[Chron] Instead of a quick fix, Rockets might play the waiting game

I never said expirings are enough. I just said that without expirings, can't get get jack. Heck, even the Lakers had to give an expired contract for Gasol.

Regular fans don't realize the value of expirings because most don't realize how the salary cap and trade rules in the NBA affect how a trade can be made. And they don't realize that aging and/or injury-prone stars don't mean crap to teams that (A) are already contenders and don't want to mess up their chemistry and (B) aren't in contention and don't really care to screw up their cap for an upgrade in talent.

 

only if margette's defence is as good as his offence can he be a good fit for the team for adelman.I think Stphen Jackson fit rockets more .[/QUOTE]

 

why are some owners afraid to pay a couple of million in luxury tax when they whole teams payroll is like 70 million?!!!!

Come on Les...don't waste Yao and T-Mac prime just because of a couple of million...

don't they make billions in their business ventures every year?

 

this part stuck out to me:

at least they know what we all know. and lets hope they get it done.

 

The article is a bit hard to decipher. IMO the article is just the writer's opinion written around some quotes. Anything that isn't a direct quote is just his speculation.

 

I actually take the opposite stance, that pretty much every piece from the Chron is in some way authored or at least approved by the Rockets PR people.

Anyways, the more I think about this article and it's effect of breaking it to the fans that they shouldn't be expecting much in the way of roster additions this offseason...........I get the feeling that Les/Morey want to see how the season shapes up first with regard to standings and specifically with regard to injuries.......methinks Les is only gonna consider committing any more cash than he already has if this team has a real chance to make it deep into the playoffs this year......and otherwise if Yao or Tmac is injured again, we'll see a similar deal to the Bonzi/BJax one where he just tries to shed salary and wait till the next season...

 

In order to get an impact player, you can't just trade expiring contracts, you must also trade away assets like picks and cheap young talent. Remember the Lakers had to give away Marc Gasol, J. Crittenden and two first rounders for the Pau Gasol deal. Boston had to give up Al Jefferson and the 5th pick for Garnett and Ray Allen.

What Morey has isn't just $9 million in expiring contracts, he also has been getting some deirable cheap talent (Brooks, Landry, Greene, etc.), and even got an extra high 2nd round for trading purposes.

Other teams may have expiring contracts, but the question is whether they have young talent and are willing to give up young talent for one impact player. Frankly, even teams with good young players (Chicago) are often reluctant to trade them for veteran impace pieces.

 

If Landry is healthy, he won't be included in a deal, and if he isn't, he isn't desireable. As far as Brooks and Greene, every team in the league has late draft garbage rotting away on its bench that it can throw in a trade. In Portland's case, guys like Webster and Jack have already proven they can play, if Pritchard decides to put them in play.

 

Sounds like the Rockets will wait till the deadline and hope to get a bargain. I can't really fault that strategy, but they run the risk of watching some really good players slip right past them and into the hands of a rival, such as San Antonio or Dallas.

 

This thread title initially excited me into thinking we were going to take a shot at Tony Campbell...disappointed now....

 

So true. I said the exact same thing yesterday. Make a deal now, waiting until trade deadline could hurt instead of helping. The trade last year brought in BJax who already knew the system.

 

1. Jack is already gone.
2. Landry will be available in the right trade even if he is healthy. Anyone in this league is available in the right trade.
3. Whether Brooks and Greene is late round garbage or desirable assets depens on how they pan out this year. If Brooks can perform solidly as a backup PG, he'd have value. If Greene come off the bench to hit some shots while playing passable NBA defense, he'd have value, too. What they need to do is show some promise.
4. Rockets are not the only team with trade chips-- or even the desire for an expirings+youth-for-production deal, but there isn't just one trade target and one potential trade partner, either. Yes, it's risky to just wait til Feb. 2009 to deal, but that's not how Morey is operating.

 

Maybe we'll do something like the Celtics and trade our one of our big guns for two or three big guns. Someone like T-Mac?

 

Morey is a smart dude, basically this article is saying what I figured Morey was thinking.

People all over the league are collecting expensive pieces right now. Throwing big money at people like Gilbert, Brand, Davis etc. When those expensive pieces don't work out the way that people expect and teams are ready to dump payroll and try again next season - That's the best time to get the other players around them at a good value.

Buy low, sell high. Morey's got it right.

This team brings players in fairly seamlessly (when the players are willing to work hard like the core does) and the goal is to have the best team in April, not in October.

I still think that we could get to the Finals with what we have if we are completely healthy, (if Lebron could do it on his own Tmac and Yao should be able to do it together) but it would be really nice to have someone to fill in if one of those two aren't healthy. If they were healthy and with an extra piece, then we dominate like Boston did this year.

 

This sure sounds like Lebron and Carmelo. Iguodala? Dunleavy? Possibly Artest and Iverson. Maybe Stephen Jackson, but I wouldn't think so.

1. Vince Carter
2. Mike Miller
3. Ben Gordon
4. Kirk Hinrich
5-10. ?????

 

Best post I've read today.

I wish more people realized why we are always a piece or two short over the past few years. The bad contracts and botched drafts for about a decade before last season have constantly handcuffed us when we would have liked to be players in the free agent/trade markets.

The Kelvin Cato, Moochie Norris, Mo Taylor contracts are just a few examples of the bad contracts.

 

This story is just that -- a story for Morey.

Morey needs to tamp down fan unrest over a winning, but mediocre, team that can never get past the top six teams in the West.

There is only one way he can acquire a "third piece" and it's something he is loathe to do because it highlights his huge original mistake.

However, trading Shane Battier and packaging a few toss-ins and one or more future picks is the only way he can possibly acquire a player of Rudy Gay's caliber -- an athletic third scorer. However, that player, unlike RG, probably will have some unpleasant warts.

No, Morey is stalling for time so he can play it safe with low risk players who look good on the stat sheets but who are urinarily poor on the court.

BTW -- I don't think Morey is stupid enough to give Landry the entire or even a majority of the MLE. Landry hasn't shown enough and he is one knee-bump from being out of the NBA. That's why no one drafted him in the first round -- and they still wouldn't.

 

Eastern Conference.

You can't compare apples to oranges. LeBron and the Cavs would not have accomplished what they did two years ago in the Western Conference.

The 4-0 shilacking by the Spurs in the finals should be sufficient evidence.

The Eastern Conference that season was widely considered one of the worst conferences in NBA history.

That said, the argument you make that the Rockets should be able to get to the finals with Mac and Yao if LeBron did it really isn't valid. The Western Conference is a totally different animal and that animal may be even bigger and more fierce next season.

 

Pretty much what I thought all along, reactive instead of proactive. The Lakers can trump any deal the rox put together. They have a 15m 29 yr old versitile Lamar Odom. The Blazers can trump any deal the rox put together also with the slew of young cheap players that can add up to 1 very good young player plus cap room and a owner that doesn't care about the lt.

So I guess when the when mcgrady misses his 10 games and the team is struggling, the team will find out barry is good for 15mins per off the bench and now the prospects of another 22 game win streak can't save them. We can talk about teams being unrealistic, but can't the same be said for us? I think they can win now and still be ready for the james sweepstakes if they do it right. Waiting for Landry is a mistake. Give him a offer and give him 5 days to think about it. He turns it down, look elsewhere.

 

Point taken. I still think, looking over what is currently around the West that there are only a couple of teams that we couldn't beat in a 7 game series. I just think that maybe the gap isn't as wide as we think. Yes there is a huge gap between the bottom of the West playoff picture and the bottom of the East playoff picture but the top four teams in each are just as difficult as the other.