The fact that two of the three players who I suggested earlier that Daryl Morey is trying to move here are both suddenly in tonight's rotation (Daequan Cook and Cole Aldrich) is further evidence that Morey is trying to execute a trade involving one of these two players that creates an open roster spot (and hopefully a bit more 2012-13 cap space to play around with) for Houston, so the Rockets can sign Patrick Beverly and retain Scott Machado (who I believe Morey would like to ship to Chicago for that Richard Hamilton-2013 first round pick package). Houston is presenting these two non-rotation players for scouts to take a look at, to see if either might be worth acquiring via trade. I think that there are a number of teams who would find spots in their rotation for either Cook or Aldrich this season.
yeah agree, there is something in the works. if it was just as easy as cut machado sign beverley it would have been done. but I don't think it's any kind of blockbuster deal. my guess also is a trade to try to make a roster spot and clear out the dead weight. we obviously don't need aldrich with the ascendance of greg smith, cook is superfluous, td and machado not needed with beverley signing and one or more the 5 of patterson, morris, jones, dmo, white (if anyone would take him) could potentially go. given how long this is taking and the fact that no team probably wants any 3 of our tradeable guys I think it may be a 3 team deal possibly with some second round draft picks involved.
From what I could tell, Delfino wasn't even at the game (I certainly didn't see him anywhere on the bench). That's why Cook ended up playing. Then Asik and Smith both got into foul trouble very quickly, so McHale had to go with Aldrich.
yes you are right about cook, which is why I didn't mention him as a trade chip in my comment on this in the gamethread (although he is clearly tradeable). but both smith and asik only had 3 fouls, there was no reason to not play either of them for that long.
You can believe the conspiracy, or you can believe: 1.) Delfino was sick. 2a.) His ~25 minutes as a swing in the rotation had to be picked up somehow 3.) The Rockets are thin on the perimeter and can't really play Parsons/Harden much more than they already do 4.) Greg Smith was in high foul frequency mode, and 5.) One of the usual lineup with Parsons sliding up to the 4 was less appealing without Delfino Therefore, 3.) Cook picks up some of Delfino's minutes 4.) Aldrich picks up some of Smith's minutes, and some more "big" minutes since Parsons isn't playing as much 4 Seriously, they combined to play 20 minutes. Both of these guys have been in the league for a few years, a few minutes isn't going to suddenly change their values.
it's not changing their values but if you were a team interested in acquiring one of these guys when would you see them in action to base a trade on? this kind of stuff happens all the time. the game was close enough that playing either asik or smith even with foul trouble made much more sense than playing aldrich. aldrich alone played almost 20 minutes today. that makes no sense from a pure coaching standpoint.
Hmmmm... I would say, Why rock the boat in the middle of a 4 games, 5 days stretch. If anything happens, it won't be til the weekend or New Year.
I respectfully disagree with your notion that McHale gave playing time to Cook and Aldrich to showcase them for a possible trade. It made perfect sense, to me anyway, that they got some minutes tonight. Delfino was sick, and they said in the pre-game thant Cook would probably get some minutes for Delfino, and that seems perfectly logical. I don't think Aldrich would have played if Asik and Smith hadn't been in early foul trouble, and then he played pretty well when he got in, so it makes sense that he played the minutes he did.
Yes, it does happen all the time. One really obvious move to make here would be to package two of these three guys (Patrick Patterson, Daequan Cook, and Cole Aldrich) for one (worthless) player with an expiring contract, who makes a bit less ($500,000-$1 mil) than these two players combine to make. Along with a second round pick, preferably. Then you sign Patrick Beverly. You also need to have an extremely cheap player who you're not crazy about (Scott Machado) to trade to Chicago for that Richard Hamilton-2013 first round pick package, if you don't have an open roster spot, that is. I will try to come up with some 2-for-1 trade ideas here in a little while that make sense (to me, anyway).
