I think it is painfully obvious Morey is going to go all out in pursuit of Dwight.same can be said of harden who has admitted he heavily recruited Dwight during all star break. I think the 30 mill argument is overblown. He will get that extra year. he'll make less money overall due to raise percentages but not 30 mill. Its even less of a difference when taxes get involved. I think the chances of landing Dwight aren't as slim as everyone portrays. I give us a 30-40% chance. You also have to realize the whole'the bigger the media market, the bigger the endorsement dollars' is not entirely true. He made more money in Orlando than he did in LA. I also fully believe Morey if going got some defense, it DTA as sen89 said. Someone I'm keeping my eye on is Tony Allan. Not much three shooter but elite defense, that could be had cheaply.
This reminds me of "Men on Vacation", an "In Living Color" skit involving Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier in their mincing finest/worst: "So we went to Greece." "The Greek peoples was so nice." "Yes, they bent over backward to show us a good time." And yes, funny how our trade for Pau Gasol, which was, of course, nixed, involved the Rockets giving up four solid rotation players to get the guy, while the Lakers would have received Chris Paul. And the trade was nixed not because the Rockets were committing trade suicide. I mean, the Lakers do this. Give up Andrew Bynum's 90 year-old knees for Dwight Howard? Done! Give up 31 year-old Pau Gasol for CP3? Done----oops, the other owners are mad, sorry: basketball reasons. Otherwise, it would've happened.
Morey's big sell will involve the no state income tax as opposed to California's (up to13.3%, good God). We won't be able to match the glamour and glitz factor of the Lakers, the being part of the legendary team, how the networks are all heavily slanted to slobbing the Lakers' knob: "If the Lakers win this game, they'll be 7th seed, if they lose, they'll be 8th seed." (Uh, hey, guy, same is true of the other team, ever heard of the Rockets? No? Not surprised. Now someone bring on Broussard to pronounce "Duh-wight" again.)
At the end of the day, Dwight Howard is one of the few players who is capable of winning a championship during the Durant-Lebron era. You take the risk.
I like the Tony Allen idea. Our perimeter defense pretty much blows too. We need one of those guys that can at least hold an elite player one on one. We always took for granted how Battier gave us the ability to play man to man even when facing Kobe or Lebron but that is extremely important. Seeing as it took OKC all of 20 seconds to destroy or zone scheme.
Don't want KG- he looks like a shell of his former self. He's lookin real old out there and has a ton of mileage. You're better off with a Josh Smith (unless KG can be had for cheap and short term)
Josh smith>ibaka I agree Dwight would be the answer we need but if he resigns in LA I think j.smith would also be a perfect fit as I saw last night a long athletic big who can BLOCK shots and not just alter them is huge especially a good weak side defender I couldn't help but wish once the game was getting out of hand how I really want j.smith we almost had him at the trade deadline I think morey likes him alot and will go after him in the off season
LeBron James. Committed to going to Miami without any assurance or knowledge that there would be a S&T. Same with Chris Bosh. Now, they did get S&Ts in the end, yes -- because their teams caved at the last minute and figured they might as well get a first-round pick or two for a player that was leaving for Miami no matter what. But the decisions for James and Bosh were made and finalized without knowledge of that extra guaranteed year. It was a risk they were fine with taking, given their ages and the fact that they knew they'd be full-max guys for another decade or so. The extra guaranteed year is a bigger deal for the Josh Smith tier -- the good-but-not-great players who know that a given free agency is their one chance for a big score. For the true elites, like LeBron and Howard, they're going to be fine and they know it.
Your logic here is basically "because it happened before, the same thing will automatically happen again". Believe it or not, that's not infallible. Even great sports franchises go through down cycles. Dwight might think highly enough of the Lakers and Kupchak that he's willing to take that risk, but it IS a risk. The last max free agent the Lakers brought in from outside their organization was Shaq, 17 years ago. That's a long time.
