[Armchair Rockets GM] Roster Trimming and the 3rd PG

I think we will salary dump Andersen. There is no way a buy out happens for several reasons:

1) Andersen has a 1 year deal for 2.7 mil. A reasonable deal for a big man that can shoot. We should be able to find a team that wants him straight up.

2) Even if no one wants him straight up we can always wait until the deadline and package him with a 2nd round pick. The team that takes him will only have to pay half the salary and gets a 2nd rounder that will be worth more than that.

3) If we buy him out, we have to pay most of his salary and the luxury tax. In that case why not just keep him on the roster?

 

Especially given the uncertainty regarding Yao's health, I think it is more important to keep as much depth at the 5 than it is to acquire 3rd-string pg help.

Yes a 3rd pg would be nice on the off chance that either Brooks or Lowry go down, but the odds are far more in favor of ever actually needing Andersen than actually needing the 3rd pg scrub.

So, we sit tight and wait for the trade deadline and see what happens then.

The real problem with this roster is that it's totally full after Harris and Johnson go bye-bye. So there won't be any roster 'churning' at the bottom of the bench, as Bill Parcells used to call it. So unless we find a roster-reducing salary-dump partner out there (extremely unlikely until the deadline), then we are gonna have to dance with who brung us.

 

Goners - if possible:

Mike Harris
Alexander Johnson
David Andersen

Possible time in the D - league

Jermaine Taylor
Jordan Hill
Patrick Patterson
Ishmael Smith

Overloaded, trade needed 1 or 2 of these:

Shane Battier
Trevor Ariza
Jarred Jeffries

Keepers:

Yao Ming
Luis Scola
Aaron Brooks
Kyle Lowry
Chase Budinger
Chuck Hayes
Brad Miller
Kevin Martin

That is how I see it.

DD

 

I think we're just gonna send Harris Pattycakes and johnson to the dleague

 

Agreed. We do need a 3rd PG.

 

Harris and Johnson will be cut.

 

------------12 Spartans going to the battlefield------------
Miller/Hill
Scola/Hayes
Ariza/ Battier
Martin/Budinger
Brooks/Lowry

Anderson
Jeffries

----------3 left behind----------------------------------
Yao -------> sucking money from insurance and China.
Taylor-----> will be traded or dropped.
Paterson---> D league


--------------my order to Morey--------------------------
Mr. Alexander Johnson deserves a spot. Hayes does not.
----------------------------------------------------------

 

Just... wow. Beyond moronic.

 

I agree, and I would rather have Johnson than Andersen.

DD

 

Except look at what having no *real* depth at the 5 got us last year: a .500 season. We had several scrub-level backup PG's over the course of the season, due to that 'roster churning', and don't have any illusions that Smith would be any different.

Yes we are overloaded at 3 and 4, but not 5. And we have two starting-quality PG's, which is good, and yes it would hurt to have one of them out.

But the real problem last year was a lack of a real 5 without Yao.

So you have to look at it seriously, and also consider what we HAVE (Miller, Anderson and mayyyybe Hill as depth at the 5) versus what we would LIKE to have (depth at PG beyond the very good Lowry), and then weigh the actual costs of getting what we would what we would like to have (having to eat Andersen's entire contract, assuming no one will help us dump him for a late 2nd-round pick - as well as then on top of that also paying the salary of a 3rd PG) versus the cost of keeping what we have (No additional costs beyond what we are already paying, plus the admitted risk of being thin at the 1).

Judging by last year's results, we will be much more in need of the depth at 5 than of a 3rd pg. And don't be seriously calling Hayes, Scola, Hill, and Jeffries depth at the 5. Any of those guys playing the 5 for any extended time is an emergency desperation move, and how would that be any worse than having Taylor or Budinger do a little spot duty at bringing the ball up the court?

 

Brooks/Lowry/Smith
Martin/Taylor
Ariza/Battier/BUD
Scola/Hill/Patterson
Yao/Miller/Hayes

Players spending time in D-league include Patterson and Smith.

Players to trade include either Ariza or Battier, Jeffries and Andersen.

Players to cut or release include Harris, Alex Johnson.

Use player(s) to trade to acquire a good backup sg.

 

You should start following the WNBA, if you don't already.

 

I'm confident a 3rd PG can be had if and when we need him. In the meantime, I'd rather keep Andersen around for possible trades. Even if we don't trade him, if Hill and Hayes go in a trade, it might be nice to have Andersen around in case of injuries. As well, a roster spot can open up after a trade (if we do a trade, I'd be surprised if it didn't), eliminating the need to cut Andersen in the first place. We can't bring him back once we cut him.

It's purely unsupported opinion, but the DL seems to have plenty of servicable PGs available for 10 day contracts.

 

harris, johnson, and possibly jeffries will be out

 

Agree with DD on all counts, with the clarification that Andersen probably will not be cut. The Rockets may look to deal him, even in a salary dump, by the deadline. Of course, if the February trade deadline comes and goes without a trade of Andersen, do NOT look for him to be waived or bought out. His contract is partially guaranteed for 2011-12 at only a small amount (~$185k), so his contract could be a valuable trade chip at next year's draft or next July.

Oh, yeah, and Chievous . . . Alexander Johnson is a PF/C, not a SF. Just saying.

 

Jeffries will NOT be waived this summer. The Rockets need him as salary filler in almost any major trade they hope to make. Of course, once the February trade deadline passes, if he's still on the roster, they could look to buy out the remaining two months of his contract for a small discount and save double that amount when factoring in luxury tax. But even then, I'd personally rather just hold onto him until the end of the season, retain his Bird rights, and at least have the OPTION--however small--of being able to sign and trade him in a package deal next summer.