Midnight Home Invasion: Who will Morey visit on July 1st?

Normalus · Jun 1, 2014

Marqus Blakely for a 6th player of the year!

[youtube]fTlOd9MubPU[/youtube]

J.R. · Jun 24, 2014

Rockets ready to pursue a star, but which one?

In roughly one week, Daryl Morey hopes to be knocking on someone's door. He does not yet know whose door that will be, but he no doubt hopes that when he gets there, he will be speaking Ohioan.

If he gets that chance, Morey will have considerably more to discuss than the mutual affection for the corner of Ohio that he and LeBron James share. There is even less doubt that Morey hopes to make his pitch to the NBA's best player and that any amount of roster manipulation would be worth the necessary cap acrobatics.

Less certain is whether James will return to the free-agent market or entertain the recruiting team that landed Dwight Howard last summer. James has until next Monday to decide whether to opt out of his contract with the Miami Heat. With Howard, James Harden and the signing of even more complementary pieces, he could find potential with the Rockets similar to what was waiting for him in Miami four years ago, but that is a long way from his choosing to take his talents to Buffalo Bayou.

There is no question, however, that James' buddy Carmelo Anthony will play the field and that the Rockets are nearly as determined to land him as they are James. If anything, they have pursued Anthony longer, having made many trade pitches to the Nuggets before Anthony was eventually dealt to the Knicks in 2011.

Landing Anthony will be considerably more complicated than last year's successful pursuit of Howard. Last season, the Rockets had one target clearly ahead of every other and made sure that before they sat down with Howard, they had the cap room to offer him a max contract.

Can't max Melo

Even if James is not an option, making Anthony their primary target, the Rockets would be unable to make Anthony their third max-contract player and would have to pledge to make several moves - starting with but not limited to dealing the contracts of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin - to come close.

Anthony's max contract would start at about $23.2 million annually for four years. The Rockets can offer a contract starting at about $17.9 million if the cap is $63.2 million, they trade Lin and Asik without taking salary back, and drop every non-guaranteed contract other than Pat Beverley's. They could deal an additional player or two to create more room or could come much closer to Anthony's max in a sign-and-trade if the Knicks were agreeable, but there is more uncertainty about that part of the pitch than merely whether Anthony is willing to take whatever the Rockets can offer.

If Anthony were to leave the Knicks and a max contract worth $129.1 million over five years, it would have to be for a chance to compete for a title. At 30 years old, he is less likely than Howard was last year to recoup with his next contract the money lost in a move. But Anthony also could have an increased sense of urgency to join a contender.

The Rockets will not have much trouble arguing they have greater potential than the Knicks, who did not make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference (where 38 wins were enough), but might have a more difficult case to make in a comparison with several other teams.

The Heat cannot be entirely discounted if only because Pat Riley managed to put James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade on the same team, but Miami would have to offer considerable discounts to make room for James, too. The Chicago Bulls, however, could offer many of the same selling points the Rockets can and a few the Rockets cannot.

If Derrick Rose returns to his MVP level, the Bulls - like the Rockets - would have All-Stars in the backcourt and at center. They also - like the Rockets - would have to offload several contracts, even after making Carlos Boozer an amnesty cut, to make Anthony a competitive offer.

Unlike the Rockets, they would be adding Anthony's scoring prowess to a great defensive team. And also unlike the Rockets, the Bulls play in the weaker half of the league.

A dream offensively

With Anthony, Howard and Harden, the Rockets could have the league's most dynamic offensive team, but they would still have to make considerable strides defensively. They also would have to either bring Chandler Parsons - assuming he is re-signed - off the bench or play Anthony at power forward.

Anthony might have the greatest benefit to the Rockets' offense at power forward, especially with Parsons at small forward, and he can defend in the low post. But it would still pose a difficult matchup defensively with star Western Conference power forwards Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph, Dirk Nowitzki and, when he is at the four, Tim Duncan.

More to the point, it might not be an assignment Anthony would seek as a free agent.

