[ClutchFans] Podcast: Is Goran Dragic to Houston suddenly possible?

Isn't Howard Beck one of the guys who has written some Rockets/Josh Smith/Morey puff pieces this year? He's probably getting a favor from the Rockets with details to put out there...

 

I just dont see the Rockets being able to pull Goran. Even if they shop him around. But, Charlie Palilo has a huge point that could be the key to all of this, all other contending teams in the west, and probably the east have a stud PG.

So those teams would not look to upgrade it. That leaves Goran for the rockets, with very few teams actually contending to get him. With the player option that Goran has, that will minimize the demand as teams will be reluctant to go all in for him.

 

My bad... here is the video..

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-bold-predictions-for-the-2015-trade-deadline

 

Thanks Clutch and Bima. If only DD would bring back Rocket Talk we'd be set for our commentary

 

Picking up smith is the key here. It makes giving up Tjones not so bad if it came down to this.

 

Great podcast!! Bima, thanks for mentioning those possible under the radar moves regarding players with "non-guaranteed" salary if the Rockets can't find a trade solution now and look to put their trade plans on hold for a while.

As a way, way, fall back option, I absolutely could see Orlando's Luke Ridnour being available. Very good call.

 

Made me think of:

Spoiler

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But, yes, agreed: very cool.

 

Dragic portion:

DH suggests the Rockets, Jazz & Suns get together on a trade.

Suns: Enes Kanter
Jazz: Rockets assets?
Rockets: Goran Dragic

On trading D-Mo for Dragic:

BT: Wait, you mean trade draft bust Motiejunas for Goran Dragic?

BT: He's emerged so rapidly since our last podcast. True 7-footers with the post-footwork Motiejunas has, ability to finish with either hand, hook shot, and hitting threes, you can count on two hands in the entire league with those types of players.

While the Rockets are PF rich, that could quickly change. Yes, you'd still have Terrence Jones but Smith will be a FA and it will be difficult to re-sign him to anything approaching his market value. You'd need to count on a steep discount for the Rockets to keep him. You can't count on him being back next year. You'd be looking at Jones, Capela and being rather light at PF. I would not trade Motiejunas for Dragic unless there was a very, very, very strong belief Dragic re-signed. I don't think many would take 29 games of Dragic over 111 games of D-Mo plus restricted FA rights in 2016. That would be tough to swallow.

DH: I hesitate as well. I'd rather give up future assets for a guy like Goran but some people last year asked was he the best PG at the time. Has experience with Rockets coaches, understands the front office and his contract, which will expire, is ideal for Houston's flexibility. Overall, Goran's contract, the player, the fit, being a lefty next to Harden could be lethal. So many positives that makes him the perfect fit.

BT: ...The fact he'll be a FA this summer and will command a max or near max deal does adversely affect his value for the Suns or what they can extract. The Mozgov trade, while Cleveland probably gave up too much, mostly because Denver had Cleveland over a barrel, one of the reason they could demand that return for Mozgov was he had a cheap team option that will be beneficial for the Cavs. Dragic has a player option he won't pick up and the team acquiring him will have to pony up to keep him. The short remaining term of Dragic's deal creates problems for Phoenix and the team acquiring him. If he commands a max salary, you're looking at a starting salary of $18 and $19 million. If they want to lock him up for the max 5 years, you're looking at 5 years, $105-110 million. That's a lot of money. I know some out there who really, really want to get Dragic but no way would they pay him all that money. There needs to be reconciliation of those two views if you want Dragic. Maybe they can get him for a lower salary like Toronto did signing Kyle Lowry for $12 million per but you won't have those guarantees when you trade for him. You need to be careful before giving up Pelicans pick, Motiejunas, Capela or whatever they demand. Those are some major dollars committed to Dragic. With the cap going up significantly in 2016, even $18 million salary won't be so bad as it would be today but still, that's a major significant financial commitment to Dragic if they want to keep him more than 29 games.

DH: You might have to. The Lakers may be looking for Howard payback.

BT: Absolutely. Now is the time where the Rockets have an advantage over the Lakers. Lakers don't really have any assets. Now is the time.

DH: At that salary, that's more than Harden.

BT: That emphasizes what a bargain Harden will be, especially when the new TV deal kicks in. He'll fall down the list of highest paid players. By the time he's finishing up his deal, it'll be a sweetheart deal. Credit for Morey giving him a 5-year, not a 4-year deal.

DH: Is trading for Goran, this week or sign-and-trade in the summer, the only way they'll get him? Some are under the impression we can just sign him in the summer.

BT: Especially now that the players union rejected a league proposal to smooth the cap increase that will hit in 2016, there was some hope that the league and the union might agree to artificially inflate the cap this summer by a few extra million in order to ease the transition into the new TV deal. The union rejected that and it's looking increasingly unlikely that we'll have anything above the projected cap of $66-68 million. Given that, the Rockets won't have much cap room this summer. Brewer, Smith, guys hitting free agency, it probably isn't beneficial to even go the cap room route if they want to keep this core together. Given that, signing Dragic as a free agent, they'll probably have $7-10 million this summer and Dragic will command more on the open market.

DH: Daryl always seems to find someone or acquire someone we hadn't considered or was a passing mention by fans. I don't know what else they could pull off. Mo Williams was mentioned in the past. Whoever Daryl acquires here and gives up something significant for(Pelicans pick), McHale has to play that player. It has to be a good player. A PG who can impact this team. I look at it as Goran or bust. What happens if not Goran or something doesn't happen? You still got Shved who they acquired just to flip.

