Sign dalembert to a a nice short contract and I think itd make us a 50-55 win team instantly. Good SFs are a dime a dozen, I think itd be better for us to either try to develop twill and bud, or just draft another one.
No, looks like you're right. I just skimmed BimaThug's article, and it doesn't look like we have enough cap space to acquire Nene or any other high impact FA, particularly if we decide to re-sign Yao and/or Hayes. It won't stop many of us from dreaming, though. For anyone interested, here's the link to Bima's article: http://www.clutchfans.net/news/1574/houston_rockets_salary_cap_update/
^^^ This is the way I see it. I think most likely we will try and move up in the draft, if that doesn't work out we will either trade some of this years picks for future picks, or draft some guys for overseas. We just don't/won't have a lot of room on the roster, much less the playing time. If we can't improve through the draft then I think we will try to make a trade for a big name, but I'm not sure who we could go after that is actually available. As far as the signing of free agents...I don't see us making any acquisitions unless they're our own. The only exception I see would be a cheap backup C. I think we will try and hold onto as much cap space as possible for 2012 and basically roll with the team we have now + any draft picks. All that said, here is what I see happening: 1) re-sign Chuck 2) re-sign Yao (it better be for super cheap and filled with incentives) 3a) try and move up in the draft 3b) try and trade 1 or 2 of our draft picks for future picks 3c) use our draft picks in a trade for an upgrade (see #4) 3d) draft 1 or 2 overseas players 4) look to move Scola/T-Will/Hill/Miller/Bud/(it wouldn't surprise me to see K-Mart go, but I wouldn't bank on it) for an upgrade I ordered that basically on the likeliness of it happening, in my opinion. Now, if we were to make some signings this year then the person I would love to have is Wilson Chandler. I like Bud, but he's definitely more of a backup than a starter due to his struggles on the defensive end. Like someone else mentioned, Chandler would basically replace Battier, salary wise and position. The bad thing is, I don't think the Nuggets will let him go for anything less than $8m, and I think that is just too much to pay for another role/above average player. If we can't get Chandler or a decent C for a good price, then just wait until next year, as hard as that may be to stomach. Hopefully we'll see improvement from Thabeet, more playing for Patterson, a rookie that can contribute, and maybe even a T-Will sighting. Assuming we stay pat for the most part, that's the only way I see us making much of an improvement, unless Yao makes a decent impact (lol). I'm not holding my breath for any big moves this year. I'm just going to look forward to the draft and the improvement (crosses fingers) of our current players. Oh yeah, and that we bring Chuck back! Yao...well...if we sign him to a small/short contract then I'll be ok with that, but I'm definitely not going to expect anything from him. Pugs
Kirilenko is unrestricted. He would be the easiest to acquire without giving up hardly anything, if he wants to come here. You offer him Battier's TPE money, then entice Utah to do the S&T where they get back a TPE and a future 2nd rounder. Kirilenko would be a great fit in Adelman's system and could swing to the PF when we go small. Our competition for Kirilenko will be the Nets. If they really want him bad, they could overpay for him, then we move on to plan B. As for our center upgrade, we could go after Okafor with Scola/Thabeet/Hill if West walks away from them. Draft Faried at the bottom of the first round. Lowry/Dragic Martin/Lee Kirilenko/TWill Okafor/Hayes/Yao Hayes/Patterson/Faried or Patterson/Hayes/Faried depending on how much Patterson improves over the summer. This is kinda worst case scenario thinking in the event we wind up in the middle of the first round with no lottery luck and no better trades emerge. This is a baseline to start with. If you can get Kirilenko without giving up anything besides the TPE and a future 2nd, then we now can concentrate on filling out the big man rotation better. Perhaps Kantor falls to 14???? That would be tempting. None of the other big centers in this draft are tempting to add to this team for us to compete next season. Patterson is our 4 of the future unless a substantial upgrade comes along there. The Hornets situation in NO still has to shake out. I still have a funny feeling that Paul is not going to sign an extension there. So, our upgrades could be much better than what I am suggesting above. I am suggesting above what is doable and what would make us a much better team. Kirilenko is a serious upgrade at the 3. If you can't see that, you don't understand basketball. If we simply added him and Fesenko, we would be a 52-55 win team next season with good health.
I'd sign Prince and McGrady to be our sf's and go after gasol or nene at the C. I figure we'd lose thabeet, hill, scola and buddinger if we make trades for a C
From Hayes and Okafor and Patterson. .............and possibly Yao?? Seriously, you replace Scola with Okafor, that's about 8 extra shots that have to be distributed somewhere because Okafor doesn't take as many. You give 4 or 5 of those shots to Patterson. You increase Patterson's minutes to a consistent 30 mpg and you give him 9 or 10 shots per game. That's his usage rate now. Nothing would be changing there besides Patterson on the floor for more minutes. That leaves you with two extra shots to give to Martin or Lowry or Hayes perhaps. Patterson is a 30 mpg player next season.
Nice way to look at it. Okafor will also change a lot of shots and force a lot of kick outs which lead to more outside shots and less scoring overall. The bad thing is, Okafor may eat up the little bit of salary cap we have this year (I think it's about 7-10m? Don't quote me) and leave us with less in 2012. Pugs
Okafor's contract has 3 more years @ $12.54M 11/12, $13.54M in 12/13 and $14.54M in 14/15. That $40.62M in guaranteed salary commitment would chew up a lot of cap space for the next 3 years.
I totally agree. The free agents listed could make the Rockets a slightly team better but nowhere near contention status. I guess eveyone is looking for a quick fix, when we really are better off waiting for our long term solution.
Samuel "Secret Haitian Man" Dalembert is probably the most realistic option. His age and the fact that he's been on a relatively crappy team who has a center of the future lined up conspire against his market value. Also, Houston and the Kings have a good working relationship, making it easier to work out a S&T if need be. I would not be opposed to getting him. He's still no offensive force, but I trust Adelman to find him a role. He did hit a few Js last night and was able to show some touch inside. After Dikembe's retirement and Yao Ming's injury, Sammy D can fill the shot-blocker/developing world humanitarian hole created by their absence.
if we make this team attractive enough maybe he will consider us... man! patterson and howard playing together, i can already hear the espn and tnt crew talking about their mancrushes :grin:
