He gets credit for building a team that works hard night in and night out and scraps out wins. Or used to. Last year and the 22 win streak were good examples. But face it, in this league, you need a superstar that will score 25 points a game every night. In Morey's system of team building, every player needs to do their role (often it is a single dimension talent) perfectly and everything needs to fit the puzzle just right for it to work. But that's not what happens in real life. You need that guy that will pick up the slack when the offense is dry and will their way to a win. I can't tell if Morey gets this or not. Trades for a guy like Kevin Martin show that he doesn't get it. Martin will score 20 plus a game, but he won't do it DURING play action. He does it at the free throw line. Sure he's efficient blah blah, but the fact is he doesn't command a double team, he doesn't distribute the ball like the elite guards in this league does. He just scores efficiently when the clock stops. That doesn't cut it and that's why he's not a superstar. But attempts to trade for guys like Carmelo Anthony and acquiring Chris Bosh shows Morey gets it. I just don't know if he really means it when he goes for these guys.
Very true about RA rotation, He always sticks to the rotation until its too late. While Ish was on the floor he made it difficult for Utah to get back into transition defense leading to either him breaking down the defense or leading to an easy wing basket, But hard headed Rick has to stick to the script. But i hope no one on CF is expecting some type of season changing trade coming along. The best we will be able to do at this point is to bring in another Long body. The NBA is to tight and cut throat right now. Teams or going to want to get over or get under, and are not going to move anyone that they think has potiential to be great. Leaving us stuck with either a older center like Camby or Dalembert, or we will just have to ride the season out and try to make something happen next off season
Me, too, although that's a lot of wishful thinking. But, assuming this is a serious strategy, the Rockets COULD plausibly structure their cap situation so to accommodate bringing in a superstar free agent in 2012. Assuming no other player additions via trade (I know, not likely, but this is just for illustration purposes), here is what the Rockets will need to do in order to be in a position to offer a max deal to Paul or Howard (in order of importance): --DO NOT TANK. No superstar is going to want to play for the Rockets unless they feel that they can take that team to a championship. The Houston Rockets (when healthy, not including Yao) are tailor-made for a superstar to come in and have just about everything he needs to win. Shooters (Kevin Martin, Aaron Brooks, Chase Budinger, Courtney Lee). Defense (Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes, if re-signed). Coaching (Rick Adelman). Management (Daryl Morey). Ownership (Les Alexander). Few other teams can offer a superstar free agent what the Rockets can. But if the team decides to go in a losing direction (presumably in order to get a high draft pick and draft the next superstar, which involves as much luck as anything else), you can forget about CP3 or Dwight wanting any part of the Rockets. --Make sure not to overpay for Aaron Brooks. While we have thrown out the "cap hold" figure for Brooks ($6.05M) on several occasions, his actual salary in Year 2 of his new contract will largely determine how much cap room the Rockets will have that summer. --Brad Miller's contract is a BIG key to sign-and-trade deals. Since the new CBA will most likely carry over more favorable terms for re-signing with your old team, the superstar free agents will likely continue to move via sign-and-trade rather than signing outright with new teams. And if the Rockets can convince Paul or Howard to come to Houston, then Brad Miller's $5.104M salary for 2012-13 (only guaranteed for $848k) could amount to an extra $5M+ in "cap room" in a sign-and-trade deal. Unlike trade exceptions, Miller's salary could be sent back to New Orleans/Orlando (plus cash, of course, to cover his small guarantee) to allow the Rockets to absorb a max deal without having to actually have max cap room, essentially "combining" his salary with the Rockets' actual cap space. (FYI, if you think Daryl Morey didn't at least CONSIDER this particular scenario, then you seriously underestimate him.) [EDIT: Yes, I realize the Rockets can just waive Miller, but trading him essentially gives the Rockets an extra $848k in cap room.] --Consider trading for future draft picks. If the Rockets are truly gearing up for a run at major 2012 free agents, then trading current talent and/or