Queue Game Show music.... Aaaalllllright Clutchfans. This is your chance to play GM. Moari apparently sucks. So, it's time for you to . . . . Goooo Onnn Thee Recordddd! To play, you must post the following. Be funny, be mean, be nice, I don't care, but you must..... Beeee Clearrrrr. I know lots of you are commmpletely incapable of this, but aw hell, it's a game showwww, so let's give it a tryyyy. In your response, you gotta post the following: State your team building strategy and how you believe it could/would work. (For example: go all in for Howard, deal for Gasol and/or Josh Smith, tank, play the kids, build through the draft, etc). Be as specific as possible. What specifically (dollars/years) would you have offered Dragic? What specifically (dollars/years) would you have offered Asik? What (dollars/years) would you have offered Lin? What, if anything, would you do with Lee (dollars/years/trade) ? What, if anything, would you do with Camby (dollars/years/trade) ? What would you do with Scola and Martin? Who else would you pursue and on what terms? * * * * * * Our first contestant is .... Rileydog. He's an uberhandsomegenius longtimeRockets fan. Rileydog, what do you have to say Strategy Statement. Um, thanks for that awesome intro. I would do a tank/play the kids strategy. I do not deal for Howard, Gasol, Smith, or any other 1st or 2nd tier star that are currently rumored to be available. I just don't like those players. I like Howard, but expect that the cost would saddle us with too many bad contracts. I'd rather see the current draft picks develop, especially Motie, White and Lamb. Dragic. I am fine with losing Dragic and thought what we offered was fine. Dragic will be in the top 10-15 pgs in this league, with beauty in the eye of the beholder. I don't think he'll become a star (he could be), and my worry was that he would help us win too many games the next 2 years, which I don't want. Lin. I would like to slightly overpay for Lin, and would have offered the same we did for Dragic (which we didnt). There's the Linsanity factor/potential, which means revenues for Les, which to me makes it easier for him to keep buying picks. Lin is young, and his potential is around the Dragic type level. I like that he played well when the Knicks featured a bunch of non-stars -- Shumpert, Fields, Jefferies, Chandler (who is really good). We have non-stars and he could help them develop. Of course, I'm totally biased here since I'm 6-3 and Taiwanese-Texan, so this dude is living my hoops dream. Asik. I like what we offered. Strong poison pill. I'm ok with Asik the player, and his potential. Lee and Camby. Deal them for picks. Do not bring them back under any circumstances. Do not want to win games. Who else I might consider. Jarryd Bayless. Any people 6-10 and over that might play decent basketball. I'm not smart enough to judge who those people are. Someone said Mahini. I'm down w that. Fate of Scola and Martin. Deal Martin soon. I like his game fine, but want Lamb to model after someone else or find his own game. Keep Scola. He is the kid of pro that our kids need to see. Play him 20 minutes a game. The rest goes to the kids. If McHale can't follow that instruction, then deal Scola or fire McHale. Cmon guys. Who's next? The Tato Matis? DaDakota/Musgrave? Solid? Woodtee? JopatmchardonforDH12 (sorry, i could not help it). Could we be graced with a post from THE Carl Hererra? Hillboy? LeeBigEz. (does anyone else here have moniker envy? I do. Mine is quite boring).
Yonizzel, don't have a hizzie. I'm relaxed. This is a sports fan board. Playing armchair/couch GM is about 74 percent of what's on Clutchfans (with relationship advice and who has the best ass in 2012 taking up another 17 percent..
Naw man, Dada will come through. Who doesn't want to play this game? It's free. People around here are way too hard on the guy. It's the internet. People are supposed to post stupid stuff.
