seeing as we are over the cap, how would you best suggest using our MLE? Is there a particular player you have targeted? Perhaps a position of need? What players do you feel full under the MLE window? Obviously Free Agency will play a big part in how this money is disseminated. So...If you would like to qualify your opinion based on a projected FA move...please keep it short and sweet, I think we know all of the players in the game at this point. Randy Foye seems like an interesting target. He has played out of position at SG, but would be more effective in a PG role: attacking the basket and distributing similar to Lowry. Speaking of which - they are both Villanova brothers and were quite a successful duo to boot. His game would open up opportunities to play Brooks off the ball in SG roll. Best of all, he will only demand a portion of the total MLE...leaving options open for addressing needs at the 5 (hello Brad Miller).
If we can get Brad Miller without tapping into the MLE then of course I would reconsider this but I was thinking Brendan Haywood. I assumed he would be getting some attention but thus far I haven't heard much. He would provide a lot of things Mutombo did without having to worry about limiting his minutes. No way around it - we need another legit center.
there are just too many "what-ifs" to think about what MLE players we'll be targeting. for instance, if we end up trading AB, we'll need to make a play for foye or steve blake et al; if we trade ariza/battier, we'll need to look for depth at wing. we need to see how the big chips fall before thinking about the "patchwork" players that complement the roster.
If we are able to get Bosh without losing any major rotation players, i wouldn't want Les to waste his money, You don't have to spend the MLE. This is a hard question to answer right now, depending on possible trades. We might need a SF, C, PG or even Shooting guard. Assuming the likely scenario that we don't get Bosh, (and hopefully don't chase Amare either) and re-sign our restricted guys I don't see a need for the MLE, maybe see if Haywood or Tyson Chandler can be had (and i doubt it) or just pick up Brad Miller, we've got a glut of frontcourt players as is.
If the Rockets strike out on Bosh and Amare, they'd probably be best served NOT to use their entire MLE. Maybe give a portion of it to a guy like Brad Miller or Randy Foye. But if there's no superstar coming to Houston this summer, the Rockets may opt to save their cap room for the summer of 2011.
if ray allen is ok with coming off the bench, i'd be happy with pursuing him lowry allen cbud pat hill lowry dishing out open 3 pointers to cbud and allen, while also having cbud, pat and hill dunking on everyone will bring some energy off the bench.
All depends on what goes if a Bosh trade goes down. Bosh trade giving up Brooks -> Foye Bosh trade giving up Hill or Scola -> Brad Miller No Bosh trade -> Here I think Brad Miller is still best bet, but I'd also like Mike Miller if we could pull that off.
Doesn't really seem like Morey's style to waste ANY assets though, and the Mid-Level Exception (which will almost undoubtedly be wiped off the face of the earth in the next CBA) is definitely an asset. Still, I agree that I'm having a hard time thinking of interesting free agents to use it on that don't just restock the cupboard after a big move. Anthony Morrow is an interesting name that unfortunately will be massively overpaid, I would imagine that Ronnie Brewer already has bought his ticket to SLC, Earl Watson and Steve Blake seem like decent Lowry replacements (though I'd rather spend the money on the Runaway Locomotive). Dorell Wright is a pretty interesting name to me as well, I think he has Bruce Bowen potential as a spotup 3s and shutdown defender, which the Rockets will sorely miss if Battier is not resigned. I love Ryan Gomes' game, and think he's a great fit with the Rockets, both in his incredibly professional approach to the game, high basketball IQ, and lack of prototypical measureables, but can't really justify paying him money when you have Taylor needing development at the swing position, and overloads of bodies at the 3 and 4.
Please correct me Bima but I am thinking, "What cap room? When I add all the guys we keep we still have 55 mil in salary next year. Even if Yao signed for less than the Max I would still expect him to get more than 12 mil. I am also assuming we do resign Scola and Lowry. IMO that will cost us atleast 10 Mil. So with those prices which may be on the low side we still are over 50 mil. That probably ends up being smaller than the MLE next year. And that of course is assuming we let Battier Walk along with Andersen and Jeffries. If we want more space we have to waive our team option on Budinger, taylor and Jordan Hil and not give Aaron Brooks a qualifying offer which should give us at least 10 mil under the cap. But we now have a gutted team. The only way I see us doing anything close to that if Yao is permanently injured and then we need to rebuild from scratch. With those numbers I say Use the MLE to sign Miller to a short term deal and if we have enough left give it to a guy like Foye.
If we lose Lowry I wouldn't mind if the Rockets take a look at Shaun Livingston. He can handle the rock, makes excellent decisions off of PnR's, and has good size. I havent watched him but his stats looked pretty good in his recent games. He did pretty well filling in for Randy Foye. <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NW7Kx9-LP1w&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NW7Kx9-LP1w&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
