[ClutchFans] Morey Q&A: Expect Asik to remain a Rocket for duration of contract

Not true. Love is the ultimate prize. But if Bosh became available this off season and we could get him, Morey would do it.

 

Love will sign with L.A so keep dreaming.

And yeah,if you can get Bosh you do it.

 

Bosh's "max salary" is over $20M. Even if you remove BOTH Lin and Asik's salary from next year's payroll, the Rockets are still not going to have close to $20M cap space under the current projection for next year's salary cap. Given that other than these two guys, Harden and Howard, no one else on the roster is scheduled to make more than $1.6M next season, it would be extremely difficult to clear the kind of cap space needed to offer the max to Chris Bosh-- and he will no doubt receive a max offer from multiple teams, plus a 5 year offer from Miami.

A more realistic target in terms of clearing cap room would be Lance Stephenson, who will be unrestricted and whose max salary starts much lower. But with any of the big name guys there will be a ton of suitors with no guarantee that having cap room would actually land you somebody.

 

Legit point on Bosh's contract. However Bosh is a guy that plays for rings. He's not just going to move along and sign somewhere else as a free agent unless he feels like he can win a ring there. The only exception to that really being Dallas, his hometown. He could possibly sign there and go home, play a couple years with Dirk, and take the risk of seeing if they could win a ring. And I'm not so sure that they couldn't win a ring with him and Dirk playing together. But outside of Dallas it's just not realistic to expect Bosh will simply sign with someone else that doesn't have a real chance to win a ring. Something is going to have to happen in Miami for him to even want to leave there. Why would a guy walk away from a multiple ring champion???? The answer is he wouldn't.

So, when you consider the circumstances around Bosh, if he leaves Miami it will most likely be through trade unless he goes home to Dallas.

 

I'm starting to wonder if the team secretly feels better about PF, enough so at least to the point of considering superstars at other positions too. What I mean is that Jones and DMo are adequate just the same way that Lin and Beverley are adequate. If a superstar like Irving, Westbrook, or even Derrick Rose were to shake loose, would that not be of similar benefit to our team as Kevin Love or Lamarcus Aldridge?

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that you could tolerate adding a superstar SF to this squad. Parsons would still be here; you would sacrifice everything to keep him in this rotation. But still, you lose Jones and all your other assets, and the line-up becomes something like Beverley-Harden-(insert-Durant-or-Lebron)-Parsons-Howard.

Any of these three scenarios--adding a superstar PF, PG, or SF--would render us not just championship contenders, but championship favorites. So long as our coach didn't suck and squander all the ridiculous talent Morey has spent years accumulating...

 

Signing Lance Stephenson to the max would be a very gutsy move by Morey.

 

I don't think the Rockets were ever locked into getting a star PF only. Morey has said in the past that getting a real star is so hard that you do not lock in on one player.

I suspect that the Rockets will need to target tier two players like Dragic, Lowry, Stephenson and not guys like Love and Bosh.

 

Advanced stats doesn't favor Lance Stephenson as max guy...yet. ESPN insider published an article by Pelton about how he's the 4th best player(behind West) in the team.

 

He is an interesting player because his defensive statistics are very high. The question is whether that is because of the system and the quality of teammates he has, or would it translate to a team like the Rockets.

He will never be a high usage player, but if his three point continues to develop, coupled with his high two point field goal percentage (56%) and rebounding, he could be an exceptional all around player.

 

Lance Stephenson signed long-term is a Larry Sanders level risk. He has potential for greatness or potential for absolute abject failure. I can't see Morey taking that kind of risk with big money.

 

2014-2015
asik + Lin = $16,600,000
dmo = $1,483,920
cap space = $18,083,920
* keep in mind the NBA cap space is about to go up also for all teams*

Bosh is more realistic than LOVE because hes the type of guy that is going to want to join a winning team. Love would probably rather go somewhere like LA where he is going to be the star or best player on the team. Either way it would cost the rockets the same for either player but bosh is the one that I see if he had to take $1-2 mill less he would do it over LOVE

Bosh can opt out 2014 or 2015. Bosh is more valuable to this team because he has proven he can play center if needed, doesn’t demand touches like love to produce, is a better one on one defeder and p&r defender than love. He’s a guy that is going to run in transition set screens for players even if he’s not getting the ball, he’s a guy that will do the dirty work and still be a true strech 4 even playing with howard & harden. He’s proven to be able to be the 3rd humble guy on a championship team with playing with wade & lebron already. If I could pick love or bosh I would pick Bosh all day for "this team" for basketball reasons.

Also Getting love reminds me of what the rockets tried to do with barkley, dream, pippen.

 

I agree with you on the risk factor with Stephenson. Had he been drafted by a team like Sacramento, Minnesota or the Lakers; he would be out of the league. He was not mentally or physically ready to be an NBA player. Now at 23 he is starting to blossom, and is getting closer and closer to being a very good player. I think the development of Paul George is causing some folks to think Stephenson can do the same.

However, Morey is a gambler at heart. If he is convinced that Stephenson is mature and will get better, I can see him making a move...... I just don't think Morey feels that way.

Someone will pay him though.

 

Lance is 6'5. His position is SG. Wouldn't want him or harden starting at sf

 

There are ways around that. Lance Stephenson already plays SF at different points in time. The way the league is headed, he can guard SF's. The key is line ups that have players that can play multiple positions.

 

lance will probably get $9-12mill, basically Andre Iguodala type of money, would rather keep parsons and continue to build the chemistry that we have. SF & SG are not spots we need an upgrade at just solid guy off the bench that can play both.

If you want lance at $9-12mill, you should’ve wanted LEE at $5mill.

 

Someone will offer Stephenson max or close to max money..... you could see the same thing happen with Parsons.

 

Really? I haven't looked at his Synergy numbers, but I do know Indiana's defense per 100 possessions is better with Stephenson off of the floor.

 

noooo dont say that about parsons lol, we need him here but man I could see danny throwing him $14-15

 

We don't exactly know what will happen with the Miami guys. What if they get soundly beaten in the playoffs and look old in the process? Do their three stars stick together and work with the team to reload the roster with a better (and younger, more athletic) supporting cast? Does one of them decide to leave?

Hard to say. The point remains that the Rockets can't totally their hope on free agency even if they manage to create significant cap room. There are plenty of other teams with cap room out there, and each of them may be a more attractive destination for an individual player for his own reason. Just because Dwight Howard chose Houston it doesn't mean other guys feel the same way.

 

Agreed. I think it is a very fair question to ask about Miami if they don't win it all again. Wade is aging. Lebron knows that. Riley knows that. And if Indiana (most likely) or some team in the West (less likely) takes them down this season then this off season could get crazy.

This is why I am in favor of dumping both Lin and Asik for expirings at the deadline if we can't get legit value for them. With one caveat. I'd like to acquire expirings that would agree to large non-guaranteed extensions with the bonus to them being an extra $1 to $2 million guaranteed if they are not cut by August 1 or possibly July 15th. This would give us trade flexibility regarding a $20 million contract.

However if the cap goes up to $62.5 million as projected we could conceivably create up to a little over $20 million if we are able to trade away Asik and Lin along with Jones and DMo while retaining Bev and Canaan alongside Dwight, James, and Chandler, just barely enough to give Bosh his max 4-year deal. And of course that includes dumping our 14 pick as well.