Im bringing that up because the flip cant apply to the Lakers? They were injury riddled this year yet managed to finish ahead of the Rockets. How is he gonna bank on DM who has no history of playoff success in the last 6 years AND give up $30 mil + life of Hollywood...would he trust the guy who has the history of winning chips with bigs acquired (Especially one recently...Gasol)
Hard to tell. I'm inclined to believe that for most players, it's checking off a significant box on their list of career achievements. What's clear is that most value money (which is certain) over hardware and legacy (which is uncertain)....otherwise we would have more super teams.
Again I think you're mixing two different points: 1) if the concern were how well an organization is run then looking at the rockets organization during the Yao/tmac era wouldn't be the best measure for that since their limited success was in large part due to injuries and the fact that there's a different GM at the helm. 2) if the concern is how successful could a team be given the injuries it's had, there's no question the rockets youth is a better situation from an injury perspective that the lakers. With that said, you'd have a point if we were hoping d12 comes to a team with tmac and Yao since age/injuries would be a concern. But he isn't. He's looking at 23 year old Harden, cap space and value rookies. Given what DM has accomplished in a short amount of time coming off the Yao/tmac era, I don't think any max player would have much question as to the capability of the rockets FO to build a supporting cast
Who's this guy your talking about? The main people that were responsible for Shaq and Gasol's emergence on the Lakers was Jerry West and Phil Jackson. Both of which are no longer associated with the Lakers anymore.
LeBron left $15 million on the table, and was willing to leave $30 million (committed to Miami when Cleveland said they would not even consider a S&T). Denver, New Orleans and Orlando were obviously convinced that Carmelo, CP3 and Howard were going to leave money on the table, or else they wouldn't have traded them. The precedent issue is overblown because the prior CBA forced players' hands prior to them actually becoming free agents. It used to be financially beneficial to sign extensions, so the Lakers could have made Dwight signing an extension a condition of their offer last summer. The Clippers could have given CP3 an ultimatum last summer, and either signed him or traded him at near-peak value if he wouldn't. The end result is that most of the true elites never made it to free agency and were never in a position to truly decide. Really, CP3 and Dwight are the first legit top 10 players to hit the market since LeBron three years ago. The difference now, of course, is that teams can't give ultimatums. The Lakers and Clippers knew last summer they couldn't ask Dwight/CP3 for extensions, because it makes no financial sense for the player anymore. It's true that trade-based scenarios will still happen, if the player is bound and determined to leave at all costs (Dwight/Orlando last summer). But if the player is on the fence, the team will probably just let him go to free agency and hope for the best. People point to a lack of examples of players turning down the money in free agency (though LeBron is a valid one), but the reality is that there's a lack of examples, period. Most elites never made it because their original teams had leverage to force a decision early, and the acquiring teams could make re-signing a condition of their offer. This is somewhat of a new frontier, and it'll be very interesting to watch this summer.
But theres still Mitch Kupchak, Jim Buss and Kobe Bryant. There are more links left to those titles than not. West left in 2001, LA won 2 more titles after he left. Lakers acquired Chris Paul before it got vetoed by the Commish, Lakers acquired Dwight himself. So at least Lakers have track record of making hte big moves to improve team to title contender
I like Omer Asik, I really do...BUT we will not win a Championship with him as a Center. As others have stated, a Harden/Howard combination is much, much more attractive than a Harden/Asik combination. It's a no brainer here...Asik is not a Championship Center.
......^^^^^ and he shouldn't be worried. How lame would Morey and the whole organization be to trade him away after a great year!!! He was such a big part of the Rockets "impressive season"... PLEASE DONT TRADE AWAY ASIK!!!!
Disagree here. He is a championship caliber center in the same way Parsons is a championship caliber SF. No one is going to win with either of them as the best or 2nd best players on the team, but then again, that's not what you expect from them. The real question is can this team win a a championship: 1st: Harden 2nd: Unnamed all-star 3rd: Parsons 4th: Asik I think the answer is yes.
Yes, I have considered that. Wondered if we're not looking at another Yao scenario. Don't like it at all.
Houston228south Boston won a title with Kendrick Perkins. I think we can win a Championship with Asik,we need a good Power Forward.
