So what's you idea exactly? Overpay a couple of mid tier (at best) players like Anderson and Afflalo?
This is the question I have for others. What is their idea? If it is just to slow rebuild then we'll do that by force if what they say is true and all FAs look at the Rockets as a joke. Should the Rockets just not step up to the plate and give it a few swings? They have to. I'd be disappointed if they didn't. They strike out then they strike out, then they can slow build to being better. As long as they have a few more at bats though I don't mind them swinging for the fences. They have Harden and as such that means as long as they have Harden they will at best be mediocre. All this talk of sucking for a draft pick isn't happening with Harden on the team unless he gets hurt for a season. He's too good to expect his team to suck enough for a top 5 pick.
Obviously not Afflalo. We're kinda set at SG last time I checked. Anderson would be a good fit here with our current system, but I certainly wouldn't overpay for him. My hope is that Morey and Les think big picture. Obviously you call Durant and Horford the moment the clock strikes midnight on July 1. But you do NOT sit around for a week or two awaiting their decision. The Rockets got burned badly 2 years ago when they wined and dined Melo and Bosh instead of pursuing a sure thing in Lowry. I'd much rather they go aggressively after 2nd and 3rd tier free agents to surround Harden with provided they can be had at a reasonable cost. You could sign 3 or 4 players with the amount of capspace they'll have(assuming Dwight is gone). As opposed to sitting around hoping in vain that you land a new Big Three with Durant and Horford(or Conley or Whiteside) only to wind up with nothing.
Exactly. In fact i hope that at least Durant will tell Harden soon if he's ok to come here or not, so we can eventually move on fast enough to reach other players in time.
Well this I agree with. The only way I keep waiting on Durant and Horford is if other players like Conley, Whiteside are gone. If Durant and Horford are still thinking about their options and you can sign Conley then IMO you just sign Conley and move forward. Otherwise yes you risk missing them all.
I'm only for a slow rebuild if they can't reload through free agency this summer. Whether that's with a big splash with Durant and/or Horford or by signing a bunch of decent players(i.e. Ryan Anderson) at midrange salaries. If they strike out completely in free agency, then I'd rather they just go into a complete rebuild rather than overpay anyone to sign here. If Harden isn't interested in being part of that, so be it.
Any team that has a current star or a good core that can add KD and another max player. I didn't say plenty of teams could be just as stacked as SA with Durant. I said there are plenty of fantastic free agent destinations available. Then why are you mentioning them in response to my question? LeBron and Wade could have tried to get to LA or Boston, right? But instead they went to a team that hadn't been anywhere in four years, but had the $$ to sign both of them. They made their own great team instead of joining one. I'll ask again, since it was clearly overlooked the first time. Give a list of superstar players to do what you say Durant will do?
But you'll almost certainly need to overpay if you want to sign Anderson...and you'll still have no guaranties...that's the point. You just cannot be sure that even a guy like Anderson will sign with us, he can sign with any other team over us, and you know what? He can do it for the same exact reasons you're saying about Durant not wanting to be here... That's the point, since you have no guaranties just try to sign the best players...
I'd actually put Conley in the first tier of free agents. He's obviously not as great as Durant or Horford, but he could command 18-20 mil/yr with the cap going up this summer. He's already making almost 10 mil this season, so you know he's looking for a fat bump in pay.
I'll be curious what Anderson is offered this summer. He made 8 1/2 mil this season, so he'll clearly want(and get) more than that. I would hope the Rockets could avoid going over 12 mil to get him. But then one has to ask whether it may be better to just match whatever deal D-Mo gets(assuming it's less than 12 mil/yr) instead of going after Anderson.
I think he can get the max, close to it anyway...personally i don't like him, at all, but i see he has a lot of love around, so i expect some team to go all in with him, maybe the Suns and the Kings, honestly i think he's going to make at least 15x and imo, i'll always keep D.Mo rather than sign Anderson...let's say: 10x3 D.Mo (with back problems) > 18x4 Anderson
If Anderson gets 15 mil or more a year, the rest of the league can have him. He is not worth that much. The guy shot under 37% from 3-point land last season and the Pelicans were one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA not named the Rockets.
Let's be real now, KD and his agent are considering 99 teams and the Rockets ain't one. Maccabi Tel Aviv and Shanghai Sharks are probably ahead of us in the pecking order tbh.