Here are the three 2-for-1 trade ideas that I came up with, that make sense to me: Patrick Patterson and Cole Aldrich to Atlanta; Johan Petro's expiring contract and a second round pick to Houston. Reduces 2012-13 payroll by $1 mil (i.e., creates an additional $1 mil in 2012-13 cap space to play around with). The second round pick would likely be Houston's own pick; the Rockets traded a future second round pick to Atlanta a few years ago. Patrick Patterson and Daequan Cook to Detroit; Jason Maxiell's expiring contract and a second round pick to Houston. Reduces 2012-13 payroll by $200,000. Detroit would only make this trade if Joe Dumars viewed Patterson as an upgrade over Maxiell, and as a solid rotation guy for 2012-13 and 2013-14. I doubt that Dumars views Patterson in this way, but who knows. Daequan Cook and Cole Aldrich to Philadelphia; Nick Young's expiring contract and a second round pick to Houston. Adds $500,000 to the 2012-13 payroll, but you do get the pick, and we have seen that Morey finds diamonds in the rough in the second round over the years. I think Cook and Aldrich would both be rotation guys for Philly this season, and Nick Young kind of sucks. Then you sign Patrick Beverly, and, eventually, you trade Scott Machado for the Richard Hamilton-2013 first round pick combo, so as to bail the Bulls out on the 2012-13 luxury tax.
Of course, much more ambitious would be something like this: Paul Millsap and filler (Jeremy Evans, Jamaal Tinsley, Earl Watson) to Houston; Donatas Motiejunas, Terrence Jones, Bulls' 2013 lottery-protected first round pick, Rockets' 2013 second round pick, and expiring contracts (Richard Hamilton, Johan Petro) to Utah; Patrick Patterson and Cole Aldrich to Atlanta; Scott Machado to Chicago. Houston then signs Patrick Beverly. Revised Houston roster for 2012-13: Starting lineup PG Jeremy Lin SG James Harden SF Chandler Parsons PF Paul Millsap C Omer Asik Key reserves Greg Smith Toney Douglas Marcus Morris Carlos Delfino Houston's roster in 2013-14 would look pretty much the same, assuming you re-sign Millsap (and you wouldn't trade for the guy if you didn't plan on doing that). You replace Douglas (who you'd let walk) with Patrick Beverly next year, and probably exercise the team option on Delfino so as to bring him back, unless you want to create a spot in the rotation for Royce White, in which case maybe you let Delfino go.
who is this kid? very moving story I hope we can make a roster spot for him. sounds like a gritty kid who knows how to get up after being knocked down by life
Rockets was one of four teams worked out with Patrick Beverley during the summer 2012. Apparently not impressive enough to get an NBA contract, He then went back to play for Euro League, signed a three-tear contract, and developed into the most important player for the Spartak St. Petersburg. http://www.eurohoops.net/2012/12/dunks/15780
I remember watching Hoop Dreams when it came out. I really didn't think the 2 stars of the documentary were gonna make it. They were talented but like the second documentary, Hoop Reality, showed, the odds of making it to the NBA even as a backup is pretty slim. Patrick Beverley is more talented than Arthur Agee and William Gates but he's also undersized at 6'1". He's an incredible scorer. Dropped over 30 points against D. Rose and Simeon, at the state tournament in 2006/7. It'll be great to see him play with the Rockets. But right now, he's competing against Lin and Douglas. I don't see him getting a lot of playing time if he was on the roster.
Wow. You must REALLY not like Patrick Patterson. Morey could make either one of those proposed trades involving Patterson, since the other team would jump at the chance to get Patterson for just a second rounder. Thankfully, Morey's not an idiot and would never make such a move. (Not calling YOU an idiot. Just that you severely undervalue Patterson.) Because the Bulls used the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (on Hinrich) and the Bi-Annual Exception (on Bellineli)--two cap exceptions reserved only for teams under the luxury tax threshold--they are now subject to a HARD CAP of $74.3 million this season. The Bulls (who are already known as frugal) are now in dire financial straits relative to the cap. They only have 13 guys on the roster and are only just now able to add a league minimum player to a prorated contract. Dumping Hamilton (and his $5 million contract) would greatly alleviate that financial stress. Do I think they end up using their first rounder to dump him? It's possible, but I think they'll have enough potential trade partners (either Cleveland, Phoenix or Houston) to get one of them to take Rip for a second rounder or two. As HMMMHMM has mentioned, it would be great to get the draft rights to Nikola Mirotic, but I doubt Chicago gives him up for just a small salary dump.