upcoming draft picks for future picks (think 2013 and 2014, in particular) might not be a bad idea. For whatever reason, GMs seem to think that THEY will find the next great player with a mid- to late future draft pick and will prefer a pick to a player who has actually attained a level above what many mid- to late first rounders ever do. I think Morey took advantage of this with the Terrence Williams trade. Anyway, having multiple 2013 and 2014 picks will make the Rockets much more attractive star free agents' teams in sign-and-trade scenarios. --Try to re-sign Shane Battier and/or Chuck Hayes to small deals. If you can get them "on the cheap", try to get these guys to come back. A superstar would like to play with these guys, since they'll handle the dirty work on defense and allow the star to focus more on offense. There's a reason why Lebron, Wade and Bosh all took paycuts. It was so that the Heat could afford to sign Mike Miller and--just as important--re-sign Udonis Haslem. At the time, Haslem was a key to the Heat being contenders this season, and those stars knew it. The same could probably be said for Battier and Hayes. Obviously, short-term deals, though. Bottom line: leebigez, it would be really sweet if the Rockets could somehow pull off a coup like getting Paul or Howard in free agency in 2012. Obviously, it's not a very likely scenario, but it's one definitely worth considering if no star can be acquired before then. But if people think that losing games will help the Rockets get back to contending status sooner than continuing to utilize their assets, then they should not count on ever getting a superstar free agent. Careful cap management and, more importantly, continuing to win despite lacking a true superstar, will be what attracts those superstars in the coming season or two.
I wouldn't re-sign Battier and hayes is already on a small deal. You say superstars would like to play with them, but the rockets need to grow thier talent and keep the competition at the roster spots. I'm sure superstars would like to play with scola and anyone else, but those guys won't be the reason the sign with the rockets. I think at this point and I have been saying this for awhile, the rockets need to pick a lane a stay in it. This team as constructed will win 35-42 games. They can trade scola and battier and win 30-40 games. I just don't think the shortfalls on this team can be covered by just getting a superstar. Even Howard or Paul wouldn't make this team a contender to me. Now they're a start, especially howard, but the rockets need some serios team building.
Points well taken. Perhaps you're right about not re-signing Battier. It will probably eat too much into the team's cap room, and he'll be almost 34 years old when a superstar 2012 free agent comes. He's my favorite player, so I suppose this was just a case of subconscious bias. Hayes is a free agent THIS summer. They'll have to either re-sign him or let him go. He won't be around in 2012 otherwise. But I do think Chuck's reputation around the league (especially among players) is a lot better than it is with many Rockets fans (save those truly dedicated Hayes fans).
The heat didn't tank, but basically they tried to gut the team so they could get the big three. New York did the same. Unfortunately it doesn't look like any super star level talent is coming here. In our current state we are becoming the bucks.
To begin with, yes I did forget to add this to my first post. Secondly, though he doesn't explicitly ask for the firing of Morey he implies that Morey is the reason we are not doing so well. I assume that he is suggesting More is "Lessey" than so many of us think he is and we deserve better. I'm assuming he things there are better available GM's and I think it's a safe assumption. I think our team stinks because we lack smart defenders in the paint. We have never been a team of defensive specialists but until this year our team defense (help) has been pretty good as far as I can tell. In this regard the injury to Chuckwagon has been substantial to our ability to stop other teams and our overall attitude on the floor. There have been several other threads where both sides have argued as to whether the lack of interior defense is DM's fault or just the breaks given the hand he was dealt to begin with. I for one think he's done as well as can be expected and he'll have that problem fixed soon. I still have faith in DM and feel confident he has a "plan" whether we know what it is or not. Finally, I also assume Francis3422 thinks Atlas Shrugged is a good book and anyone who thinks Atlas Shrugged is a good book cannot be trusted to think deeply or saliently about complex problems. Including those involving our beloved Rockets.
