Just a thought... read Grant Williams is playing ball with celtics to do sign and trade. That opens up his availability to teams over the cap to drive up bids. I wonder if Tate and a 2nd is enough to get him via trade. We have a bunch of futre 2s coming and Tate's 6 million could be used to offset some of 18-20 going to Grant. The Celtics would use Tate as a bench piece on a reasonable contract and the rockets avoid adding bodies to a crowded forward depth chart... Free Agent / Amen / Tyty Green / Porter / Christopher J Smith / Whitmore G Williams / Eason / Garuba Sengun / Free Agent
Iko: •Sixers tried to pry John Lucas •They want this wrapped up in 72 hours. 5pm central, they're gonna offer VanVleet, Brooks, Lopez and put the money on the table. Take it or leave it. ... Heard both sides on Lopez. (Milwaukee confident of keeping him, Rockets confident of getting him). I'm pretty confident Brooks will be a Houston Rocket. •They believe that they’re close on a (KJ Martin) trade. •Don’t believe Nix is coming back. •Prefer to keep Hudgins/Days on two-way contracts but they could have other options. •If they don’t get Brook, they’re still looking for a defensive presence. It was communicated during exit meetings they weren’t guaranteed anything going forward. … If they get a legitimate center, I don’t know if Sengun will be the happiest camper. After Christian Wood and briefly Fernando, he’s a prideful guy. That’s one thing to watch. •Lopez - 50/50; if he wants to stay and win, can you blame him? If he wants one final contract, the Rockets can throw him the bag and see where it goes. •VanVleet - if Houston is willing to give 2/80, I can easily see him giving it serious consideration. •Brooks - I would bet on that if I was a betting person
If Lopez doesn't work out, why not Draymond as a vet center? He did play center in the Warriors most effective lineups in previous years.
If anyone can summarize, that’d be great. kthxbai https://imgix.cosmicjs.com/25da5eb0...A-Collective-Bargaining-Agreement-6-28-23.pdf
So what bigs are realistic targets if Lopez fall through? I'm still confused about the "2nd apron" thing and trying to figure out if teams want to dump expirings this year or not (I.e it mainly effects long term salary). I guess that leaves guys like: Capella Mitchell Robinson Nurkic Horford? Nick Richards (maybe, he's incredibly cheap so may not matter to Charlotte) The guys that kinda fit but I don't think are available: Myles Turner Daniel Gafford So who do we want out of those "realistic" trade targets?
I'm increasingly concerned that this offseason is getting interesting and I might have to start paying more attention to the Rockets again.
I'd rather have Brook Lopez at $30MM and lose out on Brooks and FVV, if that's what it takes. It's not my money and we're not at the stage where cap flexibility matters as much. Brook Lopez would be the biggest floor raiser for this team. He can greatly improve the team defense and not be a liability on offense. The other guys may be good individually but they can't directly cover mistakes or deficiencies.
Thybulle had shot the three much better in Portland. Thybulle 2 years 10 million per. Dwight Powell 2 years 10 million per KMJ/Sengun/Tyty/Christopher/Brooklyn assets/2028 Rockets FRP for Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland. Allen/Powell/Garuba Smith/Eason Porter/Thybulle Green/Porter Garland/Amen
I don’t mind a FA center , but then green ad kpj MUST face significant competition at their spot . you make sengun fight for minutes 3x in a row and never bring in a competent option to threaten the guards for minutes ? Imo even Tate looked better at guard than did either kpj or green last year at times . I don’t think kuzma is so hot either , but it pushes Jabari and tari and Tate for minutes at the 3 and 4 . need guards . Young guards only is not fair to the other guys on the team .
Houston In: Nurkic, Kyle Lowry, 2025 Portland 1st, 2026 Portland Swap Miami In: Simons, Tate, KMJ Portland: Cap space to sign Draymond and Garuba. Rockets pick up useful players to compete, still have cap space to sign Seth Curry, Kevin Love or other players. Miami gets deeper by trading someone they plan to cut. Portland frees up cap space to sign Draymond and resign Grant ,in addition to their younger players. Would need a big man to fill in their roster.
I prefer Sengun. But if we want a exelent defender, why not Rudy Gobbert. Minny has to dump salaries. So we can get him cheap. Gobbert has 3 year 45 M per year. Rudy and Bari together is a nice defensive couple.
