Your "depth" argument is invalid because contenders with marquee superstars tend to attract ring chasing vets who normally sign below market just for a chance at a ring. Lebron is a good example of this, in Miami he got Ray Allen, Battier and Miller to sign for cheap and these guys could have gotten more elsewhere. It's the same with Boston getting PJ Brown and that other dude and LA getting Meta and in fact Nash turned down a max offer from Toronto to sign with them before his back went bad. So what do you want Morey to do? Is it his fault Shawn Marion decided he has a better chance at a ring with Lebron in Miami than in Houston? The only exception to this is the Spurs, but if having a deep team and a system is all it takes to have results like the Spurs then every team would be the Spurs, who the **** doesn't want a deep team? It's not like Houston has a choice between having depth and not having depth and goes for no depth just for the kicks of it. This is like blaming James Harden for not being able to play best defense, best offense and hit clutch shots with fever just like Michael Jordan.
in the interim, it's definitely a choice they've made between having adequate depth and having future cap flexibility. whether this strategy eventually pays off big for us is yet to be determined. but the front office has indeed clearly decided to not really go all out in 'pursuit' for the time being.
It's actually about having adequate PRESENT depth vs. future flexibility. Depth is always available. Corey Brewer and his god awful contract and player option isn't going to suddenly become unavailable in 2 months. Brandon Bass isn't going to suddenly become a marquee trade chip where Ainge finds a suitor. Guys like these are always avaiable. If not them, then someone else. If Morey can't find a star with his flexibility, he'll find depth at the deadline when teams start dropping out of races. So the true comparison is, "present depth vs. future depth OR future star power." Is 2 extra months of 2 bench players really worth the chance to get a Millsap or a Teague or a Rondo? Personally I would rather wait. But if Morey lets the deadline pass without making any sort of move? Then I'd take out the pitchforks.
this is a good point, and i agree on waiting a couple months to see if the 3rd star route might materialize, even if the odds for that are slim. but at the same time, the western conf is brutally competitive this year and the lack of adequate depth now may end up dropping us down to a lower playoff seed, or possibly even out of the playoff picture altogether with the 3 starters out indefinitely. so right now, it seems most likely we'll have to wait till at least next season before having a real chance of making a serious playoff run.
Waiting on next season only works when your stars are really young. Howard's only going to be a year older next season. I'm not overly disappointed in our depth now but nobody wins starting your third string point, backup center, backup PF etc., not even the spurs.
Morey has his formulas. The sec his numbers indicate the Rockets are in danger of falling out of the top eight, he will make a move. Until then, he patiently waits for better deals. Every victory buys him more time and leverage. Every defeat hurts his bargaining power. Very frustrating for us fans, but pure Morey.
It's a fine line he has to walk, but I've been saying since the Bosh fiasco that I don't like the idea of writing off 2014-15(or at least severely undermining the team's title hopes) just to maintain cap flexibility in order to attempt the same strategery that resulted in us losing Parsons and whiffing on Bosh(not to mention Lowry). And that was before we saw their much improved defense this season. Seriously, if they can maintain this for the entire season, why not abandon the 3rd star plan which is a longshot anyway and try to bolster the bench and go for it all this season and next? The West is brutal, but it's also wide open. The Spurs are not as dominant as a year ago. Neither are the Clippers. OKC may not even make the playoffs. Dallas is improved, but not back to their 2011 form. And I'll take our chances against the Warriors, Grizzlies, and Blazers. Now granted, this is contingent upon the starters getting healthy and staying that way. If Dwight, Bev, and T-Jones can't return to the lineup soon and stop getting injured so damn often(especially Bev), then maybe it is worth just sitting back and seeing what's available next summer. Not to mention reevaluating if you even wanna build a team around Dwight come 2016 when he opts out of his deal.
Well, two of the top 5 guys weren't that expensive. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=260332
I agree and it's a big risk. The only way it pays is if we get a star to come here. I believe in the opposite. I little resiliency is what this team needed. And now we see with injuries just how true that is. Ultimately I'm a fan and I hope the way we are doing things is whats gonna pay off.
