There is a difference between Aldridge making contested long 2s and Aldridge making buckets in the paint. Asik's defense was solid on LA - much more so than TJ's. That Aldridge hit so many step back nearly 3 point shots with a strong contest from Asik is just luck. You can play really good defense and the offensive player will still make the basket.
As far as under the radar PG's go, I'd like the Rockets to have a look at Bayliss or Wroten. They're bascially combo guards too but with Harden it's always going to be a case of Guard#1 and Guard #2 where there is no strict PG per se. Again, don't know what it will take to get them.
Adrien earned his spot over Garcia. Garcia looked like crap in preseason and was no help last season too.
The best option for us at the moment is "wait and see". We will have shots at Rondo and LMA in 2015 free agency. If either Boston or Portland fall apart, we might be able to make a favorable deal at the deadline, especially if TJones and Papanikolaou are playing at a high level.
I'm not sure really about anyone "under the radar" so to speak. Wroten has some potentially especially with his length and athleticism, but he's years away from being a starter on a contending team. Plus, I don't think Hinkie really cares to move him. Its not like his team really needs to be moving out young talent. If anything its the opposite. Bayless sort of is who he is right now. Ideal for a 6th or 7th man combo guard. Definitely not someone who is going to take the Rockets or anyone else to the promise land. Honestly, I think the Rockets will try to either go big with a Rondo/Lawson type of deal (which is probably not going to happen) or they will try and "stock up" at PG with young talent like they did for a couple years in a row at the PF position (to mixed results). Llull is probably going to be available next Summer for a buyout. and the draft looks to have some interesting young guards. And yes I do think the Pelles pick is something the Rockets might actually view as a tool to get a good player at a needed spot rather than just a asset they have to trade ASAP. Also there is the Nick Johnson experiment. I do think they will experiment with him at PG in the D-League this year. Something to watch. For now, I think the Rockets need to just see what they have in Canaan. The guy can shoot. That's step #1. Everything else is going to be relying on how he can run the team when Harden is off the floor. The Rockets seem to be way more focus still on cultivating young talent for the needs of their role player spots than they are at taking back a NBA journeyman who can't stick on any team long term. That is unless they can get an All-Star player which I sincerely doubt given their lack of expiring contracts (that they'd want to trade) & draft pick assets.
for center get a vet... biannual exception for Okafor, J O'neil or maybe Camby(?) - someone to be this teams incarnation of Mutumbo... 15-20 minutes a night... pg - I'd be fine with Will Bynum... don't need a serious upgrade - just a decent insurance policy for PBev... pf... go all in... dish the Pellies pick plus whatever else (outside of the core) and go get a Milsap level player... Milsap/TJones or Milsap/DMo would solidify the position... worst case Bass or Ryan Anderson level player will suffice... Despite TJones play thus far, if we're counting on TJones/DMo to be the starter on a championship level team... I don't see it...
In my opinion, you have to give D-mo more time to try and get comfortable in the backup PF/C role . He has looked fairly good this year and should keep on improving. In terms on backup point , i think there is potentially enough playmaking off the bench with Papa, Terry, and D-mo. The season is 82 games long and already there has been improvement from last season in certain areas . Yes we have played cupcakes but last year we won these types of games with talent not style and this year we are going back to 2012-13 in terms of playing with a goal in mind. I know its cliche but this team seems to be on the path to discovering its identity much earlier than last year. I'm not sure if it ever did last year.
And what would you propose? The Rockets are above the salary cap and could not offer anyone more than $2M to sign. The only real trade chit that the Rockets can offer the NOP first round draft choice, and at this point it is impossible to gauge how much that is worth. There is always the possibility of a major trade, but those only come down after the new year. So what do you propose? The season is young. Not even someone as astute as Morey understands how all of the pieces will fit together. Let this topic ride for a couple of months.
The Pels pick will be worth more if we trade it as part of a package for a third superstar that makes us better and more likely to run New Orleans out of the playoff race and into the lottery.
The Rockets do not have the needed currency to trade for a superstar. That went out the door with Asik and Parsons. Sorry, not going to happen.
I also think backup center and PG will be answered later on in the season. Centers like Emeka Okafor and Jermaine O'neal are waiting to sign with a contender. Daryl always manages to snag a good PG around the trade deadline.
