Im with Deuce... Bobby Brown, Isaiah Canaan, Aaron Jackson, Briante Weber, Markel Brown, Tim Quarterman, R.J Hunter, Demetrius Jackson, Joe Johnson...Morey tried 9 different guys last season to try to find ANYBODY who could play some minutes as a ball handler during the regular season when we were trying to rest Harden/Paul or if one of them got injured. The fact that none of them worked out shows how tough it is to find a service backup ball handler who is cheap and happy to play limited minutes/games, and it's been even harder mid season. But that doesn't change the fact that we need someone to be able to make plays to help during the regular season before the rotation shrinks. Right now we are playing a playoff style rotation in November, that's a failure from the FO.
The lack of ballhandlers wasn't the achilles heel last year in the regular season. But it was exposed against GSW. GSW ran the Rockets off the line. This was one of the "take-a-ways" from that series. It is more of a forward thinking move. And it helps mitigate the Rockets offensive problems when either Harden or CP are out.
I never said we have to get "15 quality players." I was just illustrating visually the "current holes." Now, can they realistically FILL ALL of those holes? Not this season. BUT, filling a couple could go a long way. That is all I am saying.
I guess we have to agree to disagree here, i mean, they definitely rely a lot on physicality and rebounding, but they still play an iso kind of offense right? And it's not like Grant or Adams are focal points of that, they obviously rely on their best players to make plays, and those players are also the only good/decent ball handlers they have. If they can survive with George and Schroder i don't see why we can't with Harden and Gordon in a game against the Cavs. Aren't you a bit overreacting here? Genuinely asking cause you're usually one of the most rational/reasonable posters here (way more than me in fact). I mean, you're not wrong, i would like to get a decent pg (and in fact, i mostly want that for the "meaningless" regular season to give Chris more rest opportunities), but something was exposed for the Warriors too in that series, and they were the best team ever...we were up 3-2 with Chris healty. Having another ballhandler on the bench wouldn't have changed the series much imo, also cause unless we talk about an all star caliber player or someone like Lou, that player (ala Tyus Jones/Jameer Nelson) would've been probably glued to the bench most of the time for lack of size/defense. I don't see how MDA would've played that kind of player any minutes over Gordon, Ariza or even Gerald...that series were also very physical, just look at what happened when MDA got desperate and put Ryan out there for those 2/3 minutes, the Warriors literally killed us going at him, pretty sure the same would've happen with a weak/small point guard. Overall i just think our problems right now are other factors...even if again, i would like to finally get a decent backup point guard.
You pointed out two issues in finding a quality backup PG: Cheap and Limited minutes. Let's set aside the money issue first. Are there any rotation worthy guys who are happy to play limited minutes? Not very many. So the solution is, we need a rotation backup ball handler, period. That guy is supposed to be Eric Gordon, which is fine, as long as both Harden and Paul are healthy. Now you can see what's wrong with our roster -- Chris Paul's health (assuming Harden is still quite sturdy). CP3 has a history of injury proneness. Morey should know that. He is now signed to a 4-year 40M per contract. That's what is going to tie our hands. That said, I don't blame Morey for signing CP for that monster contract. There has to be some kind of agreement before we could trade for him. In a way, that 160M was pretty much an all-in gamble for last season. It almost worked. Now we are stuck with our hands tied. Solution: Find someone who is good and is happy to play spot minutes. A guy like Livingston or even Iggy would be great. But good luck with that. And they don't come cheap.
I don't think it was all in for last season with CP's contract, it was maybe like 60% last year then 30-40% for this year and next, if that makes sense. I still expect him to be awesome in the playoffs, we're jut hoping to get lucky on injuries. It's not the CP contract handcuffing us, it's the money we gave Ryan Anderson, and now Chriss and Knight. That's 20m in just dead money. Even if we signed CP3 to some insane discount like $15m per year and went back to free agency when Clint's cap hold was only $5m we'd STILL be over the cap, and only able to get players using MLE and and vet mins. I don't know who we can get as another ballhandler, it's why I added the caveat about how hard it is to find. But I was kinda suprised Morey hadn't signed some G-League guys like he did last year (about 7 or 8 of them) just to see if any can play or just anyone to pick up some minutes in our wafer-thin rotation. This afternoon I go out to the post office for an hour or so and by the time I get back it looked like Morey did just that with House. More minor moves are inevitable, but last year we were great and could afford to kick the tires on Bobby Brown, Briante Weber, Demetrius Jackson...this year we're 9-9.
Not overreacting at all. And when I say another "ballhandler" that does not necessarily mean a PG. I am more talking about a 2/3/4 type that can play WITH CP and Harden. (although a true backup PG is also needed to navigate the regular season to keep CP fresh).
Just as a thought exercise.....I am talking about Jimmy Butler or Kent Bazemore type players. Wings that can shoot and put the ball on the floor and also play with Harden and CP at the same time. We get that with Gordon too, but we need more. And Ennis and Tucker are just stand still shooters.
Lance Stephenson, Rondo could be had in the Free agent market. Playmakers from Europe in the Offseason?
I hate to be the one to break it to you but the problem of undersized PF and no quality back ups at PG has been a problem for the Rockets for over a decade.