The Heat had a bona fide super duperstar in Dwyane Wade plus the requisite cap room available to sign two other superstars. No other team in the NBA could offer that. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So, the Miami example is a very, very rare instance. New York "settled" on Amare. He was not Plans A, B or C. Fortunately for New York, Amare has been playing phenomenal basketball thus far this year. If only his knee holds up. You may be right that no superstar will want to come to Houston. But the Rockets aren't going to make that assumption. Rather, they intend to create and build an atmosphere that will be attractive to superstars. I look at Orlando after the 1999-2000 season as the example that is most analogous to the Rockets' current situation (from a free agent attractiveness standpoint). The Magic had an injured star who was out for the season (Penny Hardaway) and was left with a team of role players and fringe NBA guys. Darrell Armstrong was their best player. But rather than tanking for a high pick, first year head coach Doc Rivers led that team to a 41-41 record, impressing everyone in the league and garnering Rivers the Coach of the Year award. Then, when free agency hit, the Magic were able to attract both Grant Hill AND Tracy McGrady to play there. Tim Duncan even carefully considered signing there before opting to stay with the Spurs. If the Magic had packed it in and gone 15-67, I doubt they get as much interest from superstars (at the time) like Hill and Duncan.
We could have settled for Amare. All it would have cost was Scola and Battier. Oh I forgot. Battiers, a Superstar, no stats, irreplaceable, below 500 glue.
--Bad knee --No physical taken prior to trade --No guarantee he'd re-sign --Desire to play in New York Hmmm . . . I'm guessing the above issues factored into the Rockets not wanting to give away Scola, Battier and two first round picks for an apparent Amare rental. And the sarcasm above was completely gratuitous. I don't even know what that's in response to.
This turned out to be a pretty good topic. Nobody knows for sure what the Rockets have up their sleeve or even if they do what direction they'd like to go. All we know is long-term at this point. Imo, clearing cap space was my once agenda before if they wanted to go after Howard or Paul. Cleveland and Toronto have big fat TE's to absorb contracts. trade them Scola and Martin for TE's and picks. I always though that we could move salary for their TE's and future pick and take our chance through FA. Imo that'd be the best move. And as one poster said don't over pay for Brooks. And this has been beaten down before several occasions that, we'd need Brooks and a top ten pick to land another superstar. Just like Boston used for Garnett and Allen. To me this is the best direction. Take our chances with Howard and Paul instead of Brooks/Scola/Martin.
Totally, agree with this... They started on a path last year and had good success with that... Then they changed gears this year with Yao and now it seems as if they are stuck at the crossroads trying to find themselves... I stated this last year when we all had this big argument over me calling Yao the next Bill Walton. Hopefully Management, Coaching and the team can find their pathway. T_Man
The Houston Kings, The Sacramento Rockets The Houston Kings, The Sacramento Rockets! hate what we are now!!! no explaination!!!! Fire DM, Fire RA, even fire this thread!!! this thread is from a guy who is apparently feeling very so rather disappointed for what we are now!!! I hate watching RA on TV very much@!!!!
NO NO NO NO, I am a very faithful rox fan. i was just pissed off by DM, RA. but i love the houston power dancers!!!
It will be interesting to see how things evolve from here. In response to the original thread intent. Morey was very public about the fact that he thought the best path for the Rockets to win a championship in the near future was to build around Yao. He stated several times that Yao's health was uncertain, but they were going to roll the dice and build around him. This was a big reason for the Martin trade and resigning Lowry. Both of those guys would get us in the penalty, and he said Yao was the best player in the league in the penalty. Unfortunately for the Rockets (as well as Morey and the fans), they lost that bet. Yao can't play, and the team was built to win WITH him, not without. I would not blame Morey for a lot of things people are saying, and I certainly think that Adelman is a great coach... not just great, but top 4 in the NBA, and one of the all time best. However, I WOULD blame Morey for a couple moves that I did not agree with, or questioned after the fact. I don't think he is perfect.
I hated that move from the moment he announced it.... I know Morey loves stats, but hopefully he will learn history now.
I haven't seen anything that gets us to the championship level we're trying to reach. As mad Stan would say "Blow It Up", stop with the patch work and please let's move beyond the Battier and Hayes years. We need to go Young and Dumb real quick. Get what we can for Yao, AB, Shane, Jeffries, and Brad Miller. We are not going to win a title with them anyway. Also, Scola playing against 2nd teamers is idea for us to maintain leads.