The Rockets will soon find out. They might also quickly know more about what James has in mind and whether for the second consecutive summer they can land the NBA's most coveted free agent.
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Deckard · Jun 24, 2014

I'm beginning to think, J.R., that you sleep about as much as I do. Not much! Thanks for the read. While I want another star (like most of us do), regardless of who we get, just let the guy, or guys, clearly improve the team. Exiting in the 1st round is getting tired. It's no longer enough to get to the dance. The Rockets need to stay on the floor toe-tapping for a long time. Long enough to reach the Western Conference Finals, or next season will have to be considered a failure, in my humble opinion. I might be a little mollified by a second round exit in a seven game series against a team better than last season's Blazers, but not much. WC or bust!

Who will Morey visit? The best guy available that he has any chance of getting, of course. We can't know what that is, not yet.

saleem · Jun 24, 2014

Melo unless Lebron opts out.

pbthunder · Jun 24, 2014

If we have any hope of getting Lebron, it would be an insult to him to not go there first.

Cstyle42 · Jun 24, 2014

pbthunder said: ↑

If we have any hope of getting Lebron, it would be an insult to him to not go there first.
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Man we should be going so hard I want to see a red rowdy get charged for Burglary of a Habitation!!!

Commodore · Jun 29, 2014

bump, tomorrow night it begins

Roc Paint · Jun 29, 2014

So does the Rockets title run.

TexasRedd · Jun 29, 2014

I think trying to acquire Love would be our best bet at this point.

DraftBoy10 · Jun 29, 2014

I think all options will fail.

Melo to Chicago
Bosh and Bron back in Miami

We'll hopefully end up with love or the next disgruntled star.

Big fear is we get no one, and have to pay parsons pretty money and we're out of a 3rd star. If it comes to that, then morey will likely sign and trade him for Rondo or for love.

CheukLau · Jun 29, 2014

MELO.

shastarocket · Jun 29, 2014

DraftBoy10 said: ↑

I think all options will fail.
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Take your negativity and GTFO

travfrancis · Jun 29, 2014

When did the Howard meeting schedule become public knowledge last year? Was it before or after July 1st? I'm curious when we will hear Anthony's schedule and LeBron's (if he meets with teams).

BasketballMind · Jun 29, 2014

They should send a hologram to Melo just incase he isn't seriously considering the Rockets. The real Morey should visit Lowry. Although I do have a feeling he and Harden wouldn't get along, but that's another topic.

Raj Da Dodge · Jun 29, 2014

Melo meeting with Bulls Tuesday; Rockets and Mavs Wednesday with Rockets in morning and Mavs in afternoon; Lakers next week.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/sto...thony-new-york-kicks-meet-chicago-bulls-first

J.R. · Jun 30, 2014

Jonathan Feigen said:

If the Rockets cannot land one of the top free agents, they would likely look to get help at the wing positions. Either way, they could bring back Francisco Garcia, who as expected opted out of his contract. The Rockets would also have interest in Luol Deng or former Rockets forward Trevor Ariza, a person with knowledge of the Rockets’ plans said, though Deng is expected to receive contract offers greater than the Rockets would probably make and Ariza is likely to return to Washington. The Rockets also have interest in Thunder small forward Thabo Sefolosha.

The top priority if unable to land one of the top two targets would shift to Miami forward Chris Bosh if things change and the Heat power trio breaks up. But Bosh seems determined to remain in Miami. The Rockets are expected to take a run at their former point guard Kyle Lowry, though the Raptors hope to reach agreement to keep him before the Rockets or other teams would have a chance to know where they stand with their initial targets.

The Rockets also have interest in another former target heading into free agency, though there will be a long line of suitors for Pau Gasol. The Rockets could make a play for former Rockets forward Jordan Hill.

Less clear is whether if unable to land Anthony or James the Rockets would seek to create cap room by dealing Jeremy Lin or would then choose to remain over the cap and use their full mid-level exception in free agency.
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1. LeBron James
2. Carmelo Anthony
3. Chris Bosh
4. Kyle Lowry
5-7. Pau Gasol
5-7. Luol Deng
5-7. Trevor Ariza
8. Jordan Hill
9. Thabo Sefolosha

Something like that. Oh and the non-free agent Kevin Love in there.

HPD · Jun 30, 2014

All the threads have same crap in them.....

shastarocket · Jun 30, 2014

Guys, if we are pulling out all the stops to sell Htown to Melo, Clutchfans needs to show up big time at Toyota Center on Wednesday.

Carl Herrera · Jun 30, 2014

The chances don't look good.

NotInMyHouse · Jun 30, 2014

Carl Herrera said: ↑

The chances don't look good.
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