I wonder how long DM is gonna wait until he decides to fix the problem at PG!! I'm sorry for harping about this, but we should've won the game tonight versus Portland...one more creator on offense could make the difference. Harden with 8 assists....Smith with 4 assists, Ariza with 6.....these guys should be finishing the plays, not facilitating them. Bev with one assist---ugh. Hey Daryl...if you do scan these forums(I highly doubt it), please...PLEASE get the team some help with a pass-first point, who actually can set up his teammates for easy baskets. That's all....another wasted effort by James..45, 9, and 8 assists. At some point soon, he's gonna start getting very tired of carrying the entire team. Have a great night everyone.
I am not an insider. Still, with my business I am around a lot of people in sports and entertainment and over hear many things. I also have a family member than works for the organization. What I heard, which I found interesting was that the Rockets have come to the conclusion talking to teams that in order for them to get an elite player like Lawson or Dragic or someone of that class, that they will have to deal DMO. The Rockets also have supposedly received a lot of calls about Ariza. What she told me was Ariza (and other considerations) to Chicago and DMO (and other considerations) to a third team for someone like Lawson or Dragic. I don't know how serious this is...... just what I sister said was being passed around the Toyota Center (yes the employees talk about gossip).
Thanks for the info... I just wanted to clarify does DMO and Ariza have to be in a package or can we send one or the other? Ariza does so many small things for this team I believe he is more valuable to us then DMO depending on what we get back... If we were to package DMO/Ariza/Bev/Pelicans Pick we would have to get back Jimmy "Buckets", Taj Gibson and Aaron "3pt" Brooks... I think that would be a fair deal Dwight Gibson---he will make a world of difference come playoff time defense Jimmy--- A true second scorer to relieve Harden Harden Brooks---he will get cooked in the playoffs but it is not like Beverly doesn't and brooks is a 40% 3pt shooter... We also build the future around Jimmy and James... With both of them hitting their primes at around the same age. ALA a poor man's Pippen and Jordan (yes I know that is a stretch) but we do have Dwight vs. Longley It could even be a three team deal with DMO Dunleavy and Chicago 1st rounder going to Denver for Aaron Afflalo Chicago: Noah Gasol/Mitrioc Ariza Afflalo/Hinrich Rose/Bev Denver would get DMO/Dunleavy (who is a FA after this year) and Chicago's first rounder
I would love for the Rockets to add Lawson or Dragic. But giving up DMo for either seems like treading water because you fill one hole and create another. I would almost rather not make a big PG move if that is the case. If the Rockets can't make a substantial PG move with assets in NOP/TJones/Capella/Canaan etc, then I would rather they make a small move and leave it at that.
There's some truth here. I have hinted at the possibility of Ariza being traded several times. He could go in the right deal. And if Ariza and DMo both go...it's most likely for Kevin Love. But that will be a last minute deal that sprouts out of basically nowhere and a deal like that will be discussed and consumated in minutes at the deadline if it actually goes there. Ariza to Chicago would be to get Taj to PHX. Obviously PHX would probably take Taj and DMo for Dragic. I don't think Morey does that. Why? Because Morey could clear out Ariza this summer and just sign Dragic if he needs to and keep DMo. So there's no reason to trade DMo for Dragic. I say it doesn't happen. However, Ariza, DMo, Pels pick, etc....could be a package for Love. Or....as Progs pointed out...Morey still wants Rubio. Ariza/DMo/assets could be the package we need to acquire Rubio. Now you may ask why would Morey consider giving up DMo for Rubio but not for Dragic. The answer is very simple. Rubio is already signed for 4 more years. All you guys that don't like Rubio just forget that for a second and consider the possibility that Morey really likes him a lot. If you understand that to be the case or you at least accept the premise of it for a moment it could help explain why Morey would make an all-in move for Rubio. Firstly, Rubio's salary for next season is already set at $12.7 millon and for the 2016 season it is set at $13.4 million. Assuming the 15-16 cap goes to $66.5 million and the 16-17 cap goes to $80 million, here's what the Rox cap will look like if Ariza/DMo/Jones and all the other guaranteed contracts are cleared out and you have Dwight/Harden/Rubio on the books: This summer Harden/Howard/Rubio + 9 minimum salary slots is $55.2 million in total salaries. That leaves a little around $11 million to sign guys. Well, here's one example of what could possibly be done. Josh Smith....let's