Untouchables- Harden Howard Ariza DMo Capela Value to keep, sign, or trade- Smith Brewer TJones PBev Nick KJ KPap Thank you for your contributions- Terry Prigs Dorsey
The fact that Morey has compiled a roster where at least half the players arguably SHOULDN'T be back is troublesome.
Retain: Dwight, Harden, Ariza, D-Mo, Capela Reasonable Costs: Bev, Brew, KJ, NJ, Smith Trade/Release: Jones, Dorsey, Prigs, KPap Oh & Jet can come back as Turbo.
I cant believe some of you guys are saying we need a backup center. Capela will be the backup center next year. We didn't draft him in the first round for **** and giggles, he's also shown well in these playoffs and will continue to bulk up. There's not enough salary cap space to afford a backup center that would be better than Clint. Howard is obviously gonna be a Rocket. Great center, still under contract. Harden is obviously gonna be a Rocket. Great SG, under contract. Donatas is obviously gonna be a Rocket. Emerging PF, on last year of rookie contract. Has shown potential to be a 20+ PPG scorer in the NBA. Ariza is gonna be a Rocket unless we need to trade him to Portland for salary matching purposes in a LaMarcus Aldridge sign and trade deal. Terrence Jones will be kept as trade bait. He's shown signs of being a good player, and could potentially net us something if his value bounces back up next season. The biggest wild card is the PG position. I have no idea how much Bev will get, or if maybe the Rockets have a chance at snagging a player like Ty Lawson or Kyle Lowry with the Pelicans pick and Terrence.
I like our bigs but the fact that none of them can hit their free throws make half of them expendable.
Can Brewer be traded in a S and T, if the Rockets retain him with his Early Bird rights? If yes, Morey should do it. Jones and the 18th and the 32nd pick should be traded. Retain Smith, if he wants to stay. D-Mo's injury precludes him from being traded. Re-sign Bev cheaply and use him in a future trade. Keep Capela. Nick has little value, so retain him. H and H and Ariza are the core. They must stay. Use K-Pap's expiring in a package. Terry and Prigioni have done the best that they can, but it's time for them to go. If Prigioni's small expiring contract can be useful in a trade, then it should used for that purpose.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Get Josh Smith out of the game please.<a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA">@ESPNNBA</a></p>— mario elie (@marioelie1) <a href="https://twitter.com/marioelie1/status/602308777447202816">May 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Well, if you ever want to beat GS in the playoffs you better have a stud defender at PG. Whether Bev is that guy will be determined by Morey.
This is a good point. None of the bigs being able to shoot free throw is a HUGE problem and needs to be addressed. That's why outside of Dwight and Capela none of our bigs are untouchable.
PS I didn't include Dorsey because I doubt if anyone would be interested in him at all. Can KJ be retained for the minimum, if Brewer re-signs with us? If yes, then keep him and see what he can do.
C Howard PF D-Mo SF Ariza SG Harden C Capela I think that group is pretty clear. After those guys, I could realistically see us overhauling everything else. I would like Brewer back, but don't feel like he is a must retain. Smith is just too inconsistent, and Beverly can only be brought back if we also add a PG who can make some plays to take pressure off Harden.
An overhaul would be bad. At some point you have to have some consistency with the roster, especially one that just made the WCF.
I'd keep: Beverley DMo (they gotta be healthy dammit) Jones Ariza Howard Harden Capela Idk why anyone would keep Smith over Jones. I'm down to lose both of them, whatever, but Smith over Jones? Smith kills us man. At Jones's worst he's invisible, Smith's worse is devastating. Brewer - man, he's had some good moments but we gotta get a more reliable shooter for the bench unit. Someone who can knock down some damn shots.
Bring back the staring 5(DMO is included in this) outside of Bev Find a starting PG/Nick Johnson back up 1 Jones Back up 4 Capela bulk up to be back up 5 Find a good wing or if not, bring back brewer Smith.......bring back if everything happens to fail
So you are saying getting rid of all the guys that made the comeback against the Clippers possible? Smith, Brewer and Jones..... Wow just because GSW happened to be a better team in 3 games and regular season?
I like the team we have. I think if we had D-Mo and Bev this series would be a lot different.. That being said, we definitely need an upgrade at PG, rather that be Bev coming off the bench or someone else becoming his backup.. Should also trade Jones or let Smith walk. Don't need both.
Harden was also on the bench, so does that mean we are better off without him? It was a great game, that will forever be a great memory, but it doesn't mean having all of them is in this team's best interest to compete for a title. And FWIW I do want Brewer back, but if some team grossly overpays I'm not moving heaven and earth to keep him. I would also be OK with Smith back if he came on the cheap, but upgrading the PG takes priority over paying him. I have no interest whatsoever in keeping Jones or the PG's
That's probably my list too. I'd like to keep most everyone and add two key players because I think we're very, very close to having a championship calibre roster, but these are the five I'd most like to retain. After Harden and Howard, I'd consider Capela to be pretty nearly untouchable. There's no one else I'd consider to be so. As for TJ, I still believe he'll eventually be a very good player and maybe a great one. Right now he's not. But I saw how he played at the beginning of the season at 22 years old or whatever (a double double every other night) and how he played within a week of coming back from his nerve injury (a double double EVERY night for just long enough not to be a fluke before his second freak injury of the year). I think he came back too soon from the freak rib/lung thing and is playing hurt, because he is not the player he was before he punctured his lung. I know he was very anxious to come back after that one.