What specifically would you have offered Dragic? A Samsung, or at least a bigger dynex. What specifically would you have offered Asik? Borek Spoiler What would you have offered Lin? The trip to Yao and a promise not to be cut should've sufficed What, if anything, would you do with Lee? Keep him here as dwight bait (FRIENDSHIP!!) What, if anything, would you do with Camby? Spoiler What would you do with Scola and Martin? Martin goes back to someone who loves him (Adelman). Keep Scola because he's a good guy. Who else would you pursue and on what terms? Ersan Illyasova because he is James Franco (also, can't have enough PFs) Spoiler
Bump Martin and Scola's stats quickly, then trade them for picks. If McHale does not play either of them, he needs to be replaced. Withdraw the offer to Asik. Offer MAX to Lin. We need to sign offensive-only players, selfish players and stat-padders to get overrated values while losing games. Aaron Brooks is a good one.
Strategy: Tank, build through draft. Trade away vets, play the rooks, hopefully win the lottery. If no superstar is acquired in the draft, repeat next year, so on so forth, until superstar is acquired. Hopefully, multiple superstars would be acquired (a la OKC getting Durant, Westbrook, and Harden) however, I would stop at 1 if they are a legit superstar. I would then slam on the brakes, trade some (not all) young talent that my team is full of for better vets, and compete for the playoffs with my star. I would try to build around this star and hopefully go deep into the playoffs. I would preserve cap space in hopes of attracting a free agent star to pair with my star. My goal would be to form a superteam. The first step of a superteam is acquiring a star, and the second step is making the playoffs with your star. Only then can you hope to land stars via free agency. Dragic: Unlike most posters here I'm not infatuated with him and would be willing to let him walk even if tanking wasn't the strategy. So basically, yea, I'd let him walk. Asik: Morey the genius loves Asik, and I believe he'd be very good. I would be willing to place an offer similar to Morey's at around 8mil a year, and hope that he would flourish in a starting role. If no star is acquired in upcoming drafts I would trade him for picks, or if a star is acquired I would consider keeping him. Lin: Lin has huge value as a cash cow, which is valuable while we tank, so I really don't think we could overpay him since he would probably bring in more money than we pay no matter what, so I have no problem seriously overpaying for him. I would be fine backloading a deal and paying even more than Morey did for him. Lee: Sign and trade, hopefully get a first round pick. Camby: Sign and trade, get whatever I can. Scola and Martin: These players have no place on a tanking team, so I'd get what I can for them even if it means underselling. I'd have a hard time underselling Martin, because unlike most posters here I think he's actually crazy good, and when he's on his game he's better than Lowry and Dragic at their best. Yea, he plays no defense, but he's so ridiculously efficient on offense that he's still our best player. Also, being a 6'7 guard he has no problem guarding the other team's offensively inept defense-only wing, even if it's a sf (admit it, 2 lockdown wing defenders are unneeded. Most teams only have 1 wing threat with possible rare exceptions like the Heat. I'm perfectly comfortable with Martin on Sefolosha, Kawhi Leonard, Avery Bradley, Tony Allen, Gerald Wallace, etc. It was a problem when Bud was our other wing, but with a legit sf defender (Parsons) Martin would be fine). But yea, unfortunately we are tanking, so I would sell him to the highest bidder. He is expiring, so he should have some value. Others: I don't really see any free agents I would really like right now. I would have gone hard after Gordon, but it's too late now and he's probably going to be matched anyway. Since we are tanking, I'm totally fine with not filling the void at C or PG.
Do not post your plans on the clutchfans.com or let ESPN guys know your plans. Only post your trade news when the deals are done, otherwise you are going to look foolish each year by saying we have many good plans, but somehow we did not get the deals done, bala, bala.