Out of all the very good analysis on this page, I believe this post best sums the situation for us fans. Great job. What might cost the NOP pick and a decent prospect now, might be available for essentially nothing at the trade deadline.
Exactly! Maybe Morey will look like a genius if we keep playing good defense and get everybody healthy plus a few trades before the deadline to acquire more firepower which will help us this year. However, I highly doubt we will get consistent bench play this year and actually getting worse (like trading AB away last year, which is probably going to happen to some or at least one guy this year).
We haven't gone full strength against the full strength of the really good teams. Until that happens over a period of time, Morey can't be sure this team is enough to commit to the bench depth moves which risk future flexibility. I'm sure if everyone were healthy and we had toasted the clips and Grizzlies, he would rethink the plan. Currently, he can tread water as long as we're securely in the playoff race until everyone comes back to see what he has. That dovetails with making a move dec 15 or trading deadline when prices will be cheaper for the bench anyway. No need to rush prematurely. I think if you see us faltering a lot then you'll see a bench move.
You're right. It's a fine line. Les and Morey know this is a special season. They also know that home court meant nothing for them last year. Morey has limited assets, and he sees a WC that is jam packed with deep talented teams. He's got to maximize what few assets he has left, because Grizzlies, Clippers, Warriors, Spurs, Mavs, Blazers, you get the idea. Facing any of those teams is going to be a butcher fest, so he has to wring as much value out of that NO pick as he possibly can.
The rockets have been riddled with injuries, but so far they have been blessed with no major injuries to their key stars. Going back down memory lane, do you think that will always be the case?
I never thought of it like this, but it's a very good point. As long as we keep scraping wins together we're likely to get close to the deadline without any moves.
Cherry picking once again. Nice to see you didn't bother with the other teams. You do have selective memory though. Sam Cassel (vet PG kept Rondo in check) Tony Allen James Posey ---> EXTREMELY integral for their defense that year Big Baby Davis earned his name there Eddie House, even though you mentioned him thinking he wasn't that good, shot great from 3 that year. I will give you the fact that he wasn't the type of role player I was hinting at , but he sure as hell played lights out when they needed him in games. I believe Leon Powe played pretty well during the championship run too. Regarding Indy, selective memory and wrong on some accounts as well. If you don't remember, earlier last year when they went crazy, they were being called the deepest team in the league . Of course the granger deal changed all that (for reasons that can't be rationally explained..) You managed to leave out these players: Scola (played very well for them when West went to the bench) Granger (wasn't like he used to be offensively, but was integral to their defense and a vet that kept the lockerroom together) For the record, Hansborough was a GREAT backup, I don't know where you're coming from saying he didn't provide depth. To look at it a bit clearer, look at our roster and make the comparison. Joey Dorsey, Tariq Black, Garcia, Daniels (slump? or exposed?), Dmo are jokes in comparison. I liked the Terry acquisition though, a solid vet with more postseason experience than anyone on our team. You can bet your ass he will be stepping up his game in the PO.
The upside of this is that our "prospects" get to develop with more PT and our defensive "system" gets more defined so that you can just plug guys in. Every day we are looking more like the Spurs, which is what I want to happen. Develop players and build around a small core of stars.
I always have problems when Morey starts,but doesn't complete the team building process. I like the terry and ariza signings,but you lost your best backup center. Why not Kaman? I've said it before, id rather have a has been than a never was coming of the bench. In the playoffs, guys who are has beens can channell one of those all star spirits out of their body. They can't do it night in,night out,but they can do 1. Guys who have never been all star caliber or near that status struggle even more come playoff .
People don't get this. Morey has them brainwashed. Howard missed 4x as many games the last 3 years as he did the first 7 years of his career. That doesn't include the games he already missed this year.
This post is so backwards. The off-season is when you construct your team. You don't wait until games are played to start looking for ways to improve. Once you make a significant move, you need time for the team to come together, and a deadline move is not enough time for that to happen. This means that any move made after the season has started will likely not bear fruit until the following year.
