Sam Amico: Rockets have a "keen eye" on Danny Granger

Carl was on the Asik bandwagon pretty much before everybody. I know I was dubious - that Asik could play the mpg, staying out of foul trouble, at the same rate. Carl nailed that one.

 

This move is NOT that risky. I'd much rather have Granger as a stop gap between now and the 2014 class than pay Iggy or Smith this offseason and never get to that class. Remember how Detroit blew their load a year early and totally screwed themselves? Save the money shot for next summer, but compete hard until then with a nice core of Harden, Asik and Granger.

 

ROCKET GUY!

 

"NBA players who reject the dumb jock stereotype"

Was expecting a sizable list

Just 3 mentioned....

1 who doesnt even play anymore. Another guy Granger currently isnt playing

Only Spencer Hawes is the anti-stereotype who's playing minutes.

 

I feel like that list is way too small. Guys like Shane Battier, Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash all come to mind.

 

Depends on how Houston feels about their assets and current players if they value them enough to keep around.

To get Granger, you'd have to get deal away some players in the process.

For Iggy or Josh Smith, can pay extra while still conceivably keeping all the good pieces you do have. Though without much flexibility going forward.

Still have to cash in on the RIGHT piece, don't have to give money to any of those guys if you don't feel they make you a contendor. Which maybe makes a Granger stop-gap and expiring contract next year a more intriguing possibility.

Yeah, lazily written article. Its from 2010 anyway. It is interesting Granger's Ivy League connection though.

 

so granger will be reduced to camping at 3pt line or will mchale start running midrange screens for him for once?

 

I am more favorable to Granger than Milsap or Smith.

Delfino+Morris+TJones is about all I would give up.

 

We should get him with right price.

Morris
Cole
PP
TD

Could be traded.... I hate to see delfino leave

 

Can you predict white even don't join the practice?

 

granger seems like a real nice, mellow cool guy. bet he has a great personality.

...in terms of trading, hell no. cannot see that as cost-effective whatsoever

 

edit:

let's trade royce white for him. we can throw in a Coach USA for traveling expenses.

 

I don't think the rockets should trade for anyone with an injury history or is currently injured. Just wait until the right player becomes available, we are in no hurry with this young team.

 

Why would you do that? Parsons is in his 2nd season & has a ton of potential, and not to mention the contract. So you want to replace the team with 3 guys that take up the whole pay roll. That wouldn't work, and Morey isn't going to do that.

There are certain ballers you need on teams that will contend. In the long run, which this team is on currently, is the way you need to look at things. The FA market is where we can spend our money, and I think Morey is thinking that route. I know he fancies Granger though, but I just don't see any upside in trading Parsons under his current contract.

 

Also, wasn't trying to attack your thoughts so don't read it that way. Sorry if it reads like that. I know that we would love that as a team, but we need those "Parsons" type of players around guys like that. I really don't think Morey would trade Parsons with his production right now & his contract he's under.

 

and you already know that DM will not offer either Asik or Parsons in a deal unless it's for a significant all-star player that would be part of the team for years moving forward.

 

The Rockets went from rebuilding to retooling once they got Harden. Waiting years for the right player would be wasting his ability.

 

Indiana is very motivated to clear Danny Granger's 2013-14 salary (the last year on his somewhat bloated contract) from their payroll sooner (i.e., prior to the February trade deadline) rather than later (this summer, if not later) because of one simple reason: they want the cap space to play around with this summer. And they'd have a lot more cap space if they can turn Granger into, say, Patrick Patterson and expiring contracts (in other words, Patrick Patterson, for all intents and purposes).

Having said that, if Donnie Walsh is calling the shots in Indiana, this means that a trade is unlikely, as Walsh is not a very good GM (his reputation as a strong GM is not at all deserved), is indecisive, and overrates the value of his own players. So it would not be at all surprising if Walsh insists on way more than what Daryl Morey is peddling, in which case Morey tells him to take a hike.

Of course, I'm not so sure that Walsh is really calling the shots in Indiana. I believe that they hired former Portland wunderkind Kevin Pritchard, and if Pritchard is the one who is making the decisions, then Pritchard is quite clever, and is going to want the cap space more than the overpaid Granger. Especially since Indiana has demonstrated that they don't really need Granger.

Houston has about $7 mil in unused cap space, so they can take back Granger's $13.1 mil 2012-13 salary (plus filler) pretty easily. This is presumably what Morey is offering for Granger:

Patrick Patterson ($2.1 mil in 2012-13, $3.1 mil in 2012-13), Carlos Delfino ($3.0 mil in 2012-13, team option for another $3.0 mil in 2013-14), and Cole Aldrich ($2.4 mil in 2012-13, contract expires at the end of the season) to Indiana

Danny Granger ($13.1 mil in 2012-13), and about $0.9 mil in filler (Ben Hansbrough, Sam Young) to Houston

I seriously doubt that Morey is offering any of the Rockets' first- or second-year guys or any draft picks here. Granger is not the most valuable commodity on the planet. The dude makes a ton of money next season and is in his late twenties, which is relatively old by NBA standards. He turns 30 on 4/20 of this year. Plus he's coming off the injury and nobody knows what kind of a player he'll be when he comes back.

If Granger can come back and be the player he was before, or close to it, then he's a guy who can play alongside Chandler Parsons as one of the team's two forwards, and he is certainly an upgrade over any of the "power forwards" on the team's roster right now. And it's nice to not have to give up anything you really want for Granger. Houston pretty obviously doesn't plan on either Patterson, Delfino, or Aldrich being around beyond the 2013-14 season.

It will be interesting to see how the minutes get distributed both before and after Granger's return. Delfino is getting a lot of minutes as the team's sixth man and is playing at both SG and SF. One would think that Houston would start giving a lot more minutes to Toney Douglas. One would also think that Marcus Morris is given more minutes. We'd also see either Terrence Jones or Donatas Motiejunas promoted into the rotation, at least until Granger returns. Although Granger is projected to return within a week or or two, so we wouldn't see a whole lot of Jones/Motiejunas in the rotation.

By the way: I can see Indiana as a team that might want to take a flyer on Royce White. In which case maybe we'd see Houston replace Delfino with White, and maybe add Toney Douglas' expiring contract to the equation. In other words, the deal would be Granger and dirt-cheap filler (i.e., three dudes who won't be on the payroll next season) for Patterson, Aldrich, Douglas, and White.

Also: Houston isn't going to be interested in Gerald Green. He is making $3.5 mil/season this season, in 2013-14, and in 2014-15. That's a waste of cap space.

 

Parsons potential upside on this board is exaggerated. He played in college for four years, is 24, is mediocre defensively and his overall game has suffered due to taking on more responsibility.

Granger has played well being the first option in the Indiana Pacers and was always a good (once elite) defender. Their numbers with vs. without him indicate that he has a significant impact on their team.

The problem is that with our current roster I don't think having so much salary tied up in both Harden & Granger makes us a championship caliber team and there's the opportunity cost of having all our cap room tied up with his salary.

Parsons production for his current salary makes him exceptionally valuable for our team, albeit that value diminishes every year as he approaches expiring and is due for a new one.