Yeah I do - but you do realize that for basketball Houston is nowhere near the player than the big cities like NY, LA, Chi, Bo's, Mia... Howard was scared of being traded to Houston last season, the arena always seems to be half empty, the basketball or really sport history is pretty underwhelming and the Rockets have really been unrelevant since the collapse of the Yao era (you could even argue they have been unrelevant since the end of Hakeem's era). I know that is hard to hear for Houstonians, but it is the hard truth of the NBA today. Big players don't want to come here, especially not when they have the option to go to a "big" city.
This is the old truth. In a world where even the smallest market teams were willing to go well over the cap to retain their stars, yes, only NY and LA (and Miami?) had much of a chance of drawing superstars. But the new truth is that teams will no longer be able to afford to horde their superstars. You will see more and more teams asking their stars to accept less than the max to stay on the team, and they will actually begin choosing to live without their 2nd or 3rd star rather than paying through the nose to keep them. This is how we got Harden in the first place. This is how Toronto got Gay recently. It will happen again. Maybe not for LeBron or Howard, but there will be others.
What's hard to hear for Houstonians is for someone to be either completely ignorant or else dismissive of Houston's rich streetball heritage and homegrown collegiate and NBA basketball talent. You saw some expensive empty seats at the Toyota Center one time on television so now you speak authoritatively about the level of interest Houstonians have in basketball? GTFO.
"The Charlotte Bobcats rank in the bottom third in NBA attendance, therefore the people of North Carolina have only muted interest in basketball," said the dumbest person alive.
Howard a modest upgrade Lmao Sign Howard Trade Asik and Ppat in a 3 team trade and get Milsap for 10 million a year
There is something to be said about adding veteran leadership to a young team and having that young team compete to win in playoff series. The Rockets have a great young nucleus, and giving the team an experienced veteran presence that will help them not only make the playoffs (which I feel is very important to the development of the young team) but compete in a playoff series or two...or three , that would help instill the winning culture that young talent needs in order to mature into greatness. That said, we would have to move some young talent and use cap space to acquire such a veteran. However, we have more young talent than we can currently play (DMo, Jones, Morris, Patterson, Smith can't all get playing time) so moving some of them is not a large loss. And in regards to the cap, you must ask yourself, who are we going to pursue over the next two off-seasons that would help the team more than the veterans some of us fans would like to see the Rockets acquire? As I think Meh said, as long as the veteran we add is not gumming up the cap situation 3 seasons from now, the financial flexibility of this team will not be hurt. And while there are some good free agents up the next two years, you have to weigh the certainty of the help a trade would give us vs. the potential value one of the big free agents would give us. Overall, I think veteran leadership and the ability to compete in the playoffs is more important to the development of our great young nucleus than maintaining salary cap space that may not be able to be properly utilized. In the meantime though, I am definitely enjoying this young fast paced Rockets team, and won't be upset at all if no trade is made.
Before Lebron and Bosh signed in Miami, the best free agent the Heat had ever signed was PJ Brown. Miami has had some good teams, and won one title, but it was never a free agent destination. The reason Miami got Lebron and Bosh was they had Wade and room for 2 max players. We have Harden and cap space, which are the two most improtant things to get another superstar.