We should trade for Aaron Brooks again lol he would be a great bench player for us....and maybe even start.
Rondo is an expiring contract and is losing trade value every day he stays in Boston. We have enough assets to get him or any other superstar with an expiring that decides they want out and want to come here. Because of the fact that we will have max cap space this summer to sign them outright. Pels pick and contacts is more than enough under those circumstances. .........which ironically enough is the most common circumstances under which superstars are traded.
This is the worst FT shooting team I can remember watching in 40+ years od Rockets basketball .... Howard , DMo , Jones , Black & Dorsey are all terribad Beverley & Canaan are both shooting 50% tho I expect them to be 75%+ over the long haul. If they could hit them at an 80% clip as a team ..... they'd lead the league in scoring and be impossible to stop. As it is , I think this is going to hurt them against better competition all season long and especially come playoff time.
Yep. The sooner folks realize what the Rockets have in terms of "trade currency" the sooner they will stop throwing around the notion of "trading for a superstar". The term "Superstar" is extremely subjective to start with, but you have to assume that means max salary range from the 18 to 25 million dollar range. Ex: Let's say the Rockets wanted to trade for Deron Williams at 19.7 mil The Rockets would have to trade Terry along with Papanikolaou AND throw in D-Mo & Capela to get the needed salary to get Deron. On top of that, you are also asking the Nets to WAIVE 3 players before they could make the deal in order to absorb 3 more additional players in order to not go over the 15 roster max. What 2 GM's in their right mind are going to go through such lengths in order to get a deal done that really doesn't help either team that much? Actually it probably helps the Nets more than the Rockets to give them 3 young players, one expiring, and a ton of future cap savings. Point being: The Rockets aren't making a "Max Salary" type of move this year. They don't have the currency makeup to make a deal like that palatable. The main ingredient you need is large expiring contracts. The Rockets have one mid sized expiring. And Papanikolaou does not fit into that category because he's actually going to be a very important player for the Rockets the next two years most likely. Him and Ariza probably aren't going anywhere. You can't rob Peter to pay Paul. Anyways... Rant over. People need to stop with the whole "We will trade for the 3rd star" bit, and I could go on about how everyone thinks the Pelican's pick is some gold mine asset. NBA GM's around the league view the Pelles as a playoff team this year that is just about as good as the Rockets currently.
IMO this looks like false pretense. We need to stop saying & stop supporting this idea that the Rockets will have "Max Cap Space" this Summer. Per Bima- If Bima is right and the Cap gets "Smoothed" out to increase it to the Low 70's next summer for 2015/16 (assuming that's what he's getting at) that doesn't really equate to "Max Cap Space". Right now if the Rockets do NOT make a trade (IE Ariza or Papanikolaou), they will have about 64 million in guaranteed salary (assuming options for Black, Canaan, and Papanikolaou are picked up). Even if the low 70's number is lets say high at 75 million, that still means the Rockets will have close to 11 million in cap space. If you waive Papanikolaou, Black, and Canaan (non-guaranteed $) you can get another 6 million and some change giving you roughly 17 to 18 million on cap space. So under the notion that the cap gets smoothed and goes up to 75 maybe the Rockets get 18 million in cap. If it is in the low 70's like say 73 million, that number goes down to 15 million or so. Guys that's NOT going to be a competitive enough of a salary offer to get a true superstar in free agency. *For competitive Reference, the Mavericks, even if they only renounce the rights to Tyson Chandler, and the cap only goes up to 70 million, will have nearly 23 to 24 million in cap space. If it went up to 75 million they could have nearly 28 million to offer someone like a Rajon Rondo if they wished to offer that much. -Rule of thumb here is that if the Rockets cap number is going up, so does the Rest of the NBA. For the Rockets to have a competitive max salary offer, they would almost surely have to move guys like Ariza, Jones, and D-Mo along with waiving Papanikolaou. If you think Morey is going all in on another superstar than you have to assume he's willing to completely gut the team down to just Dwight and Harden. That's kind of a risky bold assumption IMO.
I think we should worry about our bench, more so than getting that 3rd star. Our starting 5 is up there with the best i would say. We just need more punch off our bench.
