[ESPN] Sources: Aldridge to start free agency with Lakers, Rockets

We still have the MLE and keeping it in our back pocket might be a tactical decision to scare off anyone from offering McDaniels a deal. Morey could be trying to drive down his price tag. If we used it, we literally cannot match offers, so teams would be able to nab KJ, even at a low price.

 

Memphis Got better too, and they were just as good as us last season.

 

They've gone as deep into the playoffs as Houston ever since Harden has came here. With a new coach and Kevin Durant coming off injury they won't come out winning 60 plus games. They will end up replacing where Portland was.

 

So top two in the west?

Key is how Durant will fare after all this rest....if he's not himself, then they'll be a 6 seed at best. If he is healthy, totally different story.

 

People seem to forget that we could have easily been the 6th seed.
Thanks to the Spurs late season collapse, we got the 2nd seed.

We need to upgrade the PG spot (Lawson) ,resign Smith, sign Stuckey ,and hope that Dekker can be a quality stretch 4 for us.

 

Never underestimate the power of keeping the same core together. They know how to play together now.

 

Use the Most of the MLE on Stuckey please.
McDaniels hasn't done **** in this league to warrant a big contract.

 

Beverley has been a Rocket for how long now,
and we still need a PG.

We needed a PG last season, two seasons ago, and the season before that.

 

People also seem to forget that most of the guys on our team had to build chemistry on the fly and that amongst all playoff teams (hell even decent teams) we've had the most injuries to deal with.

Sure upgrades at pg would be nice and I'm sure morey will be doing something to address this.

 

Lol you cut my comment in half that's funny. Yeah OKC is a possibility right now I believe we are moreso legit right now regarding top 3 in west. This is a make or break year for okc.

 

I don't know why everyone is freaking out. All the reports, from the Rockets FO to Jonathan Feigan to everyone, said that the Rockets were a longshot to sign Aldridge. Kudos to them for trying anyway. One of the things that I love about Morey is he is constantly trying pursue any angle to make his team better, even if the chances are slim.

The Rockets were the 2nd best team in a stacked Western Conference last year. And that was with a crazy amount of injuries. Unlike several other teams, we haven't lost anyone yet. We will have some promising players to trade and a good number of draft picks to include as well. If we are able to re-sign Josh Smith at a reasonable contract, a package that includes Jones, K-Pap, draft picks and possibly S&T Terry or Prigs would be intriguing at the least.

There will obviously still be a lot of moves and shake ups this offseason, but for now the Clippers are worse. The Blazers lost 4 out of 5 starters. I'm not sold on the Grizzlies being significantly better, especially if they lose Koufos. The Mavs signed Jordan, who I think is an upgrade over Chandler but a pretty minor one, but have two players coming off major injuries, no PG and no depth. And Dirk looked old last year and will only be older. OKC will be interesting to see if they can stay healthy and, if they can, how that group would mesh together. Will Westbrook be able to play second fiddle to Durant again after having most of last season to himself? The Spurs, even though they signed Aldridge, lost some important players for them last year (Belinelli, Splitter, Baynes). Duncan, Ginobili and Parker will all be a year older. We know LMA doesn't want to play Center. Who in the world are they expecting to play Center for them? Duncan? Diaw?


We missed out on the big fish in free agency this year. Too bad. We are still a very good team with good options to try to improve even more.

 

Key is how Durant will far after all this rest....and, if he is, how Westbrook would be able to handle playing behind him again.

For the record, I don't think they would have any problems. But Westbrook just had almost an entire season as the #1 option in OKC. How will he feel if Durant comes back and takes that back again?

 

I quoted the part I was responding to...that's normal operating procedure.

 

Didn't we suffer late season ending injuries? We got to the WCF with Jet as our PG. I am sure we would have a better chance If PB was around.

 

That's true, the offseason isn't over yet.

 

This is true, we had so many injuries, the Spurs had a late surge but after surviving the whole year pretty much without Dwight we then lost two starters. Let's pray for a healthier year. I think that adds 5 to 6 wins to what we ended up with.

 

You are correct sir. But they need to upgrade the PG position with a natural playmaker. I'm not disappointed at all in losing out on signing LMA because the PF position is the rockets deepest if you include Smith with a healthy DMO and TJ. If the rockets acquire a play making PG it changes this team entirely for the better.

 

I'm excited to see Clint Capella get in rotation all season long

 

No reason to panick. We still have a deep team and many options for Morey to play with. I wouldn't mind if they would hurry up on Smith/Terry for cheap. There are all kinds of S&T possibilities throughout the year. Tjones/Dmo are both making 1.5 this season and if we need to trade for a big contract, like Lawson, we can actually pull it off through S&T, unlike the Mavs who are just wishing for him. Kpap/Johnson/Capela/Dekkar/future draft picks- Morey still has options, that's why nobody should be stressing.

 

Damn if only we offered Aldridge more food...