basket with abandon is a perfect way to give the opponent a 4v5 on defense. Harden is the far more talented player (can play off ball or with ball, and is a great shooter) and Lin is a much more rhythm-based player than him, so it makes sense that Lin should be given more touches and freedom early on to establish his groove. Harden can get hot anytime, but Lin will be useless if you have him jack up spot-ups and bench him for missing those when he's ice cold. However, you say that Harden's ball handling should be marginalized in favor of Lin, and you'll be chased out of here with pitchforks. What people need to realize is that Lin playing well and getting his opens up the Rockets offense more than Harden doing the same, because Harden can get his anytime he wants.
I like JJ Hickson as a cheaper option than Josh Smith and Milsap if we have to get a free agent power forward.
1a. Sign Dwight Howard. I've read the reports about how we don't have enough space, but I'd rather take Bima's word rather than an ESPN and Laker fan. I'm sure we could trade someone like T-Rob, Jones, or White (lol) for a second round pick and thus easily clear the space needed. Doing so, we would need to trade Asik. I would love to see if an Asik/Ryan Anderson swap would work; he would be the true definition of a stretch four. 1b. Sign either Millsap or Josh Smith. Both provide an immediate upgrade to the PF position. Both players rebound, hustle, and play defense and are tough as nails to boot. A bit undersized, and have some issues offensively. I do think both are all-star caliber players and would provide us with some offense in the post, as well as being able to stretch the floor. J.J. Hickson could be another option, I suppose. 2. As much as I like Greg Smith, we need a legit 7'0 back-up center for Asik. We could go for a vet and try and sign Jermaine O'Neal, Pachulia, or even Dalembert again. Or we could go for younger guys like Mozgov or Splitter. 3. We need a dependable wing defender to help out Parsons. Corey Brewer, Tony Allen, Xavier Henry, or Ronnie Brewer are all solid options.
I'd rather pay Hassan Whiteside minimum salary to play backup center than to pay one of these vets several million $$$
I would like to stay with what we have at our pf position. Could turn out to be our best position as far as depth. A backup Wing who can play defense would be the only thing i would welcome.
We need time to grow as a team Stop the turn over Add next years rookie (high 2nd round pick - Suns) cut White and Brooks. Let the coach learn and trust his player like Anderson, Timmy O, T Jones and others - the players we need are there just added in at mid season free agents * Mike Dunleavey - Just think he would fit nicely (no mins. If T. Rod or T. Jones can play some 3)?
1st off, repped for making great points above. Agree with them all. Onto your points regarding LOfs: I like Lin. I think he is a great asset to the Rockets, I want him to do well but more importantly I want the TEAM to succeed. That means, when one player is having an off night, I don't immediately critize said player, throw him under the bus, and clamor for him to be benched, D-leagued, or traded. On the flip side, I don't blindly support a player regardless of performance just because. I think one can have constructive criticism and dialogue about a specific player's performance whether they do well or not. In the case when their play is poor, I have no problem with saying give others a shot but sometimes the vitriol on the board goes too far--it seems that players are in love with a certain player regardless (in the case of LOfs) and will hate on a different player (like DMo, TROB, Asik early on, delfino etc) just because, and to make their favorite player look better by comparison (I presume). I believe that the environment has been poisoned and sullied by trolls and other "x player only fans" that when there is constructive criticism to be said like about Harden handling the ball less (i concur), it is misconstrued as a LOF vs LOH or whatever debate. So yeah, people just need to relax, support the team, and not be so harsh on the youngest team in the league, with rookies and players trying to develop chemistry together. The Rockets aren't winning a championship this year so it's about growing effectively as a team--that includes experimenting with the lineup and giving rookie Pfs a chance--even if they are stinking up the court.
