Should this be the time the team should be trimming our roster down or finally execute that 'minor' trade which Morey should have been working on?
Murray sure knows how to get the maximum out of his assets. I thought our scrubs were worth peanuts, but he got hotdogs AND pancakes out of them. GENIUS! :grin:
Not really. If your argument is for tanking, then you have a point but its been proven that having veteran presence helps rookie progression, not hurt it.
Do you honestly think that Daryl Morey, Sam Hinkie, Gersson Rosas and the rest of the Rockets' front office hasn't gauged the interest from every other NBA team in their players currently on the bubble, let alone their more "important" players? Pretty much 99.9999999% of anything you could possibly think should be done (and which objectively should at least be explored) has been explored by this front office. They are nothing if not diligent, to the point of the extreme. Personally, I'm at least a little bit surprised there is zero market for JuJuan Johnson (outside of Boston, which by rule CANNOT reacquire him right now). He's under team control for potentially as many as 3-4 more years at not much more than the league minimum. If the Rockets cannot find a taker for him by October 31, they will likely have to either waive him or keep him but decline their team option on Johnson, which will further reduce his trade value. But I can tell you one thing: If something that should be done hasn't been done, it's not for lack of trying by the Rockets' front office.
You can't seriously believe that Morey signed Carlos Delfino to purposely take away PT from the rookies on the slim chance that his play will increase the numbers in our "W" column when the direction of the team is obviously that of a conservative rebuild? Is it not more of a logical position to believe that youngest team in the NBA could somehow benefit from a veteran and professional such as CD more than the negative effects of taking away PT from rookies? It's easy to just throw 'em out to the wolves. Development can be rushed and hampered by negative experiences. That's what mentors are supposed to help negate, and that's what Delfino is supposed to be. Sure, there might be a very slim chance that Lamb could get frustrated and get in the wrong mental state and never develop in the player we want him to be. But then he'd just be another Terrence Williams. If you truly believe that he will be a great 2-guard in the future, then I believe you should have a little more faith in the guy to keep it together.
Ive been anxious too and was hoping they would cut some of the scrubs. The cuts will probably come one or two days before normal season starts. No other team has made any minor trades either. The market just hasnt opened yet it seems.
honestly, if this team really want to contend, i wanna sign M. Pitreus in order to add some wing defense..trade those scrub/tweener SFs..but we really need a backup C..
DM said on the radio that he is OK with going small wrt the backup 5. The backup 1 is another matter. I am expecting a small trade to address this before the season starts.
From his first radio interview. I didn't listen to the most recent one. [rquoter]We'll look at acquisitions that we think can help us upgrade the team over time but we're not planning any right now. We feel good. Martin has been giving us a lot, Delfino on the veteran front, and a lot of our young players that are in their 3rd year like Patterson are very mature personality wise and mature in their game on the floor. No plans to add a veteran. There may be something as we go along and we're in that playoff race, and we feel like there is a key acquisition we can make at the trade deadline or somewhere in that range, we may do it. Do you see at some point adding someone who is a specialist like Camby/Mutombo [previously], that when Asik goes out that can protect the middle? "Yeah, obviously having a rim protector like Asik is something we want. We don't have that when he goes off the floor. Reason we don't have that is because those are hard to find. 7 footers who can move like him and protect the rim and not foul are unique. You can't force it and try another 7 footer and say we're gonna make it work. There won't be another player we can acquire. It's a unique skill set. We'll play small. You'll probably see different people at the five in our small running lineups behind Asik like Terrence or Donatas. Different players will get a chance to play the five behind Asik. We're gonna beat them with our speed and uptempo play and our rim protection will go down in those lineups for sure."[/rquoter]
Let me ask the OP a question- If the front office doesn't HAVE TO reduce the roster to 15 by October 31st, why would you make the roster cuts on October 22nd?? Trades are a different story, but like Morey himself said, and history shows, trades rarely happen this time of year. Most NBA teams' rosters are setup in the Summer with the 12th - 15th man on the roster in flux during training camp. Nobody is going to do a trade when they they can just "waive & sign" those guys at the end of their bench on minimum contracts. I think its the right thing to do to wait until the last minute to decide between- -Greg Smith -John Brockman -Toney Douglas -Shaun Livingston -JuJuan Johnson -Scott Machado -Gary Forbes for 4 roster spots when you have 7 people fighting for these last 4 spots that have decent NBA level talent. If you are the GM or coach of this team, you dont want to second guess that decision in April. You need to know for sure who has separated themselves in camp for those last 4 spots.
-Greg Smith - sign him to D-League for now. -John Brockman...cut. -Toney Douglas -Shaun Livingston -JuJuan Johnson -Scott Machado- sign him to D-League for now. -Gary Forbes That would give us... Lin Martin Parsons Patterson Asik Douglas Livingston Lamb Delfino White Jones Motiejunas Morris Forbes Johnson I like Greg Smith, and think that he has potential, but he is still very raw. Ditto Machado, who is an excellent prospect, but must work on his shot. If Livingston's knees pass the physicals and management feel that he can play without incurring injury, he will be an awesome addition to the team. If management have any doubt, Machado will take his spot. Brockman is all out hustle, but I already cut him on my NBA2K13, he is just not good enough to play in the NBA. Should we take a flyer on Greg Oden, Fesenko or Whiteside to back up Asik?
Izak- -The Rockets cannot assign Machado and Greg Smith to the D-League if they are NOT part of the final 15 man roster. If for some reason the Rockets cut both players, they will be unrestricted free agents, and free to sign wherever they would like, and with WHATEVER NBA/D-League team/Euro team they want to sign with. Most likely if the Rockets cut either player, its a low chance they will re-sign with RGV knowing that its unlikely that the Rockets see a long term future with their team. Especially Greg Smith, since he has been in their system for the past 14 months, and been shipped back and forth from the D-league. -Right now, I would say that Machado, Forbes, and Douglas are safe bets to make the team. The last roster spot is really a toss up between Smith, and Livingston. Brockman and Johson seem to be as good as gone given the lack of PT either has gotten even in preseason unless something crazy happens this week. Brockman unfortunately hasn't been healthy enough to fight for his spot, but Johnson is perfectly healthy and STILL can't find rotation minutes even in preseason games. Not a great sign for his future with this team. Those 2 guys(Smith & Livingston) desperately need to make a significant impact this week to secure that spot. They also deserve the chance to show what they can do with one more week in camp.