BT: It's the curse of success when you get a NBA roster to such a level that there are fewer moves that can improve the roster as it's already constructed. That's where the Rockets are. Dragic improves this roster and outside of him, there are few moves that would improve the roster this year. We can sit here and try and brainstorm on names. Click over to the BBS and you'll see this name and that name thrown out, at this point I've almost thrown up my hands giving up trying to guess. Mystery player X we never saw coming or mystery player Y that 3 people saw coming among a sea of names and then they'll raise their hands and say 'I told you so'. You could see other names. You could see the Rockets punt and not make a trade. Short of doing nothing, you might see them try to flip some contracts for non-guaranteed salary next year. For example, guys with non-guaranteed deals for next year: Ben Gordon, Luke Ridnour, Caron Butler, Trevor Booker. All that would do for you is postpone your trade period until draft night. ... Maybe you find someone trying to do a salary dump. Or you could go for the crown jewel, which is Brendan Haywood. His contract is one of the most unique in the league. Product of the amnesty rules under the new CBA. Because the contract he signed with Dallas about 5 years ago, the final year was fully non-guaranteed. Under amnesty rules, with a contract like that and very few have them, while Cleveland and Charlotte before them were only paying the amnesty bid portion($2.2), on July 1, his contract will balloon from $2.2 to $10.5 million non-guaranteed contract. If you had Haywood's contract, as soon as the July moratorium ends, you could trade his contract for up to $15-16 million of incoming salary plus combine his salary with others. He's the crown jewel. The Cavs realize that and fleeced the Hornets to get him. He's one of their best remaining trade assets. If Daryl could get a hold of Haywood, some would say 'Huh, Haywood, he's not even good'. His contract is what they would be after. These are all backup plans if they can't get a key player.

DH: This will be a tricky trade deadline if not Dragic. You wonder who? Who would they move the Pelicans pick or Capela for? ... We'll know by Thursday.

BT: A lot of people would view the Rockets not making a trade a huge disaster. People need to look at the Pelicans pick at 13/14. That's a good young player on a cheap deal. That's a really nice asset for the Rockets own roster, not just to use in trades.

 

We are not going to get Dragic unless we give up some real talent and value. I'm gonna go ahead and say we need to pull the trigger on this and not look back. This could change the standings in the west and potentially make us the best team in The NBA.... But in order to achieve this we must give up talent with potential, sorry folks but it we are gonna have to trade Dorsey.... Sigh, just do it already.... The more we think about it the harder it will be.... Take him Phoenix, just take him....

 

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That's the biggest factor in the Rockets' favor. What other team with a shot at a title this season would trade for Dragic and have any desire to sign him to a big extension next summer? The only other team I've heard mentioned is the Heat and they're not a contender even with Dragic. I could see him resigning there if the money is right(just ask Chris Bosh), but he has to know he's never winning a ring if he does that.

 

Agreed, we need more Rocket Talk.

 

Oh. I don't watch Parks and Rec so I didn't know.

 

Are you serious...trading (in Maury's words) "the BEST defensive big in Europe"??? You absolutely CANNOT give up such a very special talent on Defense. How can we prevent scoring in the paint, and who will protect the rim w/o Dwight in the lineup. Face it ClutchFans, our hopes, our dreams, our FUTURE...depends on Joey Dorsey!

Spoiler

Who am I kidding, we NEED Dragic on this roster, MAKE IT HAPPEN MAURY!!!!!

 

I'm okay with trading anyone but Dorsey. Harden I'd be skeptical about trading, but ultimately would be a wash. If we trade Dorsey, then I've lost all faith in Morey.

 

We can't just eat Dorsey's 1 million dollar salary next year. This team's fortune, for better or worse, is tied to Richard Elmer "Joey" Dorsey.

 

Realistically, Goran already knows by talking to the "guys" (Harden, etc.), that we are willing to pay him the 4-year max this summer and if traded to us we will give him even more money if he allows it to be structured in a certain way.

Most of us aren't considering thoroughly what is going to happen in free agency this summer. I fully expect that more players than not that are due for large max raises will forego long-term 4-5 year deals in favor of 1+1 deals that allow them to re-up next year for a higher max and more overall money than what they can make on a 4-5 year deal this season. Goran could EASILY fall into this category. And it would be to his benefit and to the Rockets benefit if he were willing to accept a low 1-year with player option for next season and push his free agent bonanza back to 2016.


Can you imagine having a backcourt of Harden and Goran and a front court of Dwight and Love or LaMarcus?

What about a perimeter of Goran/Harden/Butler with Dwight and DMo up front?

What about a perimeter of Goran/Harden/Durant with Dwight and DMo up front?


All of those are possibilities (and many others) IF Goran is willing to forego his big free agent bonanza for one season until 2016.

 

That's from Community. Same network as Parks and Rec, different(better imo) show

 

Trading Harden might help this team. We need a playmaker that ISOs less. Maybe Jeremy Lin is available? The salaries should match.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources: Goran Dragic's agent plans to meet w/ team officials Tuesday, but Phoenix's determination unchanged: Suns want to re-sign Dragic.</p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/567437168503963650">February 16, 2015</a></blockquote>
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