My thoughts: 1) Jerald Honeycutt was not included in the Thomas Robinson deal because Morey is interested in keeping Honeycutt around. Honeycutt is a great bet to be waived in the very near future. 2) Houston's scouting is top notch, so there is no question that Daryl Morey's team has one or two current non-NBA players in their sights. Although I'm not sure if the Rockets are going to be in a big hurry to sign them, particularly since I don't believe there's really a spot in the rotation for them. Patrick Beverly was perceived as a guy who would be able to fairly quickly take over the backup PG job, which is exactly what happened. 3) Don't forget that there will be several NBA players getting waived now that the trade deadline has passed. The Rockets have a lot of cap space to play around with. My guess is that they will want a veteran PG, and veteran PGs often become available shortly after the trade deadline. Here are some guys who may get bought out or waived over the next several days: Reggie Williams, Charlotte DeSagana Diop, Charlotte Luke Walton, Cleveland Daniel Gibson, Cleveland Jermaine O'Neal, Phoenix Diop and Walton both suck. O'Neal will likely look to sign on with a team he hopes to win a championship with this season, probably Miami. Williams is better than you probably think he is, and he's for sure better than Honeycutt. Williams and Gibson both make sense, if Houston does not have better options on their radar. Obviously Houston would only be picking these sorts of dudes up for the remainder of the season.
Sign Whiteside and have him play alongside Greg Smith. He has better shooting range than Smith, better rebounder, better perimeter defender and better shot blocker. Smith is stronger, more physical and a better post defender. Whiteside would fit in well with this run and gun Houston team. Especially with the second unit because the second unit can't rebound worth a damn. Greg "Big Boy Pants" Smith is not enough of a glass cleaner.
Yes, he's going to get the minimum. But the problem is if we sign him and he comes up here and does well in a backup role, then another team could potentially grab him. The reason why you would give him a couple million this year (the remainder of the season) would be to secure a handshake agreement with him and his agent to sign a new minimum salary contract with team option after this season is over instead of taking off to another team on a 1-yr deal. If he proves valuable, it would really help out or cap situation if he was locked in on a minimum contract for 14 and 15 and getting backup center rotation minutes to either Asik or Dwight. To the poster that says he's just loping around in Rio Grande, yes I have seen him play. I am well aware of the appearance on court of a lackadasical attitude. But that's a misnomer. He's not lackadasical. The man is 7 foot tall and very athletic. He is getting garbage minutes in RGV and in those garbage minutes he picks off 2-5 boards and a blocked shot or two. I don't even care about his offensive game (and he does have offensive skills that are very conducive to the pick and roll game we play). I care about his defensive impact. Whiteside would become the second best paint defender on this team the minutes he sign a contract with us. Whiteside IS the best paint defender they have in RGV. Why isn't he playing? You think it's because he's a clunk head. I think it's because they are stashing him away. He should be on an NBA roster. Whiteside is a good clean kid who is athletic and has a 9'6" standing reach on top of that atheticism and he's a hard worker. What I am saying is give the kid an extra million on a 1-yr contract and secure a handshake agreement with him to re-sign this offseason to a 3 or 4-yr minimum salary deal with team option after yr 1 or 2. Give him some extra money now to get him to agree to re-sign here at the minimum for 3 or 4 years, similar to the Chandler Parsons contract.
Absolutely no to Farmar or McCalebb from current Euroleague players. Dumb as rocks and huge ball hogs with zero point guard skills.
