We might be sellers, but only in the same way that we always were. We want to trade 3-for-2, 2-for-1, or pick up somebody with real talent, like J-Will. Those teams that are prey give up 1-for-2, 2-for-3. We're getting more calls than before? Great!
Expirings are valuable to teams in specific situations. If you're $10 million over the cap, and you let a $5 million contract, you're still over the cap, and have not gained the ability to sign anybody that you couldn't have, anyhow. OTOH, if you're $5 million over, and you let a Yao Ming's $17 million salary expire, you're now $12 million under, and you can get a Kevin Martin for that price. Expirings also help you get below the LT, and they help you get closer to the cap, so you can more easily get under it later. Having said all this, it's actually better to stay up near the LT, provided you don't have bad contracts. For, when you drop salary, you are generally dropping team talent. Once you have a few bad contracts, though, it gets very tough to get rid of those contracts - you have to bribe other teams to take them off your hands.
I wrote I don't think it will be enough,but I admit I felt Phiily might look for salary relief plus picks/players. I didn't mean to imply that Budinger would be the main piece here.
In this particular deal, Magic Demanded Martin probably because they had another deal on the table getting two scoring wings. Why decline a trade for Richardson and Hedo unless you're trading for someone equal or better? Magic weren't looking for just salary dump, they also wanted talent and scoring. Who else from the rockets would equal not only the talent Magic got in the trade, but also the salaries they would need to be matched? Now unless other teams start offering crap for Rockets players whose values are obviously higher than the teams would offer, then we're still "buyers."
Lowry, Budinger and Jeffries with the added bonus it gets us under the cap. Brooks / Lee Martin / Williams Iggy / Battier Scola / Hill Hayes / Miller
Martin wasn't available last year, until he was. A lot of players will suddenly become available right before the deadline.
Agreed... but the offer you quoted still doesn't come close to getting a guy like Iguodala. That was my main point.. we're not going to get these guys for peanuts.
We have Brooks, Bud, and Twill. How many high level prospects does one team need? Or have you given up on them already?
lol @ any of them being referred to as "high level prospects." Blake Griffin is a high level prospect.
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. The faster the Rockets start rebuilding the faster the we will become contenders again.
Sorry to say it, but Philly is a playoff team right now, there is no way they trade him now on a 7-3 run, and if they do so, you better come strong, because they will demand, as they´ve done in the past even after mediocre season/records PeAcE
Just be glad that other teams are calling about players. That means that this team has talent that other teams covet, even if it is just mostly role players. The fact that our two biggest long term contracts (Martin and Scola) are both players other teams covet (and could be traded easily if made available) is also a nice change. It could be a lot worse. You could be one of those teams on the Arenas for Rashard swap. This team is not contending anytime soon without swinging a major trade but.... they're NOT in salary Hell til Eternity like a lot of teams are...and they have a lot of talent... vets and younger players...
That would be a PISS POOR decision !!! I saymove all 3 now and get something in return. There are no free agents worth having this upcoming season, plus the unknowns in the CBA could change everything you could hope to achieve financially
Your theory is not sound for the simple fact we made amove to get Terrence Williams instead of unloaded guys. Morey wont make a move to get better anyways so more teams are figuring maybe he just wants to sell all the parts now? Right now nothing is happening because Morey is not letting his intention being know by that one small Terrence Williams aquisition. Yes I am happy until we find out which way he is going. Yaos situation? You kidding us? You didnt expect Yao to put us into this situation by this seasons end? Well that peoples faults if they didnt expect this to happen with Yao...
Let me just tell you this. Its your non moves that have made teams figure we are not buyers and that we are now sellers. So to the non move wanters to improve this team? We should ask you are you happy the other teams now think of us as sellers for not making moves to improve our team more?
considering the rate at which these superstars or pseudo-superstars are demanding trades, I would take the Daryl Morey route of collecting assets instead of rebuilding through the draft. I know not even one player wanted to come to Houston, but things can change pretty quickly when the right circumstances arise. By tanking, we need to waste away at least three seasons. I am not sure if Les would be prepared to do that. And I already think we have the right core for a championship. we just need a guy who can block shots and that "trade demanding" superstar
Signing Yao would be dumb. but the other two could be valuable at the right price. Somehow, I always see Chuck Hayes as a rocket forever types. He is too involved with what we do -- summer league attendance etc. So I think Chuck would be re-signed for sure. Shane may head to a contender.
I'd bet Morey is loving every minute of this. He'll try to figure out a way to fleece the other GM while pretending it's to the other team's advantage. Dork Elvis must be one bad-ass poker player.
We're in the same position we were in last year. Morey has tons of assets at his disposal, he just has to pull the trigger on the right deal. He's gone after high draft picks before. Last year, he actually turned down Amare. I really wish that went through, but I can understand why Morey walked away. Having a firesale does nothing for us. Free agents aren't coming. The only way to proceed is to trade for either a disgruntled star or a high pick. We still have that opportunity. Save tanking for next year, after the new CBA cements the landscape.
Hayes will definitely be worth his contract to us. Battier, too, but he has trade value. Yao? If he still wants to give it a shot, and he reduces his price ($10 million, I'd say), we will probably keep him, unless we can get something really good in exchange for his contract. Why do we keep Yao? Unless we have LT problems, or we are missing opportunities to sign players because of our LT situation, he's an asset, and he isn't hurting us. As an asset, he might help significantly in a given year, or he might not. Plus, he remains as a contract that we can trade, not to mention his marketability to China. It is actually hard to build up team salary (and hence team talent) to the near-LT level, which is the sweet spot. Even if we could get significantly under the cap, to enable us to get an important FA, we would then spend a few years building up our team salary / team talent to get back up there. We wouldn't be quick to cut somebody like Yao; if anything, we want to trade his contract for somebody else's.
