Constructing the Rockets and making moves to beat the Miami Heat

Miami's weak spot is probably the paint so I would think Howard would be more of a problem for them. Would prefer CP3 for alomst evrything else...

 

Think we need to gear up to stop Memphis first.

Memphis and their twin towers are going to kill us on the boards and their defense is superb. Harden is going to face Allen and we all know Allen is a elite wing defender.

 

Morey should have never talked about variance...

 

Even if Miami is the prohibitive favorite in the East now, I think it would be wiser for the Rockets to think about playoff matchups vs. the better Western teams first. Getting through Western playoffs are no joke.

 

This is why its Howard and possibly J.Smith or save your money and your time.... I really really like Asik and if we had an all-star PG and PF i would say keep him... but the best reality looks like this

Howard
J.Smith/Tjones
Parsons/2nd round pick
Harden
Beverly/Brooks

In the end defense wins championships and that team would be a top 5 defense and number 1 in fast break points

 

I'd take a Rockets team with a big 3 of Paul, Harden and Josh Smith and the sum of the parts (Parsons, Asik, Beverley, T Jones, G Smith) over the Heat and their depth around the big three.

Josh Smith is a much better defender than Garcia and you play Lebron the same way the Rockets defended Durant...forcing the ball out of his hands. You can read his post-series interviews about how frustrated he was.

Again the execution of that gameplan would be greater with a more athletic Josh Smith.

I have complete faith of Asik defending any big.

The on the ball pressure Paul could put on Westbrook or Wade could lead too lots of steals and offensive charges.

 

We'll probably just wait them out- let Wade get older and fall out of his prime.

 

Get Kevin Love. We would out-rebound the Heat by 20.

 

first lets start beating the likes of the Thunder, Spurs and the Grizz before we go after the best .

 

To compete with Heat/Thunder we are going to need more of a big man presence to go against Ibaka and Bosh...so getting Dwight over Paul makes more sense (and is more reasonable given Paul I feel is unlikely to leave the Clippers and Griffin).

A few moves are needed for this to happen:
Move #1: Trade Asik to a team needing a center for a future 1st round draft pick. I love Asik, but Dwight is a major improvement and keeping both is not necessary/economical. So trade Asik to a team that needs a C and has cap room to take him on (Pelicans or Hawks...which also takes them out of the race for Dwight, so a deal with them might be difficult unless they are convinced they are not getting him).

Move #2: Sign Dwight to 4yr/88 million max contract (~22.15 million starting salary with 4.5% annual increases according to new CBA rules). The new CBA kind of helps here actually b/c sign-and-trade deals are the same as if he signs with us outright, so sign-and-trade won't get him the extra year, so we won't have to give up Parsons or other talent to get him. We have to wine and dine him and convince him to leave LA for a team with a much brighter future but much less pressure. Also, he makes up for that extra year w/ lack of state income tax...gotta love Texas.

Move #3: Sign Timofey Mozgov to 2 yr/7 million. Who?...exactly. This guy reminds me a lot of Asik from last year. He is a solid defensive rebounding center stuck behind other players right now. He is averaging 12 and 10 w/ nearly 2 blocks per 36 minutes in Denver right now. Denver does not have room to sign him back, so we can get him on a steal if you ask me.

Move #4: Re-sign Francisco Garcia to a 2 yr/6 million. Cisco is a great veteran presence who can contribute off the bench and has shown this year he steps up when we need him. He earned this contract, given it was a small sample size. I would make the 2nd year a team option, much like the Delfino deal last year, to keep financial flexibility.

Move #5: Sign either Matt Barnes (2 yr/8 million-use MLE) or Re-rign Carlos Delfino (2 year/6million). I would rather sign Barnes in this situation. Delfino was good, but not great for us this year. Barnes brings something Delfino does not every night: perimeter defense...something we really need. Garcia can take over the 3pt shooting that we lose w/ Delfino. Also, Delfino is going to be coming off a ****ty injury, don't know how he will recover, wish him the best though.

All in all, this puts us about 4-5 million over the cap and nowhere near the luxury tax line for the next couple years. Add in the 2nd round pick from this draft on a true PG in case Beverley or Lin goes down.

Lineup next year:
Lin/Beverley/2nd Rounder
Harden/Garcia
Parsons/Barnes/Jones
Robinson/Motiejunas/Jones
Howard/Mozgov

We will have 2 first rounders in a great draft next year, and great cap flexibility for summer of 2015 (2 years) to either re-sign Parsons (probably 4yr/40 million) or make a run at Kevin Love if one of Robinson/Motiejunas/Jones does not work out (We could potentially only have Harden and Dwight would be committed to salaries that summer).

This is my ideal off season that I believe will let us continue to build team chemistry this summer, get more talent, and compete w/ the top teams, especially Thunder and Heat.

Sorry for the long ass post.

 

If we have to "wine and dine" Dwight then no.
He should be begging to play in Houston and will most likely end up some place like Miami.

Asik has more than proved himself and deserves to stay.
Players like Garcia and Delfino can be found at a cheaper rate.

Matt Barnes? No thanks.

