We need to waive Delfino and decline the option on Garcia, to maximize our cap space. Then after we sign our star free agent, we can offer one of them the Stretch Exception of $2.5 million, with a $2.5 million player option for following year. If we don't sign a star free agent this summer, then we will have gobs of cap space to sign either. My preference would be Garcia, given his playoff performance, defense on Durant, and the uncertainty surrounding Delfino's injury.
The Zach Lowe article lists 32 players in this category. Some are near retirement, some are not about to switch teams, some are on the bubble -- but 32 guys across 30 teams: that's not a dime-a-dozen, but but that's also not irreplaceable. We'll find another guy to plug in Garcia's spot if Garcia himself doesn't return.
In the "exit" interview that Clutch conducted, Garcia indicated that he really likes it here and wants to stay. Maybe enough to restructure his contract?
The Zach Lowe list breaks down as follows: 1st Round Draft picks with their original team: Kawhi Leonard Gerald Henderson Jimmy Butler Gordon Hayward Iman Shumpert Harrison Barnes Maurice Harkless 2nd Round Draft picks with their original team: Chandler Parsons Jae Crowder Kyle Singler Khris Middleton Jeff Taylor Guys who were salary dumped, cut, or included as a throw-in in a trade. Thabo Sefolosha Arron Afflalo Danny Green Jared Dudley Corey Brewer Quincy Pondexter Wesley Johnson CJ Miles Dorell Wright Marvin Williams Martell Webster Trevor Ariza Francisco Garcia John Salmons Courtney Lee* Guys who signed free agent contracts >= MLE Caron Butler Wes Matthews Metta World Peace Jeff Green* Veterans on small deals (< Room Exception) Jason Kidd Matt Barnes Alan Anderson Carlos Delfino* Shane Battier* Flat out, it's just not that hard to get one of these guys, they're available by literally every single method that a GM has at his disposal. Use the #34 to get a mature college senior from a good program. Sign a veteran to the room exception after using up your cap space. Absorb a guy seen as a bust. Especially because Harden is such a good passer, and the Rockets' system relies on shooters having the green light, guys with similar skill-sets will look very good. Heck, the Rockets already have two excellent candidates in-house in James Anderson and DJ Kennedy. I like Francisco Garcia on a deal similar to what Delfino got. I've always thought that he and Courtney Lee had very similar impacts on the game. I probably wouldn't sign Delfino because of the injury; hopefully they could pick him up after he recovers mid-season, but the Rockets are always very tight on roster spots on opening day, and I just can't see them carrying an injured player when there are so many young guys that need playing time.
IF you keep either of them, it should be Garcia. Despite Delfino having the Argentina connection, Garcia seems to have shown himself in the limited time he has gotten to be a better perimeter defender (heck THE best guard/forward on the Rockets I am sadden to say) and better shot selection. He isn't like Delfino where he will chunk out 15 contested shots from behind the arc and we are supposed to clap when he makes 3, he is usually smart in accurate in the shots he takes. Garcia's only flaw that I saw throughout the season is that he is a weak when it comes to handling the ball. The few times I've seen him dribble it you can tell he isn't that good compared to even some of our rookie PFs when the go face up. But all his good qualities, including the talk of him being a leader in the locker room makes him a guy I would like to see back if only to help mentor Parsons some more.
But Morey does find these guys...like a dime a dozen lol. He can find role players in his sleep. Garcia's deal is much too stupid (ty SAC) for us to pick up that option. $6M for Garcia? In what universe? He won't get that on the open market. Might as well just bid for him there and not pick up the option. I also find keeping both of them slightly redundant. I prefer Garcia at $3M. If we had the room, I'd love to sign him to a vet min or use our MLE if we're pass the cap or something.
In addition to their cap room, the Rockets have the "Room Mid-Level Exception," which allows them to offer a player a 1 or 2 year contract with a starting salary up to $2.652M. http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q25 They can also offer players minimum salary contracts for up to 2 years. http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q16 Minimum salary is roughly $1.23M for a player at Delfino and Garcia's experience level. If the Rockets manage to actually land Dwight Howard (and in a much less likely case, Chris Paul), it will have to be via one of the above two mechanisms. My guess is that Garcia may well end up getting the Room Mid-Level Exception if unless another decent team offers him a much higher contract. He's spent too many years making mid-level money on bad teams so he probably cares about having fun contributing to a winning team with good chemistry. Delfino's situation is of course health-dependent. Morey said his recovery time is 4-6 months. I would not be shocked if someone offers him a $2.5-3M contract around September/October. Also would not be shocked if he ends up either playing for the veteran minimum or even spending a year in Europe.