State your team building strategy and how you believe it could/would work. Tank/let the young ones l2play. Trade any long term contract for any possible draft picks - pennies on the dollar/taking back 'bad' 1-2 year contracts in the process/facilitating other teams trades. I have been a proponent of the burn it down strategy for the last couple years. I especially want to clean house and start to build a core around players that have not been in the middle of trade rumors every other week. Sam Presti cried when he traded Green to Boston. We need to burn out the remnants of 'every player is an asset' belief in the locker room and start fresh. (I realize the irony.) Create a Team. What specifically (dollars/years) would you have offered Dragic? 4 year ~6 million per. What specifically (dollars/years) would you have offered Asik? Nothing. I would not have offered him a contract that Chicago would not instantly match. What (dollars/years) would you have offered Lin? Nothing. I would not have offered him a contract that NY would not instantly match. What, if anything, would you do with Lee (dollars/years/trade)? Let him sign elsewhere and match - just about anything the outside market would deem he is worthy. (I am a huge fan of Lee). Or sign/trade with Boston as has been rumored (for future pick). What, if anything, would you do with Camby (dollars/years/trade)? Let him go elsewhere. (Offer to sign/trade if he would like for agent goodwill/possible 2nd round pick in return.) What would you do with Scola and Martin? Trade for future picks/bad contracts. Who else would you pursue and on what terms? Undrafted free agent pgs/centers on unguaranteed contracts.
Real Talk ..Rockets have a running head start on rebuilding. Dwight Howard would just set us back. and even if we got Howard we'd still have to REBUILD around him. And or most promising rookies and picks would be gone. White, Lamb, Monteiunas..most likely gone!! If rockets rebuild and rebuild the right way, the could be OKC thunder in 3 years. Ish/Machado Lamb/Livingston Parsons/White/ Montejunas/Morris/Jones Leur/Holman/Smith Raptors pick + our pick. Hopefully we can trade Martin , Scola & Patterson for young players/picks. SnT Lee to the Celtics for picks. SnT Camby to the Knicks for picks. Rebuild/Tank 2 season...and Rockets will be well on their way!
First, I'd be content in letting the young guys play and see how they develop. I wouldn't be worried about making the playoffs or competing for a Championship in the next 2-3 years. Move I'd make now: CHA gets: Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Terrence Jones HOU gets: 2013 1st Round Pick, Jeffrey Taylor, DJ Augustin
i'd start by giving myself a max contract for 3 years. This will not only help us rebuild by tanking but also allow the rockets to meet the minimum spending level. After 2 drafts of the rockets selecting top 5, they could then send my expiring contract to another team for more assets
First, I want Les to sign a 5 year contract with my first paycheck due at signing. Then I will invent BS like Morey and get the CF board worship my bs too. Seriously speaking, it would be nice to slowly build a core foundation for the team by looking at this whole thing from a basketball point of view as well as from a business point of view. My logic though would be business decisions follow that of basketball decisions and not the other way around. By slowly building a core, with a homerun deal under consideration all the time but kept strictly under wraps, a sense and culture of stability is created wherein players are allowed time and opportunity to blossom. Of course, it would not be wise to draft or trade for redundant 6'9" forwards but to create a balance throughout the roster. Trading should be done prudently and only if there is a clear cut improvement in the team. Trading for future flexibility is, of course, desirable but that should not hinder the current development of the players already on the team. Trading for a player so that he could be traded for other players later on should really be limited. Basically though, I would not accept the GM position if I had not honed my instincts and expertise for a signigicant period of time in the NBA. If I am good at stats, I will accept a position as a statistician and if called for, a business manager. I would leave the GM position to those who have been in the basketball world pracitically all of their lives and who have developed deep relationships with the small circle of basketball people. It would be wise to know your limitations and being a GM is a totally different animal in a totally different, albeit very small basketball world. After all my bs, I will refuse to personally accept the position. It is beyond me. I would rather be a fan but expect excellent results from those who are paid to make the team win championships. This is my city and I expect those who use the name of Houston in their lucrative entertainment business to respect the name of the city they represent and to make sure that this city and Houstonians do not become a doormat and the laughingstock of other cities due to their incompetence.
we rebuild this season, develop young talent along the way. if we tank thats fine, better picks. If we dont we drop martin expiring contract and have tons of cap to sign bynum (free agent 2013) and CP3 (also free agent) them mixed with draft picks and developing talent and we are contenders.....well i can dream right?
