No worries I was mostly joking. Although I think jam green type player would be great for our team. Tucker is great to matchup at power forward/center with the warriors but against the clippers we are going to need tucker and co to guard Kawhi and PG and we need a real power forward I fear.
U Agreed. I was a big fan of Chuck Hayes when he was a Rocket. Tucker gives us a high basketball I.Q.with good presence of mind of denying players from getting to a comfortable range near the rim and when they do, Tucker has strong arms/hands to lock down the opponent at the site of the ball (waist down). Problem is when “Bigs” keep the ball high......as they are taught. It might be too much to ask a 6’6” Tucker with no leaping ability to check an AD, Cousins, Zubac, Harrell consistently. It becomes Bar-B-Que chicken. So yes, it will take a team effort. But one can see why Tucker gave up a PER of +30 to centers and above average to PF’s. Crowder could help out at SF as his stats show he keeps his counterpart slightly less than average. I would welcome a Crowder trade depending on the outgoing assets.
P.S. Don’t get me wrong, I think the current Rockets roster can win 57 games, I just feel teams named Clippers/Lakers/Sixers/Bucks will give the Rockets matchup problems. Rockets getting off to a better start than the Lakers/Clippers. Just my humble opinion.
maybe we are focusing on the wrong grizzly. Would love to have crowder but like you said at the appropriate price. I want tucker 100% focused on guarding an all star forward for the playoffs. Not trying to play power forward 40 mins a game
I’m not sure the Rockets can pry Iggy or Covington from their respective teams, but I would like the Rockets to target Kings Bjelica/Ariza by the trading deadline. Bjelica: 6’10”...$6.8M (19/20)......$7.2M (Morey/Tilman team friendly non-guaranteed money in 20/21) Ariza:.............$12.2M (19/20).....$12.8M (Morey/Tilman team friendly non-guaranteed money in 20/21) Eric Gordon $14.1M plus some throw away contracts like Terrence Jones that are team friendly to the Kings might get it done.....pick(s). We know what Ariza can do. I feel he has 1 more good year in him (34 y/o June). Rockets could rest him going into the playoffs so he can be somewhat fresh.....unlike the years we worked him into the ground. Ariza with Washington last season: 14.1 pts.........3.8 asts.......5.3 TRB........32.2% (3P%). 3-pt shooting could improve with the added rest and open shots that Harden/Westbrook create. (18/19 season per basketball-reference.com) Player...................WS..........PER........pts........3P%......TRB%.......Blk%.......Ast%.......per 36-mins (pts) Bjelica.(23 mins)...4.5.........15.4.......9.6.......40.1%.....12.8%......2.7%.......11.1%......14.9 pts Tucker...................5.0...........9.2........7.3.......37.7%......9.5%.......1.2%........4.6%........7.7 pts Lose Gordon but gain much needed SF/PF help going into a playoff run. Go along with Bennett/Gary Clark/House. Not sure Westbrook allows enough minutes for Gordon, Gerald Green and possibly CClemons after the trade deadline. Clemons can give the Rockets the long range shooting Gordon was/is suppose to supply.
How much House develops his game is going to be a huge factor in their overall success …. I get the idea that House is the guy they are banking on filling the void at the 3 , being able to defend PG / Kawhi / Lebrick / Kuzma types alongside Tucker getting the bulk of the minutes at the 4. Anthony Bennett …. non-guaranteed , maybe he sticks ? I don't know what to make of that situation yet. I think we can forget about a Shumpert S&T …. doesn't appear they want to make that kinda salary commitment so we're probably waiting for a mid season move which I assume would involve EG?? That is assuming that House doesn't get the job done …. They do have open roster spots …. and a few dollars under the tax line but there just doesn't appear to be anything out there available that fills the void while not taking significantly more salary.
It’s frustrating to see such a need not being addressed at the big forward spot. DM has had drafts where he tried by picked the same type of players in the same spot year after year. We have spent years watching the development of said players to gift them away to chase bigger dreams or not resign them to be finically responsible. Now the need is overwhelming clear and the time spent was wasted. Just crazy to think if we held on to just one of the many players we already had; we spent years of development to fill the exact void which is so apparent.
What player are you talking about? With respect to the power forward position. Montrezz had to be dealt in the Chris Paul trade. There was no way around it. I’m just curious who have we gifted away?
That’s a fair example. Though that was pretty long ago; making room for Howard was the right move at the time, and Marcus has been on 3 teams since Phoenix. We definitely have had an issue with addressing the power forward position for some time, ever since Scola; I just don’t think it was because we’ve let opportunities slip.
Can a trade exception be used in a three+ team trade? From my understanding, it can't be used in multiple player trades between 2 teams but was wondering if there was some work around in 3+ team trades where only 1 player was moved per team. Examples: Team A gets Player B Team B gets Player C Team C gets Trade Exception A Team A gets Player D Team B gets Trade Exception A Team C gets Trade Exception B Team D gets Player C *May need to include incentives like cash and/or picks on separate deals Also could a player acquired from a trade exception be immediately used in another multiplayer trade package? I mean...there has to be a use for all these trade exceptions, right? RIGHT!?!?
I think its more that we let two wings walk that played big parts in the rotation and at the same time , didn't have any financial vehicles to replace their talent / contributions …. aside from minimum guys who you hoped would outperform their contracts - None of them did.
Yeah fair. The post I quoted to was referring to the big forward spot so I assumed he was talking about power forwards. While we have had many PFs run through this roster, no one has been worth keeping around except Montrezz, which had to be included, and I guess his example of Marcus Morris, though that’s dated way back
Yes we did let Luc walk away, on his own two feet and two crutches. His career is likely over. He played no meaningful minutes in the playoffs. Ariza at 15 mil would have really come back to bite us this season because we would not have dodged the tax last season with him on the team. Tilman would be fighting to avoid the repeater tax all year. Ariza may have helped, but I'm not sure he would he would have got us past the Warriors. He had his chance when he was a year younger and went 0-9 with 0 points.
You miss the point. Its not just about letting the player walk , its about not having any financial vehicle to replace their contributions.
How do you get that vehicle without trading a starter or Gordon? Only way to keep them is to go over the cap and into the tax. Had we gone over the tax last season, Tilman would compromise this season to stay under it. He still might compromise this season to stay under it, but it's not as certain. I agree with you on a lot of other stuff, but even in hindsight, letting them walk seemed like the right move. Are there any realistic scenarios that you think would have been better for the Rockets? Trade Gordon?
The Grizzlies are collectors of younger less expensive players and have lot of talent and not enough spaces. My hope is Bruno Caboclo becomes available. We helped in his development a benefit would be nice. He fits what we are doing (learned to shoot the 3 in valley). The two years from two years was four years ago —> he is ready.
If we dont resign EG we will not have the cap space to replace him. The other option is to trade him for someone who either is under contract for more years or who is worth going into the lux tax to resign. I hope we trade him for someone younger still developing but good enough to be a 3rd star (borderline All-Star). A Gordon in Orlando would be perfect for our system. He would give us the size, outside threat, lob ability, youth and experience, defense, and may not fit his current team's makeup. (They had him coming off the bench sometimes) EG and a pick for AG ?
The problem is: Aaron 19.9/year to Eric 14/year and have no filler —> $5.900,000 away I don’t see it without a 3rd team that really wants to overpay for Gordon and has the players for Orlando to say yes. We still wouldn’t have the cap to get him