Do you have 2 other perennial All-Stars/HoF candidates to pull out of your ass and will play for pennies on the cap?
I think getting back to the main point of this thread is this: If the Rockets had just run it back with everyone from last year's roster then most everyone would agree that this team would likely not as been good next year because of the regression with age that comes with some of it's key players - certainly this was the gist among sports media of most offseason previews I saw for Houston. If you want to beat GS and you weren't quite good enough to do it last year, and the odds are even worse this year, then I think it makes some sense to let some guys like Ariza walk. It's a gamble FOR SURE but I don't know what other choice you have considering you were good enough last year with the same roster. The odds were more likely that Houston would suffer a key injury to a starter than GS so you try to improve the roster where you can but unfortunately the logistics of FA don't always allow you to line up a replacement before the old guard is gone and teams know that when they make quick offers to FAs like in the case of Ariza.
i'm a big Morey supporter. And i have faith. But don't piss on me and tell me it's raining. I don't think people understand how big of a loss Ariza and Luc are. That is a lot of defense we lost. Ariza i understand. We can't compete with $15. Luc, however, was just a mistake. We lose Luc for $4.3 mil because we are saving our MLE for a potential Melo signing? I'm not even sure Melo is better than Luc that this point in his career. Also, signing Melo is not a sure thing. But it was worth letting Luc walk over? the prospect of signing Melo was worth letting Luc walk over? very frustrating. i am not gonna drink the Kool-aid. This offeseason sucks. I'm not hating, but no one is gonna convince me that we aren't a worse team right now than last year. Even if we signed Melo tomorrow, wew'd still be a worse team than last year. We have not made up for even one of those loses (Luc and Ariza).
Assigning value to players without sentimentality is how you manage the roster and cap to get James Harden and Chris Paul without a single top ten draft pick.
Yeah that’s fair. If Capela is involved then that’s a whole nother story. But I just don’t see how he could be. Houston would be totally cool with him playing on the qualifying offer and they really don’t have a good option to replace him at the Center spot this season.
No one is drinking kool aid from anyone. But Ariza wanted to get paid we couldn’t offer him what he got in Phoenix. Yes Ariza was great for us and will be missed defensively and on the locker room. No one will deny that but also we can’t just ignore that he couldn’t by a bucket and he is getting older. But I wish he would have stayed with us. Also Luc situation was kinda the same he wanted more money we didn’t offer the 4m because of probably what bimathug said that we could have the right for Carmelo next season. But I agree with you it’s been a very frustrating off season. I just hope we can move Ryan before the season but now I’m hopeful that at least by the trade deadline for sure. So by the playoffs we would have a better team. Capela situation is also frustrating. He shouldn’t be so greedy and should take the resoable offer the rockets made. Imo he isn’t worth 20m a year. Harden didn’t get paid that and he was and is the main guy and does everything. Without him or cp3 Capela wouldn’t had had a great season last year.
These personnel decisions don't happen in a vacuum. I'm convinced the team doesn't think Luc will fully recover to the point where he'll play freely without worrying about that shoulder popping out of socket. And we all saw how effective he was when that thought was rattling around in his head. Bottom line: The team thought he was a steal last year at $2.1 million, but a bad risk this year at twice that. If that is indeed what they thought, letting him walk makes perfect sense.
I don’t understand what looks so bad? Retained CP3 and will work out a deal with Capela (2 of the big 3) Added quality depth with Green coming back, Ennis, MCW and Melton May land Melo as a bench player and still be in a position to strike a deal
You are aloud to criticize moves (like letting Luc walk for $4.3 mil) and still be a loyal supporter of your GM and team. All rockets fans should be upset we let Luc walk ...over $4.3 freaking million. ...and this explanation about retaining Melo's rights next year is just plain stupid. Melo is a rapidly declining player at the end of his career; he could easily be washed up this year. Luc's shoulder better be hanging by a freaking string to let him walk on the hope of a Melo signing ...oh and the right to keep a 36yr old declining player for another year, can't forget that.
Melo is better than Luc at this point. Melo is not missing those point blank layups like Luc did before completely being benched. Melo wont be shooting bricks like Luc did right before the benching. Luc however is a slightly better defender.
Melo will start best believe that. Who on this roster gonna beat him out. People need to hang that silly thought up.
slightly better defender? in my opinion there is no comparison. And in all fairness to Luc, when he was shooting bricks and missing layups, he was playing hurt. He was not shooting bricks and missing layups when he played a valuable role during the season that helped lift us to the best record in franchise history. Luc's contribution was big, but has been understated. If you wanna say that Melo's offense out weighs the loss of Luc's defense, i understand that argument. But Luc contributed offensively as well. We shouldn't forget how well he was shooting and playing before the shoulder injury.
Yes he was huge for us but the fact remains here. Dude just couldn't bounce back from that injured shoulder. Bringing in Melo would be an upgrade, especially on the offensive end. Paul goes down again, at least you have another legit weapon to go along with Harden. Dude will be able to take some pressure off Mr. Harden. Something we all know he needs. Luc is not providing that type of help.
