There is a long list of PFs that are not available. Now if you said you don't care about getting a 3rd star, improving at PG, or getting a stretch 4....sure, there are some of those defensive 4s out there.... Thad Young Brandon Bass Taj Gibson Josh Smith What I'm saying is these guys won't get you over the top. If they did, we would've traded for them by now. We've got a finite amount of resources with which to trade, and limited time to do the trading. If you waste resources on getting the guys above (without getting another star or improving elsewhere), you won't beat OKC or SA. You might beat Portland or the Clippers, but getting out of the 1st round isn't the goal.....winning a championship is.
It was. I think this is just one of those offseason things. There's no activity right now, and there may not be for another month or two. I'll be more disciplined during the season.
Agree on the defense but do you actually think the rockets are going to win a title with Beverly at the helm? This team at the moment needs some serious veterans that have gone deep in the playoffs. Harden looked wore out against the Blazers and he's a ball stopper, the need for a real PG quarterback is the biggest need IMHO. A real PG will make life easier for both Howard and especially Harden also the whole supporting cast. Would love to see Harden fresh come playoff time this upcoming season.
Absolutely. Miami won with Chalmers at the helm. Dallas won with an old Jason Kidd at the helm. The Lakers won with Derek Fisher at the helm. The 06 Heat won with Jason Williams at the helm. The Bulls won with Ron Harper at the helm. The Rockets won with Kenny Smith at the helm. The Bulls won with John Paxson at the helm.
lol Being able to beat Portland or the Clippers goes a long way to winning a Championship. If you can't do so then early exit again. Now we have one of the best ball handlers in the biz playing now so no great need to get another one.
Could the Rockets, during the season, clear some cap space trading expirings, and then get Rondo only by using the Lin TPE (absorbing the diference between the TPE and Rondo's salary with the cap space created)... then trade separately Beverley + Jones for something? Or only could we get him at this offseason with non guaranteeds and blabla... (or during season including Ariza contract -no way-).
No, that's not possible. First, a TPE counts against the cap (it's added to the salary) and is extinguished once you drop below the salary cap, so it's not possible to have both the TPE and cap space. Second, a TPE can only be used to absorb a contract with a salary up to 100k over the "value" of the TPE (in this case slightly below $8.5 million), you can't combine it with other exceptions to increase the salary you can take. That means that we would have to acqire him in a "normal" trade and thus give up at least $8.54 million in salary to be able to take his salary of about $12.9 million (150% of outgoing salary + 100k).
I was wondering about this. Could we include a third team to trade for a player that fits in the TPE and who it's an expiring or non guaranteed, then trade that player to a team like Boston for rondo under 150% rule? Could that be all done as one trade?
Also would help if u had a Lebron James, Dwayne Wade in his prime, Sam Cassel and that #23 guy who played for the bulls lol. This team needs a real PG in the worst way IMO and as much as I love Beverly he ain't it.
All of those teams have better talent than us at the top. Unless Harden develops into an above-average defender, all the teams you mentioned have better superstars than us. I love both Harden and Howard, but objectively speaking they're not in top-top tier. I think that Morey wouldn't sign Lowry immediately and waited for the Melo longshot is indicative of what he thinks of Harden and Howard as a duo. He believes we need that 3rd star to contend. And that star is easier to find at the PG position than at PF position. He likely thinks that it's easier to find the star at PG and then a role player at PF to upgrade over Jones, than the other way around.
Objectively speaking, Harden and Howard are two of the top fifteen players in the league. That's more than enough star power. Our biggest weakness is our PF position, and that's what needs to be addressed.
That's less star power than CP3/Griffin, Durant/Westbrook, LeBron/Love. And all 3 of those teams have better 3rd options than us in Jordan, Ibaka, and Irving. Put in the Spurs and we're at best 5th in the NBA, 4th in the West in terms of talent. And this is assuming we have good role players around Harden and Dwight. Exactly where we were last year. Not looking for another star is only okay if you're satisfied with being the 4th best in the west.
What is the relationship between the the two of them? Who is the player that you wish to target? Do you have any information that the Rockets are looking in this particular direction?
lol Pretty much Morey's search has been for a top tier big man to go with Howard. Nothing has ever indicated that he is looking at a huge upgrade in the 1 spot. He targets the 4 spot often.
I agree that is what we need. I wonder if DM/Les will settle for the current line up, or will he look for a 2nd tier 4 with a short contract. I wouldn't want to give up the NO pick, or the 2017 1st rounder for West if he becomes available. I wouldn't mind giving up either one, for Taj Gibson. I recognize that it's going to be hard to get an upgrade here. We will need internal growth from Jones,D-Mo and hope that Capela will be better than expected.
Agree. The rockets have a massive hole at the one spot and thats the position thats much much more critical than the 4 spot and I would be shocked if Morey doesn't address it before the trade deadline.
