I dont think there will be one single choice in direction, but I would have to think that: Priority #1- the Rockets will make all of the moves or non-moves with 2015 still in mind to go after either Love in Feb 2015 trade deadline deal or LMA at either the deadline or in free agency. Priority #2 will most likely be - what to do with Asik & Lin which might not be anything with Priority #1 in mind. Can they be parlayed into something big? (Melo S&T being the ultimate big fish) or can they even be moved before free agency to create cap space to go after one-year players that can help more in the short term or try to fill out your roster with the missing pieces. (maybe you go after a Lowry, and/or Z Randolph with that cap space which would be maybe 10 to 15 million depending on other moves & cap.. who knows). Priority #3- will probably be filling out all other remaining needs with available assets that don't hamper ability to get Priority #1 done potentially. You might see another Casspi-like signing to try and find that stretch 4 they covet so much. However i'd expect any of these moves to be made with small non-guaranteed contracts beyond next year, so you really can't bank on moving mountains under these types of constrictions. Priority #4- developing young talent further to try and negate need for priority #2 or #3.
Go after Dirk, Bosh, Melo or Rondo by trading away Lin and Asik Basically you need to go all in for two reasons. One your window is now right now and you can't afford to waste a year. Two if you make your move this summer you can go over the cap to resign Parsons.
1. Trade Lin for any other player. 2. Trade McHale for any other coach. That will pretty much appease the folks here :grin:
What exactly is available for us to go all in for? We have no cap room this summer so we can use the Non-Tax Payer mid leval exception which is worth 5.1 million this summer. I think the Rockets also have the Bi-Annual Exception which is worth 2.1 million this summer. Is there someone the Rockets can get that will push over the top for 5.1 million dollars a season? The Rockets team salary this summer is about 63 million with the ability to get it down a little but not much unless they make a trade. If the Rockets have any hope landing Love or LMA in 2015 they have to be careful of how they spend their money. Does anyone really want the Rockets to just use the MLE to prove Morey is willing to spend Les's money and end up sacrificing any chance of landing the final piece to the puzzle in 2015? If the right guy becomes available (someone that can nail 3's like Ray Allen in the clutch) then I would say absolutely spend the money. I think you need to figure out who you are willing to sacrifice the summer of 2015 for and if they become available then go for it, if not then stand pat and wait another year.
The only position I could potentially seeing being able to get a top notch contributor at, and only having the full MLE available to spend it on would be the starting PG spot, and even that amount is pushing it, and would likely take that player coming with a pay cut in mind. -Player to keep an eye out for is Kyle Lowry. I really think Toronto will take a serious look at bringing him back, but I really don't know how much they are going to be willing to throw at him. It should be more than the MLE that's for sure, but he's not getting anywhere close to 10M+ a year with Ujiri at the helm. If Toronto is dangling something like 4 years 30 million, would Lowry be tempted to take a bit less knowing that he'd be the starter moving forward with a team he's familiar with that is competing for a championship & needs him badly, and would he consider cost of living in Canada & the tax situation as well into his decision. Remember... Toronto really has to severely overpay its players to compensate for that in the end. Still- In the end, I dont know if Morey is that desperate to win now vs. taking himself out of the equation for landing Love by taking the upgrade now at PG. I think it will take a huge final stretch and playoff run at the PF position now to convince Morey to go all in on the PG position to upgrade ASAP.
I'd say the same way they're performing now. Too reliant on hot streaks, inconsistent defense, TOs leading to easy points. Way too easy to scout so opponents can take away our bread-and-butter plays. The thing I'd like to know is this is the 3rd year under McHale, will we again have a losing streak to close out the season? Hopefully we change that trend.
The only thing The Rockets need to focus on in the offseason is repeat of the championship..... Gotta take 2014-2015 as well....
I don't think he would ever do it, but Dirk would be a perfect get for this team. He has talked about taking a huge pay cut to help Dallas get another title shot. MLE for him and you could keep the entire team around and still have Asik and Lin's salaries to trade for a guy like Love or have it clear out for '15.
