As we all know, NBA players are about money and usually perform well in a contract year. (Kelvin Cato) IMO, Morey did a good job of coming in and upgrading our Power Forward position and drafting well with Landry and Brooks. I think most of us will agree, our best possible way to upgrade the team will be via trade. I think we also would agree, we need more perimeter shooting, more size in the backcourt and someone besides Tracy who can get to the basket and create. I think Toronto is going to let one of their point guards go, and if it were me, I would use our expiring contracts and get TJ Ford. He does consistently what we hope Brooks will do and what Rafer doesn't. Also, look at this year's draft, at Brandon Rush or a Chris Douglas-Roberts, long 6-6, 6-7 wing player who can shoot the ball. As the playoffs unfold, you see Tony Parker, CP3, Deron get to the basket, teams with an older bench like the Spurs and Boston have trouble with young long athletic benches.
The sight of TJ Ford becomign paralyzed in a Rockets uniform... something I would rather not risk seeing.
Rockets are sunk via free agency. After signing Landry we might be able to sign a journeyman backup big man, but even that will be difficult. We can only get better via trade with our expirings or through the draft. Who can you manufacture a sign and trade with? Criteria: 1.) They must be re-building and looking for cap room. Any trade partner will probably not be a contender or close to contending. 2.) They must have someone we want (backup pg, backup c, athletic wingman that can score). 3.) Our offer will need to be better than anyone elses. Pretty tough. IMO here are the teams meeting criteria one: Sacramento, La Clippers, Miami, Memphis, Charlotte, Indiana, Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Toronto, NY, NJ, Philadelphia, Washington. Out of those teams who has someone we want and the other team would be willing to part with: Sacramento (Artest); Clippers (Maggette), Miami (Ricky Davis?), Memphis (Miller), Chicago (Simmons, Nocioni, Deng), Toronto (Ford, Moon?), NJ (Diop, Jefferson), Philadelphia (Miller), Washington (Jamison) Getting a lot tougher, huh? Criteria 3: Artest: Unlikely. He might opt out which we won't be able to afford, but if SAC was to put him on the sign-n-tradeblock we probably could not offer anywhere as good a package as say a Dallas. Artest will be sought out. Maggette: Decent shot. We have 12mil in expirings and a draft pick, but there will be competition from other teams. Ricky Davis: Don't really want via sign-n-trade. Would be worth LLE, but don't think we could get him for that. Miller: Unlikely. Very sought after. Memphis has already been boned once probably won't happen again (league might even step in). Simmons, Nocioni, or Deng: Maybe if we don't get outbid and do we really want Simmons or Deng? TJ Ford: Good shot. I think Toronto would love to unload and won't be much competition, but do we really want? I think Toronto will keep Moon. NJ: Diop, Jefferson. Maybe. NJ is rebuilding. Diop would be perfect, but I don't know that Jefferson fits. What we really need is a backup for McGrady not Battier. Philadelphia: Unlikely. I think they think they are close and won't give up Miller. He will also be coveted Washington: Are they rebuilding? Maybe. Jamison still not perfect, because he is not a shooting guard.
i believe only memphis, philly, and possibly seattle are under the salary cap. this means that unless a FA re-signs with his team, then there will be many good players signing for the MLE.
Rockets should not overpay to get a big. Yao, Scola, Landry and Hayes is fine rotation for PF/C. It looks even better when compared with wing positions. McGrady and Battier are good but their backups were Jackson, Head, Novak and Harris.....OUCH!
This is unlikely because a number of them have early termination options which they can decline to exercise.
I agree with some of your points. bUT I don't think TJ Ford is a good choice, we cannot afford 9m per year. And he might play only half of the season with another half in the hospital. We need a strong European PG who could provide with both defense and creative pass. Another guy in Toronto may be better. Besides that, if the salary for Ron is not more than 7m per year. he would be a good choice to defend D Will or LBJ, and also score when needed.