say he agrees to play for $10 million for the next 2 seasons. Get him to agree to a $20 million 2/year deal with the second season being a team option and non-guaranteed. He plays out next season at $10 million and then you make sure he'll agree to a minimum salary deal for the 2016-17 season and then you exercise the team option and re-sign him at the minimum. So, in 2016-17 if the cap comes in at $80 million even, the Rockets salaries for Harden/Howard/Rubio/Smith + 8 minimum salary slots is $58.7 million. That leaves $22 million of space to go after a fourth max salary guy, either Durant or possibly Love or whatever other players blow up between now and then. Perhaps even a Butler or Parsons if Butler signs a Parsons-style deal with the 3rd season being a player opt-out. There's a lot of future cap flexibility pre-baked into Rubio's contract extension because of the rise in the cap projected for 2016. Now you may say...well, why doesn't the same thing apply for Dragic? Well the answer is simple. Dragic is a 7-year vet. He's eligible for a greater max extension than Rubio was eligible for ..... that Rubio didn't even get. So, if you think we can sign Dragic cheap for 4/48 or 5/60 then this scenario is viable for Dragic as well. But if you believe, as I do, that somebody is going to be willing to pay a lot more for Dragic this summer than 4/48...then you have to consider that in light of the cap, a high contract to Dragic prevents you from really being able to sign a difference maker at the 4 or the 3. That's why we can't afford to trade DMo for Dragic. Dragic's new contract could hamstring us in dealing with free agents. Not to mention not having the cap space to possibly keep Josh Smith. Now...on that basis alone....Morey is going to be willing to trade more for Rubio than for Dragic. But none of that will matter to many of you because you refuse to believe that Morey actually loves Rubio.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks. Morey is going to do what Les tells him to do. The team will be ruined with an unfit/half fit Howard, an over rated Rubio, Harden will still have to carry the burden IMO. I will eat crow if I am wrong.
Realistic trade targets in order of who I would want. I don't think Reggie Jackson is realistic. OKC doesn't want to help us. 1) Goran Dragic - distributer/scorer - badly needed PG help 2) Ty Lawson - distributer/scorer - badly needed PG help 3) Aaron Afflalo - scorer - someone to help take the load off James 4) Jose Calderon - distributer/scorer - badly needed PG help 5) Lance Stephenson - scorer - someone to help take the load off James 6) Gerald Green - scorer - someone to help take the load off James 7) Brook Lopez - scorer/center - someone to help in the absence of Dwight 8) Jeremy Lin - distributer/scorer - badly needed PG help 9) Evan Fournier - scorer - someone to help take the load off James 10) Ben Gordon - scorer - someone to help take the load off James
LMAO you're smoking some good ish if you think Chicago will give up Jimmy Butler for a bunch of roleplayers.
The answer is Lance Stephenson and a back up 5. Bev shouldn't be playing more than 20 mins and an upgrade to Dorsey is required.
Obviously if no dragic or lawson happens i hope morey does address the position already in a small scale. Mo Williams is nice but I'd like Darren Collison. He could be had for likely cheap. Also id like Jordan hill back. Houston out: k.pap/shved/dorsey/capella/canaan/milw2nd Houston in: Collison/hill/wes Johnson/ray mccallum Sacramento out: Collison/mccallum Sacramento in: canaan/shved/milw2nd Lakers out: hill/Johnson Lakers in: capella/k.pap/Dorsey Could be done as two seperate trades or one 3 way trade. Thoughts?
I wonder what the going price for CJ McCollum is. Would be a big gamble to see if he plays well in a bigger role, but I have seen flashes of the PG I would want next to Harden.
As someone who has been watching Charlotte play, Lance is not the answer for HTown he is a great talent,but the way he has been playing this season wont get us over the hump, it might actually make us worse. Just imagine Lance and Smith in that locker room plus Dwight goofing off.
McCollum is a possibility. But Portland needs help on the wing PLUS a PG back. They would probably jump at Ariza/Bev(or Canaan) for Batum/McCollum. But I don't know if I'd do that deal from our end. Batum is so up and down. And he's mostly down this year. I don't think McCollum's on-ball defense is good enough to warrant Morey's serious attention though.
Wow there is no way Morey gives up Ariza and Dmo for Dragic or Lawson. Phx and Denver are out of their minds if they think they will be able to net that for either player. Phx is screwing themselves with the Dragic situation
Ariza is not going anywhere, but DMo is another story We def need a PG upgrade, another scorer preferably through a trade, but with a minimum of defensive loss on our end.
