How the Rockets can get Chris Paul AND another star

Moving from LA to Houston is a lot less of a change than LA to SA. Houston is a big city with wait for it.. China connections. Plus, he only comes if Morey is able to pull other things out of his sleeve.

 

good points, one thing that stands out to me though was cp3's interview right after beating SAS in the 1st round 3yrs ago, where he went out of his way to lay down really heavy praise and respect for the sperms.

 

#SleevesStillEmpty

 

I completely agree with you that being a good team this year (our record and regular season performance) is absolutely key to having a chance to get better going forward, including this offseason; and that's mostly due to last year's signings. But i was really talking about Anderson. While i agree, Anderson helped our team last year, he was very inconsistent, and not worth being financially hamstrung right now over. Eric Gordon and Nene were actually more consequential signings to our success (IMO). Anderson's a good player,but he wasn't the difference in us getting back to respectability. Those other guys were, Beverly having his best year, the young guys taking another step, even MDA ...lots of factors; I'd argue Anderson was a small factor ...but his contract is about to be a big negative factor in our cap flexibility (and our ability to improve the team).

Yes, I think giving Anderson that contract was very shortsighted.

 

It's almost like our entire free agency rides on Hayward.

1) Hayward stays in Utah. Boston does not want to pay for George rental. Rox have a chance to trade for PG and make CP3 signing more realistic.

2) Hayward goes to Boston. Celts pay up for George. CP3 goes to Spurs. We stand pat or go for Blake.

 

I disagree. George wouldn't have an interest in the Rockets in your alternate scenario. We aren't even on the radar screen.

 

Sign Nene to the room exception, and give him 2 guaranteed years like Codman suggested.

 

CP3 is going to be 33 next season, and is likely past his prime. While, he's still one of the top 3 point guards in the league, it simply isn't wise to sign him to a max deal. Even with Milsap, we won't be good enough to take out the Warriors. Basically, we would be mortgaging our future for a chance to be 2nd place right now at best.

 

Yes, you are correct.

 

You mean 33 at the end of next season.

fwiw: He just turned 32 in May.

 

I stand corrected. He will be 33 after he loses in the 2018 playoffs.

 

Daryl Morey ought to have this in mind before making any blockbuster offers that are too good to resist.

The role players Nene, Eric Gordon, Clint Capela, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell just feel right at home James Harden feeding them the ball. The Rockets should build on what they already have instead of having a merry-go-round every year that doesn't contribute to the chemistry that has managed to grow (maybe ever so modestly) amongst the players.

Cassell, Elie, and Horry just clicked during the championship years. They had it.

I feel with what the Rockets achieved this past year should be something they can build on. Don't dismantle the team just yet.

But Ryan Anderson's contract ought to be reconsidered. Thats almost the same deal Paul George has.

 

It's very hard to get a good replacement for Ryan. I would rather go for Millsap, and try to get George Hill, and retain as much of the team as possible. It's going to be very hard to pull off. Lou and Ariza are good players, but they have expiring contracts. Dekker and Harrell will almost certainly have to given up along with picks, and them to get a solid player in free agency. I wouldn't give up so much for Lowry though, and certainly not for Ibaka in a trade. If Ryan plus our 2018 pick/ Dekker/ or Trez can get us Melo, I would do it
reluctantly,

 

Gotta win now. JH is in his prime, and will soon be in decline.

We need to get all we can for the next 2-3 years and make our push. Bring on Millsap and CP3.

 

PG13 + Millsap is more reasonable/easier combo target and fits better.

1. trade Gordon for a 1st pick without taking salary back (Den/Sac/Bro/Phi/Mia/...)
2. trade Ariza + two 2nd picks (ours and Memphis') + Llull for Diaw + a first pick and then wave Diaw's non-guaranteed contract
3. trade Anderson + Dekker + Harrell + 3 1st picks (the above 2 and our own 18' pick) for P. George
(Now we have about $33M in cap space)
4. Sign Millsap to $100M/4yr.
5. Sign James Johnson to $40M/4yr.
6. Use MLE to Sign Sefolosha
7. Sign Nene, Calderon, Dunleavy to Vet. Min.

Harden, Calderon, Taylor
Beverley, L. Willams, Dunleavy
George, Sefolosha, T. Williams
Millsap, Johnson, Oliver
Capela, Nene, Onuaku

this lineup is as good as the Cavs
a break-out year of Capela and some luck/health will be enough to take down the warriors.

 

oops, I forgot, it has to be our 2019 pick. can't be without 1st pick 2yrs in a row, also our 19' pick is much more valuable than 18's (with the possible PG leaving for LA)

 

The only thing I can think is with Harden, Paul won't have the pressure of doing ALL the creating. When they get tired they can spot each other minutes and keep each other fresh. We can also properly rest him during the regular season. Another thing is MDA. We can sell CP3 on MDA's style of play fitting him like it did Steve Nash late in his career. If I'm a point guard there is no other coach I wanna play for other than MDA.

 

Scenario 1:

1) We miraculously jettison Ryno's contract.
2) Trade Lou for a 2nd round pick.
3) Sign Chris Paul to a max contract.
4) Sign and trade with Atlanta by sending out Gordon, Ariza, Beverley, Harrell and Onuaku and sign Millsap to a max contract.
5) Sign and trade with Sacramento for Rudy Gay by using the trade exception generated from the Ryno trade.
6) Sign Nene to room excepetion.

Starters: Paul, Harden, Gay, Millsap, Capela
Bench: Bobby Brown, Dekker, Nene

Scenario 2:

1) Nobody takes Ryno, we stretch his contract to 7 years.
2) Unload Lou, Ariza and Onuaku and sign Paul to a max contract.
3) Sign and trade with Atlanta by sending out Beverley, Gordon and Harrell and convince Millsap to sign a contract that would start at 25M.
4) Sign Nene to room exception.

Starters: Paul, Harden, Dekker, Millsap, Capela
Bench: Bobby Brown, Nene

Scenario 3:

1) Nobody takes Ryno, we keep him.
2) Unload Gordon, Beverley, Lou and Onuaku.
3) SIgn Paul to a max contract.
4) Sign and trade with the Lakers for Nick Young by using the trade exception generated by the Gordon trade.
5) SIgn Nene to room exception.

Starters: Paul, Harden, Dekker, Anderson, Capela
Bench: Bobby Brown, Young, Harrell, Nene