Bullard: Already Looking At Rockets' Needs For Next Season

Expert analysis by an expert analyst= garbage article.....Thanks Bull for the insight!

 

I think Portland only had the MLE last free agency.

 

Scola has been a great player for the Rockets, but his defense is lacking, as is also the case with Budinger and Martin. The center of the Rocket's defense at the 2, 3 & 4 positions is not good enough to win consistently, as we have seen over the last two nights. There needs to be improvement defensively at these positions for the Rockets to be a championship contender.

If the Rockets can add a big-time player at center or small forward through free agency, that's great. But if they have to trade for that big-name player, they will have to give up something big to get something big. Who would they be most likely to give up? Probably Louis Scola for the reasons that Matt Bullard mentioned in the interview. Other teams love him, and he is a very good offensive player and rebounder.

The Rockets would be inclined to let him go because he has maxed out his game and is starting to get a little older. We are entering a short window of time when the Rockets can still get maximum value for him. By the time next off-season roles around, that will probably no longer be the case.

Also, the Rockets already have Scola's replacement already on the roster. Patrick Patterson may not be as good as Scola today, but he is currently very solid both offensively and defensively (which Scola is not) and he looks like he has the tools to be better than Scola within 2-3 years. Let's remember, Patterson started several games while Scola was out and he was pounding out double doubles like it was his new routine.

If the Rockets trade for a big-name small forward or center, Scola is likely to be the man traded for the Rockets. If this happens, then the Rockets will obviously not be building their offense around Louis Scola.

 

i won't bet on ppat until he develops his post moves. a very few times, he tried one on one under the basket but none of them impress me to the point i will have no problem to have him take over big man position.

 

I think a lot of PPat's hype is built on the two 3-pointers he hit in his debut SL game. I was guilty of jumping on that too. People forget or choose not to remember he was in a shooting slump for the rst of SL and hasn't hit a 3-pointer since.

 

How many 3-pointers has Louis Scola hit this season? "]Answer - Zero

Patterson has a very solid 15-18 foot jump shot very much like Scola's and he is also a very good rebounder. He does not have the array of "scoop" shots that Scola has, at least not yet, but Patterson is a good shot blocker which Scola is not, and also a strong defensive player, which Scola also is not.

The Rockets have not struggled this year because of their lack of ability to score, they have struggled largely because of their lack of ability to stop other teams from scoring. The Rockets need more balance and more strength on the defensive side of the ball in order to raise their competitiveness to the next level. Patrick Patterson would help bring that, and his offensive game is currently not bad at all and will very likely improve with time.

 

A) Even before last night, I don't get bashing Bullard for looking ahead. Everyone here knew we were out, everyone here has been talking about next year, let's not be hypocrites and bash him for not pretending our season was at an end.

B) It is fairly obvious where we need to be looking. Next year under contract we have:
Lowry/Dragic
Martin/Lee
Chase/Williams
Scola/Patterson
Miller/Hill/Thabeet
...with Hayes and Yao likely to be brought back and Carroll dropped

Center position needs to be cleaned out in a bad way, and a legit starter needs to be found.
1, 2, and 4 are dandy.
We need a franchise guy, and the odds of finding one are far higher at the 3 than the 5. Has to play at both ends, and a low post game would be preferable (opens up Martin on the outside where he operates best and Scola and Patterson are both strong high post guys). Carmelo really would have been a nice fit here, despite his faults.

We have 3 draft picks this June, but I personally feel it'd be pointless to use them all as it stands - on paper, we have 13 returning guys and 15 roster spots. Additionally, we're filled to the brim with good rotation guys and hurting for star power - bringing in 3 non-star role players (in a draft lacking in good center prospects) would be borderline dumb - they won't see the court to develop.

I think the best play would be to go into the draft looking to either (in order of likelihood) trade out for 2012 picks, use a pick as sweetener to unload Brad Miller or Thabeet on someone, swing a trade to move way up and get Perry Jones, or pile the picks together in a trade for solid center or star SF.

I think our base case scenario at center would be landing Jordan, Gasol, or Hilario...and I don't think odds are high for any of them. In general, teams hold on to their centers with white knuckles. Not listing Dalembert since he's a hot mess upstairs.

Our best case at SF would be Perry Jones, Granger, or Casspi. Iguodala is well overpaid and can't be considered a star anymore. I could be wrong about Jones and Casspi, but I really like their potential.

Plan B (most likely scenario, sadly) is to tread water one more year and look toward the 2012 draft class and free agents.

I don't believe it was largely talked about, but it also wasn't a big secret that Jordan was one of the several big men Morey was angling for at the deadline.

 

This current team is a 50 wins team. Add a defesive 3 and 5 then minus Miller and Hill. We are back in the business, possibly conferance finals. Trade t-Will and Thabeet.

Lowry/Dragic
Martin/Lee
?????/Bud
Scola/Pat
?????/Hayes/Yao?

Solid Crew.

 

Dam rite there!

 

I agree that picks may well be best served as sweeteners, but - - there is the dark cloud looming of a (shhh) STRIKE. What will it do to cap/lux cap/hard cap? Therein may be the silver lining: amnesty. What might amnesty mean to the Rox? It might make any/all of the following min contract acquisitions off the amnesty pile:

Brand
Joe Johnson
Marvin Wms
SJax
TyThomas
Diop
Deng
Haywood
Harrington
Chris Anderson
Rip
Villaneuva
Biedrins
Ron-Ron
Bogut
Maggette
Okafor
Agent Zippo
Hedo
Bargnani
Shard
Al Jeff

Two from this list of possible salary cut refugees might make the Rox' roster look a bit more formidable.

Then a trade or two.

 

We need NeNe and Prince on this team.....draft a center and a young wing and be done.......playoffs here we come.....IT IS WRITTEN.

LOWRY
MARTIN
PRINCE....DEFENSE!
SCOLA
NENE....ENFORCER

 

playoffs maybe but how much better would that team be better than the current one.....Looks like 1st round exits for the next 5 years to me

 

We could always snag Joe Johnson lulz.

 

Gerald Wallace would of been the perfect addition. Bud is good but he doesnt have the eye of the Tiger that a starting SF should have.

 

The point of bringing up Scola when discussing the hype surrounding PPat?