SAS: [This series] It will determine it [his future] a great, great deal. Joel Myers, article from March 7 said: If they don't win the championship or at least get to the NBA Finals, he's gone. SAS: Wonder where we heard that? It's something I've said. It wasn't breaking news for people covering the NBA. It's something been talked about since summer time. They're under immense pressure. If they end up losing Durant, Sam Presti will have some explaining to do. Bringing in Billy Donovan, a rookie coach, knowing they'd have to go up against Golden State/Kerr & San Antonio/Popovich of the world. It's very, very possible but not etched in stone. Durant can always go the LeBron route. Sign a 2 year deal with an opt out after one year. As a result, you and Westbrook are FAs at the same time and can go someplace else as a package deal. That's an entirely possible. It's 50/50 that he's gone. Blown out, he's gone in my opinion. I don't know that but believe that. I'm hearing no way in hell Washington. Not interested. LA is a consideration(Luke Walton). NY is a consideration(Carmelo Anthony). To me, if I'm Durant and I don't stay in OKC, there's one place above all else. That's to South Beach. SA has Aldridge & Leonard. They've been title contenders and don't need you. If he went to GS, they win the championship this year and he goes to GS, I'm not interested in that. You're just jumping on that bandwagon. Miami or Washington or New York, they won because of you and you didn't hop on for the ride. You're hopping on for the ride in GS or SA. You're not hopping on for the ride in Miami. You go to Miami, it's South Beach, they have Wade, Whiteside, Winslow, Josh Richardson and the possibility of Bosh coming back, you're talking title. If Bosh was healthy, as presently constructed and you add Durant, it's a wrap. There's no way Miami isn't coming out of the east if he joined that Miami Heat crew. Skip: I believe he'll leave one way or the other. He'll have the time of his life through the summer get wined & dined. Every destination you brought up has some worth to it. I know he's intrigued by NY with Phil, Melo & Porzingis. SAS: He's intrigued by the NY market & Carmelo, not Phil Jackson the executive. Skip: LA remains somewhat in play. Miami, SA & GS are in play. GS or SA would give you the opportunity to win rings. Call 'em piggyback rings if you want. SA is recreating a new... SAS: I feel you. If Durant had gone to SA last summer, while they were building a new regime, fine. This Spurs team just won 67 games and was 40-1 at home. The only team in the argument with them is GS. You're piggybacking on those two teams. That's not the same as you being the guy. Even if SA loses to GS, SA would have beaten OKC. That's still piggybacking on the team that beat you. Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, they're winning because you arrived. Skip: Does he want that pressure? SAS: I think so. Maybe not NY or LA type pressure. Miami, who would have a problem with that? Miami you're the man but don't have to be the man. You don't have to be that guy but you're still the guy. I don't think he cares being wined & dined. He announced his last extension on twitter. He's not that kind of guy. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If I'm KD & I leave OKC I'm going to South Beach and the <a href="https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT">@MiamiHEAT</a> . <a href="https://t.co/OYR1tOE3HH">https://t.co/OYR1tOE3HH</a></p>— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/727170211250577408">May 2, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Well we can all preface this with "If I'm Durant..." and of course if SAS was Durant he'd go to the Knicks. The Knicks are his favorite team after all lol. Talk about broken organizations. Everything people say here about the Rockets is doubly true for the Knicks...and to go play for Pihl (who may be on his way out) and Melo (who is now past his prime and always dealing with injuries) and Porzingis (A player that has only proved he can play in the NBA) sounds terrible. I think Miami is a darkhorse. He gets out of the West and can join Wade and Bosh but those two are a little long in the tooth If he goes to the Lakers it will only be because they are the Lakers. Any ways, we know this is what will happen. ESPN has every big FA going to the Knicks or Lakers and no matter what the Knicks and Lakers are in the running despite both being terrible teams.
I hadn't thought about Miami, but there are some pretty big question marks there. They need to resign Whiteside. Bosh has had the blood clot issues which are not only season-ending, but life-threatening. And Wade will be 35 next season. You add Durant to that team, and you've got no cap flexibility left after KD, Bosh, Whiteside, Dragic, and Wade. They'll need to hope that everyone stays healthy(Durant, Bosh, Wade) and motivated(Whiteside, Dragic).
Yeah, they're not even sure that Whiteside will be there first. Wade is one injury away to be done, Bosh is in the situation we know...it's a big risk to sign there, i don't think he'll go to Miami...
