We are month and a half ahead of trade deadline and everyone hopes that Rockets and their general manager Daryl Morey would make a push for a star player. Clutchfans mentioned a lot of players but what this team really needs and what Morey really can get? Stars at SF A lot of clutchfans members are dreaming about Melo, Granger and Gerald Wallace. They proved themselves as one of the best players at their position in last couple of years but can they really solve Rockets problems (mediocre team with bad defense)? Melo There is no way I going to deny that Morey shouldn’t try to acquire Carmelo and sign him to extension here but I don’t think it’s gonna happen at all. It’s not about market right now, we just doesn’t have enough good and quality pieces to become a powerhouse. He sees it, everyone sees it. If we would get him before the deadline, he would come to 0.500 team at best and another first round exit would try to shake his hand. He would only come there if Daryl can acquire two stars before deadline, him and someone else. And it’s gonna be a miracle. You all know that. Granger Danny is overrated in this forum. He’s not as clutch as a lot of you thinks, he’s not a great defender, can’t create for others and he definitely can’t coexist with Kevin. Kevin is the only guy in our squad whose only goal is to contribute on offence. This is his job: mark and execute and he’s doing it well. His efficiency is amazing, without a doubt. If you would pair him with Danny, with a guy that has similar offensive skills and offensive role (finisher, only a go to guy not a creator as T-Mac was) you would cut a lot of opportunities out of Kevin. And… Well. Ray Allen had to play defense, when Danny Ainge paired him with Paul Pierce. He had deadly offensive games but he realized that he should start playing defense to be effective for his team when he’s not a first or even second option on offense. And he developed into a solid defensive player, really good one despite his age and he’s getting just better and better in it. Martin can’t do that with his frame, his skills and his understanding of all little things on D. In a pair with Granger, he or Danny would have to guard premier shooting guards. They would destroy Martin one on one and they would not leave a lot of chances to Danny because he’s not quick enough to guard smaller players. It’s a fail. Martin can only coexist with… Gerald Yes, with mister Wallace. But Morey wouldn’t bring him in H-Town. Gerald didn’t realize and didn’t know how to play in Adelman’s offense and he’s not created to be a solid performer under Rick. Despite his development as a player and as a shooter in last couple of seasons, it would be a really risky move. And doubt that Morey, who’s thinking a lot about every decision, would make a trade for him. It’s not the best way to use your money and to sacrifice a cap space. Our wings are balanced right now and I don’t think that we really need to change them, to retool what we have. Martin is the team best scorer with limited defensive game. Battier and Terrence would be a perfect picks to play alongside with him and guard opponent’s best wing player. Lee would bring nice contribution of the bench and he’s not Ariza type of player: he knows his role, he doesn’t want to be a star and he’s doing everything that coach tells him and nothing more he can’t do. Williams would replace Shane as a starter in next couple of seasons and we could really live with that kind of group. Point guard position is something that you can mention but there are no solid performers available. There are no guys that can be better than Brooks and Lowry combo. Well, only Suns can change that and try to deal Steve Nash. Rockets are interested in him. It would be a great find, we would play excellent up-tempo basketball with Canadian magician but I don’t think that Robert Sarver, Suns owner, would try to deal his legend, the best player of team of the last decade, instead of giving him a chance to retire as a Sun. And he said earlier that he won’t let it happen. PF position is solid with Scola and Patterson and Pat would get his chance every time Luis plays bad and he would get some of his minutes in every single season ahead of him before he became a starter and solid contributor. Story with Shane and T-will, part 2. So we come to our main weakness – hole at C Rockets already showed their interest in Demarcus Cousins. He’s excellent player, talented and extremely strong center with bad attitude and all-star potential. Geoff Petrie maybe thought about trading him someday in the past but with his extraordinary contributions last couple of weeks, he certainly forgot about this idea. He and Evans are the team’s future for sure and he’s as untouchable as Griffin is for Clippers. Anderson Varejao is out for the season. Nene, another player from Brazil, is originally a power forward, not center. He’s a bit undersized, he can’t rebound as good as you need out of your center, he’s an average defender at this position cause he can’t control the paint and doesn’t even know how to do it. Another real solid and