As much as I don't want it to be true, the fact the situation has gone on this long already means both sides are dug in and that House has likely played his last game in a Rockets jersey. The real loser of this is House. He seems to be treading in DMO's footsteps and unless he course corrects will be in the CBA next year.
House is a fringe NBA player who in his mind thinks he’s a super star in hiding. He probably tells stories about his potential to be an all star. But the reality is that in the NBA, your playing time is about meeting your overall efficiency to the minutes. And coaches and GM’s know it, regardless of what a player might feel; the data doesn’t lie. He had a golden opportunity to get himself a 3 year guaranteed deal, at the minimum but guaranteed. But House knows his play likely won’t sustain, in his heart he knows the data is right. So he played his hand and now Morey is making moves to make him irrelevant. I think House is a good enough guy who will play a few years in Europe and make some money at the least, so might be the reason he’s taking his big stand; I think that’s in hs back pocket. But to me he was a local guy who was given a chance by his home team, and though he knows the Rockets are in dire straits in terms of the salary cap, held firm, leaving the Rockets to look elsewhere. To me I think Morey isn’t about to negotiate further, though I think House still thinks this is on going. Morey is not going to compromise his salary cap room for D House... plain and simple!!
Keep in mind that Morey is trying to use a FRP in a trade. If he can secure House in a good contract, then he has basically bought a trade asset to partially replace losing that FRP. imo, this isn't a salary cap issue. It's about having a price on what you're willing to spend on a future trade asset with a given valuation. If Morey makes it through the buyout season with MLE still remaining, I believe he will try to spend the remaining on securing a trade asset (which would be House). I don't think Morey intends to leave MLE money on the table ... at least, I hope he doesn't, because that would be a waste. Especially since Harden and D'Antoni have a good way to increase the value of House via post-season exposure.
Ask James Harden if he thinks DHouse can help make the team better. Move this team forward. Drop Marqueese Chris, Vince Edwards , and Brandon Knight. Get one roster spot for DHouse. And for next year, unless IHartenstein can tranform himself into KPorzingis why wait for him to develop? And would grandpa Nene still be able to play like he did in his Denver Nuggets days? Drop both Hartenstein and Nene and explore the possibility of bringing MHarrell back. Imagine a frontline of CCapela, KFaried and Montrezl Harrell?
I think House will be back after the deadline. We have the best 4 backcourt. We have the 5 covered with Capela and Manimal. Morey needs to be motivated to turn Knight and the remaining assets into the best starting wing with House as the backup. We need 5 rotation players up there and we currently have 4 on roster if you include House. If he was in there Morey would feel less urgency about what he needs to do now. If we get something good House's leverage disappears but Morey still will want him and House doesn't win by sitting out the rest of the season. We are going to trade our 1sts for the foreseeable future most likely but each year like a Capela or House, in the best of cases, we need to find one player that can play now and develop. If we finish the year with House playing like he was and someone asked you where we got him, you would think he was a FRP or lottery player. A lot of that shine is the Harden effect but it has a value to us. He may be the Covington we lost with a lot of room to grow. Morey needs to find those guys moving forward without worrying so much about having the picks to acquire them. This is where he tends to do well in scouting.
I like his game, but he is only hurting himself with this attitude. I don't want him anymore. Unfortunately, his trade value is going down too. He still has a chance to rectify things.