Acquiring the expiring contracts of proven good players like a Josh Smith, Paul Millsap, or Al Jefferson on the cheap does not dillute this team and make us a non-contender going forward. Rather, it gives this team more options going forward into the offseason. FLEXIBILITY is the name of the game. Cap space is simply one part of flexibilty. Another very important part of flexibility is the ability to do sign-and-trade acquisitions and to re-sign very good players to value contracts. When you trade for expiring contracts of very good players like the ones mentioned above, you then have the option to re-sign them, or simply let them walk and regain cap space, or use them in sign-and-trade acquisitions. Guys like Smith, Millsap, and Big Al will draw much greater value in sign-and trade acquisitions than guys like Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas. So, the bottom line on those 3 guys is....if the price is right, Morey will pull the trigger. The question remains...what is the right price? I will suggest to you some sort of trade involving sending out some of Marcus Morris, Pat Patterson, Greg Smith, and expirings and bringing back one of the above players along with a first round draft pick in the 2013 draft would be the right price. Now...the next tier of players that have to be considered are guys like Marcin Gortat and Danny Granger, very good players with one year remaining on their contracts after this season. The question is if we acquire those players, do they enhance or decrease our cap flexibility going forward? The answer should be a resounding no. Both of those players are positive impact players. Other teams with cap space will gladly take those kinds of players in trade from us if we need the cap space in exchange for giving us some second rounders or even possibly a first rounder in Granger's case. So, it would be very easy to recreate cap space if we really needed cap space to sign a guy like Dwight Howard or Chris Paul....the only 2 premier free agents in the 2013 class. If you doubt what I am saying, just look at the number of teams that have cap space for the 2013 offseason. Once Dwight and Paul are gone, what are they going to do with that cap space? (ATL, DAL, us, evrybody is chasing the same pipedream of Howard and/or Paul.) Are they going to find substantial value in the free agent market to exceed players like Gortat and Granger on basically expiring deals???? NOPE. So, Gortat and Granger's expiring 13/14 salaries can be easily moved out for cap space. Oh, I forgot to mention, having guys like Gortat and Granger on the roster could actually help facilitate sign-and-trade deals or actually add more trade flexibility in the case of the Lakers who cannot receive a freshly signed player in a sign-and-trade. The next player that we could talk about is Kevin Garnett. He's got 2 years left after this season. But the last year is unguaranteed (at least according to Shamsports. and Garnett has mentioned multiple times that he will not complete this contract. he's most likely going to retire after this season or possibly 13/14 season). He's in the same class as Gortat and Granger with one small caveat. He can deny a trade because of his no-trade clause. It's my understanding (although I can't find it in the cba) that Garnett's no-trade clause carries forward with him even if he waives it to be traded to Houston. So, if Garnett were traded here, he would have the ability to veto any trade from here going forward. So, trading for Garnett may indeed limit our cap space in 13/14 unless Garnett agreed to retire following the '13 season. Personally, I don't see Garnett moving. I think Ainge is stuck playing out the string with those guys. Unless Pierce wants out and unless they can get good value for him then Garnett isn't going anywhere. Right now, Boston is 7th seed in the East. If the playoffs were being held today, they'd get the Knicks in the first round. For my money, that's a good matchup, one I think Boston could actually take. That leaves them in the second round against Miami most likely. I think that's the direction Ainge takes, possibly moving some other parts (Lee or Terry) for a good low-post option to add to Garnett/Pierce/Bradley. But in the event that Ainge does decide to break it down, Garnett may be exactly what this team needs to move to championship level for this season if he is acquired and this team may be one of the precious few that he agrees to be traded to. Of all the power forwards out there, there isn't going to be a player give you better D than Garnett will in spite of his age. He's a proven champion. And in this offense, Garnett at the elbow, shooting the 18 footer and dishing is more than acceptable. I have an extreme aversion to the 18 footer because of the low efficiency of it. Garnett is one of the precious few players that shoots that shot at a clip that is acceptable to make this offense stay efficient. And the championship experience Garnett would bring..immeasurable. I strongly believe that if any of the above players can be acquired along with a '13 first round draft pick using some combination of PPat, Morris, Greg Smith, Cole Aldrich, and Toney Douglas that Morey will pull the trigger on it. And I fully expect Morey to try to involve a team like Chicago to get his first rounder by taking on RIP's salary and moving RIP's expiring along some of our guys to get us back one (or possibly two) of the above guys and a first rounder. Making a trade for one of the above guys using the players I listed above only enhances our opportunities of acquiring one or both of Howard/Paul this offseason.