not overpaid bigmen are not available at this point except one guy: Chris Kaman. He’s poor man Yao Ming, with good touch, good hands. He’s ambidextrous, he has a solid midrange game, he can rebound, block shots, but he’s an average one on one defender. And if you mentioned name of Yao, you should understand that this guy is productive but injury prone. Same as our Big Fella Clippers don’t need him as an all-star caliber performer because they need to develop Blake Griffin as good as possible. He won’t have enough field goal attempts alongside their franchise player and they certainly need a defensive minded player near Blake. Rockets have no that kind of bigmen but they have a lot of assets to bring on the table for the Clippers and if Chris would come back to the court as healthy as he can be and productive as well in February, Morey would definitely make a push. Do we really need another injury prone center? I don’t know. But we can’t get anything better in the offseason cause Grizzlies management won’t let Marc Gasol go. Tyson Chandler would be overpaid by Cuban (Haywood story: Chapter 2), Nene is not what we really need…. I know just one thing: it would be awfully hard for Morey to acquire a true star player before the deadline and to move this team away from mediocre status to a playoffs successor. He would prove his magician reputation if he could do it. All of us, Rockets fans, should realize: we can’t acquire really good players at trade deadline cause NBA teams won’t shop them. Nets won’t shop Brook Lopez, Thunder won’t shop Kevin Durant, T-wolves won’t shop Kevin Love. If Rockets would acquire a high level talent it would be a really risky move. And I think that would go with a health issues (Kaman, Kevin Martin etc) instead of guy, who would have a chance to stay out of productive level even at 100% (G-force). But I’ll try to make a prediction: if Morey would acquire Kaman or another really solid center, he’ll make a push for a true star (Melo, for example, if Nuggets won’t trade him until TDL), like it was with Amar’e last year and maybe Rockets would get they lucky ticket. Their fans and organization are truly deserved it after losing two superstars in one season in 08/09. Nevertheless, it’s gonna be a long February… Thanks for reading
Good post. I think Emeka Okafor may be in the back of morey's mind aswell - a consistent, defensive center.
we just need to be a bit more patient (if possible) and try to package whatever is necessary and feasible in moving up in the lottery.
Yeah me too. Oakafor and G.Wallace would make me cream my pants. We have no chance of landing anyone decent unless they want Yao's contract.
Hate to say it but I think Scola's got to go. He's giving up points practically every possession his man has the ball. It's just sickening to watch his lack of defense. As for the C problem, I think there are two centers we should really aim for: Andrew Bogut and Javale McGee. Both are on losing teams and both are elite rebounders / shotblockers.
I'm as anxious as most to make find out which direction we're heading, but I'm not blown away by many of the current potential options....not even that thrilled about Melo. We have got to get a C who can guard the paint and rebound/block shots......not too many of those available, and they are expensive. Without knowing exactly who will be available next season or in the draft, I think we need to be patient and wait for a deal that we really like....not just a deal that we can pull off to stop the bleeding or appease the fans.
Danny Granger is obviously the best the choice. He's young, fast and can score at a high level. Dont quite understand why the threadstarter assumes he cant coexist with Martin. Iguadala is the one who I think wont fit.
I'll take Okafor and Granger. Granger doesn't rely on his athleticism and should be good for many years. Okafor is really solid defensively/rebounding.
I'll admit Scola is not the best defender especially on switching but our problems defensively is a team issue. Not just on one player. We're rotating off the best outside shooters and gambling too much trying to jump a pass.
Bobcats are shopping both SJax and Wallace. Pacers are reporting to consider shopping Granger, depending on what they get back, especially since the Collison experiment appears to have failed. I would prefer to get Wallace as SJax is pretty old and Granger doesn't drive nearly as often as Wallace.
Josh Smith & Dalembert would make a great addition to our line up, as would G Wallace, and he is going cheap, as I mentioned in other thread, Cavs T/E and possible pick. I also like McGee, who is a shot blocking, rebounding athlete who in the right environment could thrive. A line up that I believe could go deep into the Playoffs is Brooks Martin J Smoove or Wallace Scola Dalembert With Pat Pat coming off the bench, allows our offence to do its thing and we'll have some perimeter D as well as someone protecting the rim. Go get Wallace NOW! we know for sure that something will be done by the end of the month because we have the disabled player exemption. Go Rockets!
