Use this years remaining cap space (6 million) to try and purchase the best pick you can get. I see a lot of teams needing luxury tax relief. Trade Aldrich the way they moved Camby last year pick up a pick. Then sign the FA in the offseason. this is the potential J Smith/Millsap/Howard/CP3/Jefferson, etc signing Then being close to the cap. Package whatever young guys you've determined the best you can don't fit long term after 82 games of action for another top talent. This is the potential Aldridge/Randolph/Gasols/Gay/Bledsoe/Love trade
Bottom line: better or worse. Stick with what you have. Short term deal has its rewards but beyond that there is bigger rewards
Josh Smith or Paul Millsap either one would be great ! ..but who are the others besides Gortat and Love ?
Doubtful. Sign and trade rules have changed since last summer. The Camby to Knicks move last summer would be illegal under the rules for this coming summer.
PPat is going to have a few good games before he gets straded for a scrub. They arent going to make a ig trade to get a player they can get in FA. IE Josh Smith. Look for some scrub to be on their way here.
Morey will knock the dust off of Brian "White Mamba" Scalabrine, he will come off the bench and be given a part time color commentator position to sub in for Bull or Clyde
Was trading for James Harden "fantasy basketball," or did that really happen? Was finding various diamonds in the rough, and for super cheap (Chandler Parsons, Greg Smith, Patrick Beverly, etc.) "fantasy basketball," or did that really happen? At what point should Rockets fans, and NBA fans, in general, simply concede that yes, Daryl Morey seems to know what he's doing, so it's appropriate to defer to his judgment, to give the man the benefit of the doubt? And do you seriously believe that these three mediocre bench players would "drastically" improve this (or any) team? Drastically? How many more wins does 82 games of these three dudes over an entire season get you? Maybe one? Two? Maybe zero? Are 1-2 additional wins really worth the amount of money you have to pay these dudes? Just so you can get what will likely turn out to be a non-lottery pick? Maybe a pick outside of the top twenty overall? Also, don't be surprised if Morey DOES wind up absorbing $4-$6 mil in salary from another team looking to dodge the luxury tax, AND wind up with a first round pick in the process. AND the $4-$6 mil in salary will be 2012-13 salary, and will be in the form of an expiring contract, meaning that Houston will not have to sacrifice any of its cap space in order to get this pick. And that's obviously preferable to what Cleveland just had to do in order to get a first round pick. Also, keep in mind that Houston now has one fewer competitor for such a transaction, meaning that their leverage vis-a-vis this trade partner looking to dodge the tax (Chicago?) has improved dramatically. Oh, and let's say that somebody really good becomes available at the trade deadline, and that Houston wants to go out and get this guy. Houston's ability to go out and get this guy is greater now than it would've been had they just absorbed these three salaries (particularly Speights' salary). So there is the opportunity cost aspect to consider, as well. Do you really want to miss out on getting somebody really good for not a whole lot in return just so you can have Marreese Speights and a non-lottery pick in 2017 or whenever? What I'm saying here is just let Morey do his magic, dude. I'm thinking that he's better at this whole GM thing than any of us are.
Who do we think it'll be? vs. Who do we want it to be? I prefer Milsap followed by Smith. Do not want Gasol. I have the feeling we'll land Smith or Gasol though.
Also, guys: it is extremely, extremely unlikely that Pau Gasol winds up in Houston prior to the trade deadline simply because, from a practical standpoint, Houston can't really put together a package for Gasol. They'd have to include either Jeremy Lin and/or Omer Asik in any deal. I don't see Morey trading away the reasonably priced and relatively young Asik for the absurdly expensive and relatively old Gasol. Gasol makes $19 mil this season, and another $19 mil or so next season. That is a massive amount of money! Gasol's massive salary is what makes him especially tough to move here. Houston could almost certainly get Gasol if they were willing to agree to this deal: Lin or Asik, Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas, and Royce White to L.A.; Pau Gasol and filler (Devin Ebanks, Darius Morris, Robert Sacre, & Darius Johnson-Odom) to Houston But why would Houston do that? They'd wind up with close to zero cap space to play around with this summer if they were to do that deal, which means they're out of the running for various promising frontcourt players who will be or may become available. In other words, I'd estimate the chance of Houston trading for Gasol prior to the trade deadline at approximately 0%.
I know Morey was really wanting Gasol, so I have been fearing lately that he will be here since a trade for him is basically inevitable ... I really hope not. Millsap or Smith would probably be my picks out of those, in that order.