Not the point. Yes, if they can get the extra year and larger raises, they might as well. Cleveland caved the day after LeBron's announcement and figured they might as well get a couple of late first-round picks rather than nothing. And if you're LeBron, is there a reason to turn down free money? But the reality is that LeBron agreed to go to Miami without knowledge of the extra year and with Cleveland steadfastly denying that they would even consider a deal. As for the "precedent" argument, I'd like to turn the tables: what elite players have turned down a clearly superior basketball situation in free agency to stick with the money? Assuming the difference boils down to one extra year, of course. The reality, as I said in my prior post, is that there aren't many examples in either direction because the old CBA dictated that these decisions be made long before free agency. Most true elites never made it. We're about to have two interesting case studies.
With LeBron, it actually seemed like the third-year optout was a bigger deal in his negotiations than the additional year at the end. He never intended to make it all 5 or 6 years under one contract. He knows he's going to get paid, no matter what -- the shorter deal actually gives him more flexibility and allows him to renegotiate terms. It also gives him a bigger voice in the organization because he has more leverage. The extra year is a huge deal to guys like Goran Dragic last summer, James Harden in the fall (prior to this season) and Josh Smith this summer. These guys don't know if the iron will be as hot in a few years. Their agents know they need to milk these negotiations for everything. With LeBron, and probably the same for CP3 and Dwight, there's not much worry that they won't be max guys in three or four years. They've been true elites their entire careers. They're known all over the world. Their negotiations have as much to do with flexibility and power as they do money, because the latter is always going to be there.
Wow, this is taking bias to a whole new level. Even the Laker blogs I've read haven't had homers like this. Kobe played in 78 of 82 games. Howard played in 76 of 82 games. Even considering everything else, they had two of the games top 10 players healthy for over 90% of the season... and finished with an identical record to the Rockets, who didn't have Howard. So no, the fact that at least one of Yao/Tracy was usually out come playoff time is not equivalent to a season in which Dwight/Kobe played in over 90% of the games. They just weren't a good team, with Dwight, and now he'll have to compare that to what this year's Rockets could be with him joining. My suspicion is that the latter looks a bit better. As far as the past six years, by that logic, he might as well go to the Boston Celtics. They're "winners", so that means they automatically will for the remainder of time too, right? The reality is that in the NBA, if you have a superstar in his prime, things have a way of happening for you. Kobe's presence played a role in acquiring Gasol, and his ability on the floor was a big part in making Gasol and Bynum the players they were. Going forward, Kobe will be 35 and coming off a torn Achilles. Harden is 24 and healthy. Who do you think the deck is stacked in favor of now?
Hate to say it, but if Rockets wanted to trade Asik, now is the time to do it. His value may be at it's highest and there is just as much value in his contract. Rockets can get a lottery pick IMO.
Game plan changes with the roster. We HAD to have people like Delfino/Parsons to play the 4 in order to have a chance at winning, given our youth at the 4. If you can get an Asik/Dwight front line, you change your game plan when both are in around that. Can you image all the offensive rebounds :grin:
Just to point out the obvious, but the Heat have (1) the best player on the planet, plus (2) a player who was consistently an MVP candidate and already led his team to a championship who is now only overshadowed because they have the best player on the planet, (3) a former All-star who people forget how good he was because he's now playing with the best player on the planet and the other guy mentioned above.... PLUS one of the best 3 point shooters of all time who also had a well rounded game and is a sure fire hall of famer (though a little old in the tooth) PLUS a well rounded supporting cast... PLUS they are all capable and committed to playing defense. The Thunder have, when healthy, (1) the second best player on the planet, plus (2) a top 5 point guard, plus (3) a very very good if underutilized power forward who is a beast defensively, plus (4) at least currently, the rockets best player from 2 years ago coming off their bench as the 6th man. The Grizzlies have the most dominant front court in the league. The Spurs never seem to get old. Can your lineup win a championship? I guess, sure. If they get lucky and some of the other teams aren't operating on all cylinders even more likely. BUT, wouldn't this be a better lineup, that could possible win multiple championships: 1st: Harden 2nd: Unnamed all-star or very near all-star acquired via trade (obstensibly of Asik) 3rd: Parsons 4th: Dwight Howard Isn't the answer to the above obviously yes?