 

Amen on the Matt Barnes. NO thanks. I hate that guy. Would NOT want to see him in a Rox uni. I dont' care what kind of defense he plays

 

2013 LINEUP OUTLOOK

POWER FORWARD
STARTER: THOMAS ROBINSON (6'9” 244lbs) – T-ROB will need to work on a jump shot and maybe a jump hook to compliment his knack of getting to the rim. He has great footwork and can out jump anyone. If he spent just one month at Camp Olajuwon we could see him produce 15/10 for 2013-2014 season. OUTLOOK: 12.0ppg 9.0rpg 1.0bpg
BACKUPS: TERRENCE JONES (6'9” 255lbs) – JONES is a talented big forward. However, he falls right in behind T-ROB on the account of draft order. He could still prove to be extremely valuable by being the man who spells Robinson when foul trouble or injury arises.
DONATAS MONTIEJUNAS (7'0” 222lbs) – DONUTS needs to hit his jump shots. Had he not completely sucked on hitting open jump shots this season he could have been the easy favorite to start the 2013 season. He's got the moves to be THE GUY, he just lacks the focus. He needs to bulk up a bit as well. In 4 months I'd like to see him get his weight up to 240lbs
ROYCE WHITE (6'8” 270lbs) – #WHOTHE****KNOWS #BEWELL

SMALL FORWARD
STARTER: CHANDLER PARSONS (6'9” 200lbs) – Big surprise here. CHANDLER BANG has been really good. Parsons lacks speed to get around most defenders. His offensive focus should be 3 pointers and mid range jumpers. This keeps him clear of the paint so that he can crash the rim from the wing. Chandler Bang style. OUTLOOK: 13.5ppg 6.0rpg 1.5spg
BACKUP: FRANCISCO GARCIA (6'7” 195lbs) – Will not have his option picked up. But, the Rockets will attempt to bring him back for at most half the price. His solid defense and clutch shooting is what earned him a spot on Daryl Morey's offseason wishlist.

CENTER
STARTER: OMER ASIK (7”0” 255lbs) – A lot of people want to see Dwight here but I seriously doubt he leaves LA. A bigger prize awaits the Rockets. Here's a guy who rebounds extraordinarily well and can punish the rim. He's a good defender. Omer is a good enough center to compliment a guard dominant team. OUTLOOK: 10.0ppg 12.0rpg 1.3bpg
BACKUPS: GREG SMITH (6'10” 250lbs) – SMITH will be the backup Center unless either DONUTS gains enough weight or Tim Olbrecht shines in summer league.

SHOOTING GUARD
STARTER: JAMES HARDEN (6'5” 220lbs) – Was there any doubt? MVP POTENTIAL. NEXT! OUTLOOK: 25.0ppg 5.0apg 1.8spg
BACKUPS: JEREMY LIN (6'3” 200lbs) – Here's where it gets interesting. Lin could play the 2 guard as well as the 1. He needs to improve on hitting open jumpers but he could be the perfect 6th man for this team. 6th Man of the Year Potential...meh probably not but anything is possible.
CARLOS DELFINO (6'6” 230lbs) – All he needs to do is shoot the rock. 3 point specialist.

POINT GUARD
STARTER: CHRIS PAUL (6'0” 175lbs) – SPLASH! CP3 in red is just what RED NATION needs. A guard with elite passing and elite scoring ability. CP3 takes the pressure off James Harden to have to create all of the time. This will allow Harden more open spot up opportunities or easy cuts to the basket. MVP POTENTIAL. OUTLOOK: 19.0ppg 11.0apg 2.5spg
BACKUPS: PATRICK BEVERLEY (6'1” 180lbs) – Plays hard and aggressive. Could be a starter in this league.
AARON BROOKS: (6'0” 161lbs) – The insurance policy looked shaky at times not really comfortable in a McHale system. But all that changes with a full offseason of work.

PF THOMAS ROBINSON / TERRENCE JONES / DONATAS MONTIEJUNAS / ROYCE WHITE
SF CHANDLER PARSONS / FRANCISCO GARCIA
C OMER ASIK / GREG SMITH
SG JAMES HARDEN / JEREMY LIN / CARLOS DELFINO
PG CHRIS PAUL / PATRICK BEVERLEY / AARON BROOKS

 

Someone who could man handle the Heat?

 

LeBron has insane court vision and he is MUCH more skilled than Durant. Not to mention Dwyane Wade is not a scrub. If you get the ball out of LeBron's hands it goes to Wade or Bosh's.

You have to play Miami straight up with team defense, not individual defense.

 

Paul
Harden
Parsons
Josh Smith
Asik

If there is a way to Trade Lin and Robinson and offload both of them, and decline the options for Garcia,Brooks, and Delfino.

If we can a starting lineup like that that would be amazing, great offensive and defensive combo.

 

Don't worry about trying to beat the Heat. We need to get out of the West first, so construct a team that can defeat the Spurs (decisively), Grizzlies, and Thunder.

Let the East teams try and defeat the Heat first.

 

I think any team that can beat the Heat can beat any squad in the west.

However, we cannot become the Thunder 2.0 in the sense that our stars are all jump shooters. We NEED a post presence. Howard is the key. If we get Paul to go with Harden, what's to stop the Heat doing exactly what they did to OKC in the Finals to us? The gap between Westbrook and CP3 is closing each season.

Lin
Harden
Parsons
Smoove
Howard

Is a lineup I could see taking the Heat.

 

Paul Harden Parsons LMA/Love Asik I wanna see dam those two shouldn't have signed max deals with their team. #2015