I think people are underestimating the fact that there are only 3 teams under the cap with enough to sign a big-time free agent. That means that some of the guys who can opt out will choose not to do so, on account of the fact that big FA money will be hard to come by this offseason. There's more talent on the market than money this year. This also means that some of the players one would think would command a high salary will be taking less. I think we have a shot at getting a great player for the MLE; however, if some of that has to be used on Landry, I don't know where the rest of the money is coming from. Les has given Morey permission to exceed the luxury tax for the "right player", and I think that means that even after signing Landy, we can exceed the cap to get our impact free agent. ie. a guy of Maggette's caliber should still be a possibility ...maybe. Does anyone else see it that way?
I always think of Gordon being the attacking player that morey describes in one of his post playoffs interviews...but he's still undersized
so you're gonna have rafer + iverson on the backcourt? -> uh oh iverson cannot play with another star and you want to play him with yao? uh oh however, adding camby is good b/c it provides depth. but i don't know if he wants to be behind yao though. or unless we start him and put scola on the bench? if i trade tmac, id trade him for melo + camby. i'd do that. rafer, battier, melo, camby, yao (you don't lose size b/c melo is just as tall as tmac) scola/landry off the bench. hayes is done. i don't think houston would want iverson though.
I like Maggette and Artest's game, but the truth is, we already have two starting caliber SFs (T-Mac and Battier). What we need is a starting caliber SG with size, so that T-Mac and Battier can share more at the 3 and cut eachother's minutes a little bit. Neither Maggette nor Artest is a SG, and T-Mac is more of a SF at this stage in his career (IMHO). Personally, I doubt we'd be able to get either of those players for the salaries we want. Bringing in a tall, sweet shooting 2Guard is just what the dr. ordered and below is a list of the good ones. They'd all most likely be candidates for the 5.5 MLE. Unfortunatley, they're all restricted so you'd really have to be ready to marry one should we make an offer: JR Smith (Denver) 6’6” SG-22yrs old- 40% from 3pt- avg. 12 pts in 19 min (restricted) Pietrus (GS) 6’6”-26yrs old – 36% from 3pt –avg. 4reb/ 7pts/ 1 steal per 20 min –excellent defender (restricted) Vujacic (Lakers) 6’7” -24yrs old -44% from 3pt/ 45% from the field –avg.9 pts in 17 min (restricted) Delfino (TO) 6’6” -25yrs old -38% from 3pt –avg. 4.5reb/ 9pts/2 assists/ 1 steal per 23 min (restricted) The only unrestricted FA SG with size that would be worth signing: Maurice Evans (Orlando) 6’5” -29yrs old -40% from 3pt/ 49% from the field –avg. 9pts in 23 min (unrestricted) Who do ya'll like?
Yeah, we definitely need a big guard. I'd be happy with Pietrus, Vujacic, or Evans. I suppose I'd take Delfino or Smith if we couldn't get any of the first three.
Is Clutch going to do those Potential Rocket Profiles again? That would be cool to see Calderon, Mike Miller and others in a photoshopped Rocket uni.
I think T.J. Ford would be worth the risk. He could really make a difference for the Rockets, but the pricetag is high. Still, you have Rafer, so you could limit Ford's minutes (along with those of Yao and T-Mac) and hope for the best. The other player I think could really upgrade the Rockets is Artest, and it sounds like he's been on their radar. If Morey's last offseason is any indication, he'll pursue this as far as he can. This is the only way I see the Rockets upgrading over Battier. No one else would be worth losing what Battier brings. Like many, I think Mike Miller would be a good fit, although maybe not quite enough to compensate in the event of an injury to Yao or McGrady. Pietrus would be a nice addition. Diop would be excellent. Chris Mihm is good enough to spell Yao for significant minutes and keep him fresher and less likely to get injured. I'd like to see a move like this, because it appears Yao is always going to be an injury risk and Mutumbo, as great as he is, is old and limited in minutes. The aggressiveness and smarts Morey has shown should give Rockets fans hope that some of these players are indeed possible. It's an exciting time to be a Rockets fan.
