[CBS Sports] Howard no lock for Lakers; interested in Rockets

Also, it's not that Nash can't stay in front of the elite PGs, it's that he can't stay in front of ANY PGs. When you're getting burned night in and night out, it changes the argument a bit.

 

And if they do "bring back the band" like I assume your pointing towards with your assumptions, I don't think they'll make any noise. They might get out of the first round, but even then they'll get destroyed by Memphis/OKC/Spurs. And that's IF they stay healthy, which is very unlikely.
I think Howard wants to win a title, not just make the playoffs.
But then again that's just my opinion.

 

Nash couldn't guard anyone in his prime anyway but it didn't prevent him from winning 2 MVPs.

 

MWP is gone I am pretty certain.

 

Is it essentially a 2 horse race between Houston and LA for Dwight?

 

that GM was Morey!

We're getting Paul!!!!!!

at least that's what I got out of this post....

 

cyberx,

you know they're going down with Jim running things instead of Jeanie don't you?

 

Would Les allow Morey to trade Lin? Would he let him trade Lin without any anything guaranteed, eg like whatthe Rockets did with Lowry last year.

 

Well, in general, basketball is a game where you try and make life as difficult as possible for the other team. So while you may NOT be able to stop the elite point guards in the NBA, that's not to say you should give them free reign on the court. On the whole, the elite players at EVERY position are virtually unguardable, are they not? LeBron, Durant, Kobe, Harden, Howard, Carmelo, Paul, Duncan, Garnett......not one of them can be stopped on a consistent basis, which is what makes them great.

However, it's not what happens in the first 43 minutes of a game that matters. It's the last 5. And that's where Nash's defense has proven to be detrimental. Phoenix was NEVER able to get the big stop that they needed in playoff games to close out series, and while that wasn't completely Nash's fault, he was certainly part of the problem. Guards like Parker and Kidd systematically ate his lunch in crunch time of playoff games.

So while I do agree that elite players are unstoppable, that's not to say you simply shouldn't try.

 

Of course! Jim is no Jerry... No one is... Not fair to compare...

Alexander isn't an amazing owner either... The Rockets are his side projects.

 

So I don't have all the Rockets team salary numbers added up in a spreadsheet or anything, but I did read that they will need to move a couple of their existing pieces (Francisco Garcia, Carlos Delfino and possibly Omer Asik) in order to add Dwight Howard without going over $58 million. CBA police: Is that correct?

So if they are at max, I can't see how they can also add CP3 to the mix. It's not like the Rockets are the Lakers, Knicks, or Mavs. Leslie Alexander is likely not going to pay the penalty to go over the cap. Barkley called the Rockets the cheapest organization in the league. And even if he decides to, what about all these new CBA rules? Wouldn't they apply too? Not that CP3 will leave $30 million on the table anyway being that his knee probably won't even hold past year 3.

 

...and joining the Rockets wouldn't be a second round bounce too? It's not like Howard is Lebron who would make a contender out of any existing playoff team. I don't even know if Rockets would be better with Howard rather than just sticking with Asik and adding a decent PF to the mix.

 

Well, D12 is relatively easy to get. We only have to clear a small amount. It depends a lot on where the cap will be. If it is at $60M, as many presume, Harden's contract moves up to like $14M (as it is based on the cap). But we'd then only be short like $2M. Either way, even if the cap doesn't move up, it is widely assuming that we would do something like move TRob for a pick. His $3.5M would clear enough room to sign Dwight to his $20.5M max salary.

Now to get CP3 we would have to do some financial acrobatics. CP3's max is $18.6M. We'd have to move Asik and Lin at least, and assuming LAC is not agreeing to a SnT and we are doing this by signing him outright, then we would still be short about $2M. We would have to hope the cap moves up an accommodating amount, or maybe move White's contract with Asik's (sort of like a bad contract haha). We could then get CP3.

This is all assuming we decline Garcia's team option and don't retain Delfino or Olbrecht or Brooks or Anderson. We MIGHT be able to sneak GSmith in if the new cap allows it, but I DO assume we keep Bev and Parsons for sure in my above comments.

CP3/Harden/Parsons/DMo/Howard...Bev/TJones/etc. would thus be very possible. Tough part is, again, depending on where the cap is, we might not have enough room to sign players enough players to hit the minimum 12 man roster (min $490k each). We do have the PHX draft pick, and Morey is great at picking up role players for dirt cheap, so I guess it could be done. Howard and CP3 each taking MINOR pay cuts could also help ($1M each?).

It takes some work, most of which is moving Lin's $8.3M for free...but is possible.

 

While Les might not be the greatest owner, I do think he'd be willing to exceed the cap threshold if it meant acquiring a star or two and competing for championships, much like Jerry. Dr. Buss however was incredible at handling egos and making everyone feel they were part of something bigger than life. Les is not transcendent like Dr. Buss.

So by saying that MWP is gone, I'm assuming you mean he will be amnestied?

 

You're forgetting that Asik has value. While I personally don't think an Asik + Howard combo works, I CAN imagine us trying to move Asik and a young PF (Jones?) in a SnT with ATL for Josh Smith. Send out $10M, get back whatever JSmith demands (up to $15M for the trade to be allowed).

Or we could move Asik + White for a low first round pick, then sign JSmith outright after signing Howard, and ask Smith to take a "winner's discount" haha...maybe if he agrees to $12M or something (again, I assume the cap goes to $60-61M in this scenario).

 

Which PGs have played into their early 40s and have been good?

 

To further add onto my earlier response, but with numbers this time. If the new salary cap is $60M:

Harden: ~14M
Parsons: 0.9M
CP3: 18.6M
Howard: 20.5M
Bev: 0.8M
GSmith: 0.9M
TJones: 1.5M
DMo: 1.4M
Honeycutt's caphold: 0.1M
-------------------------
Total: $58.7 for an 8 man roster (leaving $1.3M in cap room)

490k x 4 = $1.96M

We still have PHX 2nd round pick, and we could try to sign 3 players to the minimum to get to 11 roster spots, then use our Room MLE to get that 12th player. Also not sure how vet min would work into this. Our bench would need a rotation wing player for sure.

 

Stockton played until 41 and while he wasn't as good as he had been he was serviceable. Point Guards can still play as they age but make no mistake. Nash isn't going to have another 17/12 type season. In my opinion, he will be able to give you about 11 or 12 points with 8 or 9 assists barring injuries for another season or two. His shot isn't going anywhere but the pick and roll game in my opinion will deteriorate with age.

 

You need capholds for nonexistant players 9-12