Horford, Bazemore, Anderson, Gordon, Durant & Harden's extension. . . _____________________________ _____________________________ http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/17092284/nba-houston-rockets-free-agency-roller-coaster
They could have gotten Bazemore and Anderson. Just would have to juggle around some contracts. Maybe Anderson's deal isn't as high. Lots of levers could have been pulled if both parties are motivated.
My personal take on why Horford did not choose Houston and preferred the Wizards and Celtics is he saw those ROSTERS and the teams moving forward and just felt more comfortable with them and their "stabilities". He probably didn't like the Rockets role players and the uncertainty of Harden free agency coming up. The Rockets fixed this shortfall by locking up Harden and getting Anderson/Gordon as high quality role players. Which now positions the team to fix that team shortfall perception for the next Free Agent chase next summer.
I thought this passage was interesting: Olajuwon isn't just our Icon. This is proof of how well respected he is and how important his presence continues to be to the Houston franchise.
Didn't realize Harden's deal was capable of restructuring for future potential free agents. That's pretty cool.
Is that what that last sentence meant? I really didn't understand that but it sounded like there is some wiggle room with his contract somehow? Maybe team options or players options like Lebron, Wade, Dirk do every year to try and sign a max FA into cap space and then get resigned using bird rights?
Some good stuff in there, especially in light of the days upon days of "maybe he'll meet with us, maybe its secret" stuff. DM, Harden, and the organization aren't/weren't as "out of the loop" as everyone here thought. Sure, it's not great that he didn't want to meet with the Rockets in the first place... but they got their quick answer, which is great. As for Horford... dodged a bullet there, imo. too old, contract crazy, no longer that much of a difference maker. Would have liked Bazemore, as it would have given the organization flexibility to make trades from the wing position, but its not like they got beat out by someone. Bazemore went back to the place and staff and organization where he's comfortable and still getting paid. The ONLY things that seem weird, seemed weird when they happened and still do: - The whole approach to going after teammates. Horford/Bazemore. Anderson/Gordon. Granted, in both cases its a backcourt player and a frontcourt player which is needed. - The eventual all-offense signings of Anderson, Gordon. But generally, all the meaningful FAs or ones I would have targeted resigned with their teams or at amounts even crazier than Anderson at $20 million There's a couple choices you can question. Gordon or Courtney Lee at similar numbers? Tyring to get a cheaper option like a Seth Curry (2 years, $6 million), Dedmond (they tried, he wasn't interested), etc.
Bazemore and Horford were horribly overpaid by their respective teams. Neither of them would have made a significant difference for us. Horford is no longer young and has never done anything in Atlanta for all these years. Baz more has proven nothing other than having potential. For us, Gordon and Nene received reasonable to cheap contracts. Anderson is overpaid at $20M per, but he is a guy management and fans have wanted for a long time. All in all, short of getting a superstar free agent, Morey did well this offseason and the best part, it ain't over yet!
I would have rathered pay Bazemore 72 mil than Anderson 80 mil or Eric "Healthy for 35 games" Gordon 57 mil.
Not sure if some of yall had a chance to hear Coach Kelvin Sampson on the radio this morning...talking about what he thinks about the current Rockets, and his take on James Harden with MDA... plus the potential impact of Eric Gordon... Spoiler <iframe allowfullscreen width="600" height="150" scrolling="no" src="https://www.iheart.com/video/kelvin-sampson-pgs-71916-27163209/?embed=true&autoStart=false&share=http://sports790.iheart.com/media/play/27163209/&siteid=589" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" ></iframe>
in an off-season that seemed to point to our inevitable doom... i am quite pleased at the outcome and optimistic at our outlook.
Although they offered Bazemore big money, he was not even on Houston's radar until they ran into his agent. You say sloppy seconds, I say value. Eric Gordon will have more of an impact in MDA's system than Bazemore would IMO. With Horford vs. Anderson, you may have a point though. But considering the money involved and system/team fit, Anderson is also better value even though he is a tier below Horford.