Great thread, because "patience" is toughest part of being a fan. When the season started most of us thought we were rebuilding and were lottery bound, but something happened that I doubt many of us believed was possible. We became the highest scoring and most exciting team in the NBA, while also being the youngest. Many complain about McHale or Lin or even Morey. We dream of Aldridge, Love, and Lebron. None of this is necessarily a bad thing, we all have high expectations and we want a championship in Houston again. However, I believe Da Spark's premise is accurate and reflects back on what some of us have been saying since the season started. Let's see what this team can do. Now, let's look at where we're at and where we could be going... Harden: Before the season started I thought he could lead the league in scoring in a couple of years. I was wrong, he's more of a play-maker than I imagined. Although I never saw him play, he almost seems like a modern version of Oscar Robinson. Now Oscar was a superstar from year one, and was a PG, but JH has some of his characteristics and is blossoming into a superstar right before our eyes. I said this may go as greatest trade in Rockets history in preseason and was criticized by the board. I'll stick by that prediction. Parsons: Another Morey genius move. Parson's contract is ridiculously good and the gamble has proven to be a great move. Parsons has improved his offensive game between his frosh and soph years. Although its cost him some of his defensive energy it has rounded out his game and made us a much more dangerous team. One of my favorite players growing up was John Havlicek. There are some similarities in their games and I only see Chandler getting better. He's developing into what I believe could be a 3rd option on a championship team. He's a solid all around player and if he keeps working hard he has the skills to be a special player. Asik: Wow, another Morey projection. My vote for most improved this year. Awesome rebounder, solid defender, and improving offensive threat. I'm been very frustrated at times with Omer on the offensive end, but he was kind of a blank slate and I believe McHale is working with him and it's starting to show. Many dream of Howard, shoot maybe I'm dumb, but give me Asik's defense and desire all-day over Howard's attitude and injuries. I believe Asik will continue to improve and can be the man-in-the-middle on a championship team. Lin: Is a bit of an enigma. Cut by us last year and then explodes on the scene with Linsanity and becomes an international sensation. Was Linsanity his 15 mins of fame or is it just the beginning? I believe its just the beginning. Lin has some great skills--ability to penetrate and score, decent court awareness, good position defender who plays passing lanes fairly well, decent passer and outside shooter. I've seen his outside stroke improve the last few games and I think with a lot of work in the off-season (versus promo ops) he could become a much more consistent outside threat. It seems Lin and Harden are finding more ways to coexist and that should get better with more time on the court. I think Lin can be our PG, but the key is having a PG like Douglass/Beverly who can relieve him and handle the quicker guards (like Lilliard last night) is essential. He's still young and improving, no reason to give up yet. Patterson: I have a love/hate relationship with PPat. Dude has a solid mid-range and is a decent body defender. However, he's a below average rebounder and offers little as a shot blocker. He does have some leadership skills and is a willing worker. With that said, I believe he's a solid role player and an ideal 8-9 man in the rotation. Now if Morey can somehow turn him into a 1st round pick or include him as part of a package to upgrade the 4 then I'm all in. Delfino: I really like this guy and what he brings to this team. Solid 3, with ability to go 2 when needed. I do not like him playing minutes at the 4 (like last night). Savvy vet with ability to light the night up from 3pt range. Excellent passer and solid defender. I really like his leadership and influence on this team. I'd like to keep him one more year. Morris: He flashes potential, but the flashes are too distant for me. This is the guy I try to move for draft pick or in package before deadline. I think his presence inhibits us from playing DMo or TJ, which I think hurts the team's overall development. Douglas: Decent hybrid guard, who brings some energy to the team off the bench. Not really a natural PG, but he's not a bad fit with Harden. I like his defense and 3pt shooting, but I believe Beverly is a better solution. TD is another guy who I'd look to package and bring Beverly up in the rotation. Beverly: Speaking of, man I like this guy. An ultra energy, unselfish PG with some play-making ability. Pesky defender and aggressive player, I like his attitude and love his effort. I really want to see him get consistent minutes as the 2nd PG. I think he's a great spark and adds a better dimension to our 2nd team then TD. Keep him and develop him. Aldrich: Decent back-up center, does as much as he can with what he's got. Don't see him as our long-term solution behind Asik. Package him and see what we can improve. Mr. Anderson: Well he's been a pleasant surprise in his increased minutes for Delfino. I like guys like this with talent to keep our bench strong. Retain and develop as a 2 (some 3 mins). Montiejunas: This is the guy along with TJ that I want to see get some consistent mins (even if its 5-15 per game). I think he's got a TON of potential, but needs game time to improve. This off-season he can work on his strength and that will help, but he needs some time on the court. I realize his defensive rotations need work, but this guy has the talent to create mismatches that will help us exploit other teams. T. Jones: He's been gone for so long, I really looking forward to seeing him in a game to see how he's improved. Physically he's probably our most gifted PF and body wise will be ready before DMo. In fact, between DMo and TJ, we may just have the perfect PF combo to take us where we want to go. It's tough to assess that with so little evidence, but I have a feeling Morey likes what we sees in these two guys. G. Smith: Talk about a fall from grace. Crushed Lakers early in the year and now he can't get off the bench. His defense has been horrible lately, its like he's distracted. A lot of raw talent, not sure if he can be long-term presence as our back-up center. R. White: We'll see. I like our potential a lot. I'm not thrilled with any of the FAs or potential trades. Yes, Love in his form from a few years back would be awesome, but who knows if he can get there again. Lebron is a dream; Howard isn't worth it anymore and I'm not sure CP is the right ingredient. I'll trust in Morey, and if patience is the recipe I'll support the team.