Morey has got to be thinking about team defense. Not first of course, because Dwight is his first priority. But if he could sign Dwight and than somehow land Tony Allan, our defense would go from below average to top 10.
I'm all for Howard but even Josh Smith would've made a world of difference for us. While I certainly don't think Smith is a Superstar or worth the max and we could proably get better value for that much money... last night is proof that we need more talent on this team in the worst way especially in the frontcourt. We're clearly lacking the 2nd star to relieve pressure from Harden and other players. Josh Smith's ability to score, rebound, block and alter shots, run the floor and slow down Ibaka would've been huge. Also, adding a player like him would make us less dependent upon Lin, Asik, Parsons etc and put Greg Smith back on the bench where he belongs and as good as T Jones might be in the future.. he's just not ready yet and it's unfair to expect him to make a big impact right now. It's not necessarily Durant and Westbrook that killed us last night... it was Ibaka wreaking havoc especially on the defensive end that led Durant and WB to get out in the open court. This is going to be a quick series unless we magically slow down Ibaka but unfortunately I don't think we have an answer to stop him.
There are numerous reports out there that Dwight is "well aware" of the Rockets' improvement and is very intrigued by them. In case you haven't noticed, stars in the NBA want to play with other stars. When Dwight "wasn't interested" last year, the Rockets were projected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA and had zero foundational pieces. Now, they're a playoff team with a 23-year-old superstar. The situation just might be a little different. P.S. I'm not sure what you think amnestying Kobe would accomplish. The Lakers are still WAY over the cap, even if they do that. And beyond next year, Kobe's contract is already expiring. So amnestying Kobe accomplishes nothing other than saving the Buss family some luxury tax dollars. It doesn't get Dwight and the Lakers any closer to contention.
31 but his skills are based on technique and effort, not athleticism and youth. He would be a solid veteran to come off the bench and be a lockdown defender. We are young and that's great, but we could use a veteran presence.
I actually wouldnt mind a Pau rental, he can still play at a high level. As long as the rental doesnt hider our flbility im totally down for it. Assuming we cant get Howard of course.
We need to address other major needs before talking about guys like Tony Allen. Upgrade the 4 spot first and then worry about a defensive specialist like Allen later.
Yeah, if Dwight doesn't come, there's an interesting debate between Pau and Smith. I actually think Smith is a better fit... Gasol to me is a 5 in today's game, which isn't ideal here unless you're looking at a major shakeup with Asik going elsewhere. Smith slides in perfectly. The question is how much Smith would hamper your flexibility going forward. Obviously he takes up the cap room, but the question for me comes on his trade value. If Morey is confident that Smith can put up big numbers here and be a part of a trade package for the next disgruntled big man in a year or two, then I'm fine with overpaying him. Because personally, if no Dwight, I think it's likely the next true superstar to come to Houston will come by trade. But if Morey thinks Smith's contract wouldn't be movable for Love/Aldridge/whoever, then I'd definitely consider a Pau rental and trying again in 2014. I don't think it's a clean fit, but you're right that he still has a lot of game left, and it would make the Rockets a better team. And at the end of the day, the biggest thing that's going to make the Rockets appealing to other stars (besides Harden) is winning as many games as we can.
I think Morey is pondering this option.if Dwight resigns with la, the lakers will shop pau and he is a typical Morey target. He is still skilled, but even better a large expiring and trade chip at the deadline. I could see him offering a small package like Royce/2nd and 'capspace' by swallowing his contract. They could possibly get better packages, but they likely want to keep capspace for 2014, and reduce they're tax dollars this upcoming season.
IMHO, other than Harden, Asik is probably the person Dwight wants to see on the roster if he decides to even look in our direction. Not that I think they should play on the court together. The reason I believe he would want Asik on the roster is to be his back-up. Asik can come in and play major minutes for Dwight in the regular season, keeping him healthy for the playoffs.
