Where Do the Rockets Go From Here – The Power Forward Position

I hope this was a sarcastic or joke of a comment, because thinking Lebron is coming is ludacris..

And hedo.... Are u kidding me.. It's not 2009 anymore, if he is our starting PF then I'm not calling us title contenders, and ill think Kahn has found a way into our front office.

 

I think that what the "third star" proponents are missing is that the Rockets front office rely on analytics, which means that they evaluate players differently. And the analytics tell them that Ersan Ilyasova is an extremely productive and efficient player. In other words, Ilyasova is likely perceived as their "third star." Even better is the fact that he is not being paid like a "star." And another thing the Rockets front office tries to do is get major bang for their buck. Ilyasova is one of the league's top bang for you buck guys at $8 mil/year.

I continue to believe the best way to get maximum value for Lin and Asik, and to simultaneously create a roster spot for Robert Covington, who I believe is, like Isaiah Canaan, viewed as a good, young, and dirt cheap rotation player starting in 2014-15, is to ship Asik to Portland, and Lin and Terrence Jones to Milwaukee, and to get back Ilyasova, a Blazers first round pick, and the expiring contracts of Robin Lopez and Luke Ridnour. Lopez is a good backup C, which allows you to flip Greg Smith for a projected high second round pick, which creates a roster spot for Covington.

This series of moves significantly upgrades you at PF, adds two more draft picks to your arsenal, and gives you flexibility, since Lopez and Ridnour come off the books at the end of the season. If you want to go after Lebron James or Kevin Love during the summer of 2014, the team will have no problem moving anybody on the roster if cap space is needed. However, moving either Lin or Asik next summer is much harder.

 

Actually, after looking at the salaries involved, you should be able to leave out Luke Ridnour. This works:

Omer Asik to Portland;
Jeremy Lin and Terrence Jones to Milwaukee;
Ersan Ilyasova, Robin Lopez, and a Blazers first round pick to Houston

Then:

Greg Smith traded for a projected high (31-40 overall) second round pick

2013-14 roster

Starting lineup

PG Patrick Beverly
SG James Harden
SF Chandler Parsons
PF Ersan Ilyasova
C Dwight Howard

Rotation players

Francisco Garcia
Robin Lopez
Donatas Motiejunas
Isaiah Canaan

End of the bench

Marcus Camby
Omri Casspi
Aaron Brooks
Reggie Williams

Stashed in the developmental league

Robert Covington
B.J. Young

I think Canaan will wind up taking Brooks' rotation spot sooner than people think. I believe the front office views Brooks the same way it views Camby: deep/emergency depth.

 

I guess I'd just have to ask why you'd want to do all of this. The end result is a slightly stronger PF position and a greatly weakened PG and backup center position.

 

Good Lord, just hide under a bridge and harass people when they try to cross.

Much easier.

TROLL

 

Exactly.

I see a team not all that much different talent wise and taking your self out of the LMA/Love hunt.

 

People, we are starting Howard at the 4 and Asik at the 5. Deal with it.

 

Hedo Turkoglu is playing for Turkey this summer. Here is a video of highlights from a reent game. Hedo is #15 in white. http://www.tbftv.org/izle/90167/turkiye-cek-cumhuriyeti-hazirlik-maci. Had some nice plays including a driving dunk at the 1:55 mark.

Hedo will be this summer's Delfino-- he will prove his value during international competition leading up to a nice NBA season for the vet.

 

If a team were to want Hedo then I'd suggest they have him sit out 'til after the 1st of the year. I'd think 25 games or so of the regular season at minimum mpg then unleash him in the p/o's. If a team were to want HasBeeno Hedo.

 

Maybe so, but I doubt the Rockets will want a 34 year old Turkoglu. If he was still a 26 year old Hedu then things are different.

 

If we really wanted the "stretch 4" that many here assume we want, we would have gone after Al Harrington or Antawn Jamison, who is still available.

 

You need to tell Morey this. He just said Motiejunas or Jones would be starting last week.

 

He also said they'd be trying Howard out at the 4. In the end there's no telling what will happen, but these crazy trade scenarios are the least likely IMO.

The solution to the 4 will almost certainly come from the roster they currently have.

 

I agree with Carl. Hedo is an advanced offensive player with the ability to spot up and shoot it or make a play off the dribble. He is a very good playmaker. Only thing I don't like about Hedo is I perceive he plays no defense whatsoever.

 

I feel when it comes to him it's more appropriate to use "was" as opposed to "is". He "was" an advanced offensive player, not "is" an advanced offensive player.

 

Last time I checked McHale is our coach, not Morey.

 

Given that the Rockets already signed Aaron Brooks (who last played well in the NBA in 2009), Francisco Garcia (32 years old) and Marcus Camby (40 years old, didn't play much in 2012-13), I do not think that "Hedo is too old and washed up" is something that prevents the Rockets from signing him. Yeah, sure you prefer a younger version of Hedo, but there is no younger version of Hedo on the market right now available by free agency (especially at the $ figure that Houston can pay) or by trade. I would choose Hedo over the likes of, say, Ivan Johnson, Hamed Haddadi or Josh Harrellson at this point.

 

I think that because they've already wasted several roster spots on washed up players means that they might not want to waste another roster spot on another washed up player. There are only so many roster spots to go around.

 

Lin and TJ for Ilyasova I get. But why involve Portland? Aren't you essentially giving up Asik for Robin Lopez and a first round pick? That makes no sense.

 

Why couldn't you make more moves? You would have cap exceptions to sign free agents, contracts and young assets to trade (including Ilyasova), draft picks to use or trade and you would still potentially have Asik to sign and trade in 2015 to acquire talent.

Tons of options. But your plan is basically saying we just punt along for 2 years, not acquire a single 2015 booked asset (and probably trade away 2014 and 2015 draft picks for future picks, so not to have the salaries or cap holds) and hope to convince Aldridge or Love to sign in Houston for less money.

What are the chances that Love and Aldridge pass up far more money (several million dollars per year in your $15M a year scenario) to take a 3rd wheel role in Houston?

And in the trade scenario I presented, you have Asik for the next two years AND Ilyasova. Then you add pieces via FA in 2014.

Yours honestly sounds like the worst plan I can think of. It is just amazingly unlikely to work out and it effectively wastes two years of Howard and Harden. The Rockets are not in wait mode anymore. They are in win mode.