Defino is too inconsistent, I think he should go. Garcia is good, but he is too expensive, hopefully we can sign him for a lower price.
Delfino is way underrated here. The guy played everything from SG to PF and had the best +/- on the team while finishing a bunch of games. At the time he broke his foot in April (and it says something about the guy that he gutted it out until aggravating the injury dunking on Durant), he was the best PF on the team. He's not a perfect player or an elite player, but he was a very useful guy to have on the team. If his prospect for recovery is good and the money works out, the Rockets can absolutely use the guy.
This...if Delfino wasnt injured or got hurt...Delfino is a tremendously terrific shooter...he just didnt have it...broken foot confirmed that he was trying to give it his all while risking his career... Garcia, was just really good bc he had length to be disruptive on Durant...and that him and Parsons were able to take turns...
Thanks for clicking on the link. I think it deserves a closer look, which I don't have time to give it at the moment. But I will give it an off the top of my head analysis: - Some of the 32 are getting out of the range of role player pay (Arron Afflalo, Caron Butler, Wesley Matthews, Ron Artest, Jason Kidd); - Some should not be considered reliable 3 point shooters despite what the author thinks (Maurice Harkless, Corey Brewer, probably others); - Some probably aren't nearly the defender Garcia was against Durant (I really would be a horrible judge of defensive skills to be able to identify them). - Most are not available; - Garcia is a known quantity in clutch situations - which is pretty darn important. I don't know. I just passionately believe that you have to surround your star player(s) with defenders who can hit the open shot. And I believe that these role players are NOT abundantly available on the open market. I'm not married to Garcia necessarily, but I want this team to have this type of role player out the ying yang.
The Rockets are probably the only team that Delfino would get regular minutes playing the PF position. Now, I don't know about the math in the +/- rating people like to throw out there, but I know Delfino has the lowest field goal percentage of any of our players that got regular minutes in the regular season, Jeremy Lin's poor performance in the last game was the only thing that stopped him from having the lowest percentage in playoffs.
He will be the much more expensive option. Especially after the playoff performance he just had. Drop both of these guys. Great pickups in Delfino, and awesome contribution from what I thought was a throw-in with Garcia, but the Rockets have bigger plans in the works.
Need to upgrade the bench so ship em out... Keep Delfino if need be because he's only going to make $3 mill... No way to Garcia. Fools gold playoff series for that dude...
I am not sure if they will keep both. I think I'd prefer Garcia, mostly because he's a better defender. Both guys can shoot lights out when hot. Garcia seems to be a bit more consistent than Delfino. Delfino is bigger and can play PF. But we need to address the PF position anyway. If we continue to use him at the 4 spot extensively, we aren't having any progress.
Let's see, keep Garcia and Delfino or take a shot at a superstar? You have to take that chance. Like others have said, you can always find role players.
Delfino $3m and Garcia $6 are gone. We need the cap space to make a run at dwight. Another team with cap space will pick up Garcia after his good finals performance and defence on durant. Delfino is injured 4-6months. Not worth the risk.
Like solid, I'd like to keep them both, but as others pointed out, Garcia's option is too rich, and Delfino's injury makes him a risk. I'd attempt to sign Garcia to a much smaller, but longer, contract after declining his option and after we make whatever wild, or not so wild, moves Moreys makes this summer. If Delfino gets healthy by the deadline next season, and we can obviously use him, then I hope Morey picks him up at a reasonable price. Clearly, if Morey waits and someone like Garcia gets a good offer after we decline his option, then we'll simply miss out and have to look elsewhere. As Carl and some others mentioned, Delfino won't get an offer if he isn't healthy, and we'll have to risk that, as well. To sum up? We'll be lucky to hang onto one. I wouldn't be surprised if we miss out on both. Unlike some of you, I don't think these guys grow on trees. However, I do think we can replace them if needed, and hope we're lucky enough to get guys as good as we're losing.
