Lebron, Wade and Bosh are staying. Melo is chickening out and staying in the east. When the smoke clears we will trade for Love.
LeBron is staying obviously. Melo seems destined for Chicago, despite the Rockets being clearly the better team last year. I'm holding out hope that we can somehow coax Lowry out of Toronto, but that seems unlikely. I think a trade for Love has a better chance of happening than most people think.
I'm surprised so many are predicting the Rockets get Love. Unless they think the poll is about who they are wishing for, because IMO Melo is the Rockets best shot at a max player and Lowry/Deng etc is much more likely than Love. As of this post, More than DOUBLE of clutchfan voters is predicting Love end up a Rocket than Carmelo. Just wishful thinking or perhaps a belief in Morey, hopefully we'll find out soon.
I'm convinced/still believing we can get Love because -- This is pure speculation, but my thinking is that if CP is working with Love this offseason, he has to be convincing Love that he's walking into winning situation by coming to Houston. Hopefully Love can commit to us long-term and force Flip's hand in accepting a trade that doesn't involve Parsons. If Love is a realistic option in coming to Houston, I'm sure that there is a guarantee that CP would also be here. I also believe what Les is saying in that we would bring a big name player here this offseason. I don't know how often he's made those statements without merit, but maybe he knows something. A poster named Trey a few days ago posted that the Pels front office was working late into the night over stipulations regarding the Asik move. His reasoning was that something must be in the works/underlying the trade. Love has been interviewed about his plans, and what he wants is simple. 6 years and no postseason appearance. He wants to win; compete in a ready-made situation. He has brushed off the notion that the Lakers are a real option for him, as he only played in LA for one year. I don't think GS is that much of a threat, because I think they hold onto Thompson/Barnes/other pieces, but again, it's up to Love where he'll commit, which is why I think CP is playing a role in this somehow. Melo was my first choice, because we wouldn't be gutted in trying to sign him. But the more I read articles/rumors, the more it makes sense that he would choose to stay in the East, big market, not 'uproot' his family (kids and LaLa). To me honestly, it seems like he's already made a decision on where he's playing, and just wants to be wined and dined. The more I think about trading for Love, the more I'm enamored with how he fills that 4 spot and can make that outlet pass. I think he would appreciate the influence of McHale/Olajuwon here. So if we were to pull the plug, what do we lose? I don't know. That's up to Morey. I'm confident he will make the right moves without significantly hurting the team (Picks/DMo/Canaan/Cash/Eric Gordon?) If Minny is adamant about getting a solid piece back like going for Thompson/Parsons, then involve Philly/NO to give Minny another player in the mix, so we can keep Parsons. Morey to me the past few weeks seems confident in his demeanor that something is in his works. You might say it's wishful thinking, but I don't know, I just have some sort of feeling that it could happen. It's the same feeling I had around this time last year. These are strictly my speculations, which I may be reading too much into, but it doesn't hurt to dream.
Your joking right? We got manhandled with Homecourt advantage. We need a much better bench and at least another good starter. We have awhile to go still but I love the direction were headed even w/o Bosh, LeBron, or KLove.
Even though I correctly predicted Morey wouldn't able to pull off another major splash like Howard/Harden, he still deserves huge credit for swinging for the fences and very nearly knocked it out of the park for the third consecutive season - Unfortunately even Babe Ruth doesn't hit it out every game. I was right that the Rockets would miss out on Melo, Lebron, Love and Bosh, but couldn't be more wrong about Lebron and him stay with the Heat. :grin: While i was right about Bosh I sure wasn't anywhere close to 99% certain this past week, probably more like the reverse. After missing out on all the top tier major free agents, Morey now needs to acquire 2nd tier talent like Lowry, Ariza, Stephenson, Deng etc. Though some of these players are already taken, there remain some very intriguing and viable options like Monroe, Deng, Stephenson, Bledsoe, Ariza, and Isiah Thomas. Monroe and Bledsoe are RFA thus difficult to obtain and both likely to get the full max of 14.7 starting. Monroe isnt an ideal fit in any case. Bledsoe would be great, but I doubt the Suns dont match. Stephenson and Deng are the best FA available IMO for the Rockets. Both are really good as well as versatile two player able to defend multiple position (stephenson 2's & 3's - Deng 3's & 4's ). Stephenson is extremely intriguing as he is under 25, really good & has a lot of potential. He definitely would be a great signing if the Rockets don't match for Parson and still a good one if they do. Ariza IMO would not be a good signing for anything over 8million or 3 years. Aside from Stephenson or Deng, the Rockets also need to get a backup big, maybe Okafor? JOneal? The options are limited.
