I think Morey's fascination with Gasol is over... But I think by season's end Robinson and D-Mo will have the PF position on lock. This team could use more of a Kenneth Faried type over Gasol and Robinson is a manimal 2.0. Can out run guards and play above the rim and D-Mo has plenty offense. This team is way to fast for Gasol.
Black Mamba(with Bynum, Odom and Phil Jackson) didn't get past 45 wins until Gasol was given to them.
Starting to think we won't go after Howard or Gasol. They are to set in there ways as far as there careers are concerned. After this trade I see us going after Kevin love who is a L.A./Pac10 guy like Harden. If d-mo continues to play well and if Daryl can snatch a mid 1st rounder for either Robinson or T-jones. I can see d-mo/delfino and a 1st round pick for love going down.
Would rather look at Smith or Hickson before Gasol. In order for me. 1) Howard 2) Aldridge 3) Love 4) Smith 5) Hickson 6) Milsap 7) Gasol
He took them to the playoffs the last 3 seasons he was there and they dropped to 27 games as soon as he left. Let me repeat, Gasol was worth 27 games to Memphis, and 15 additional wins to the Lakers.
Bynum is like a box of chocolates you never know what your going to get and Phil if I recall correctly didn't suit up that year! If you think Gasol was the main reason then fine have it your way but I'm not buying it!
Maybe before the Memphis trade when he was full of youth but at this point i'd look at these guys up top before even mentioning an aging Gasol if your looking to compete for years.
If I'm not mistaken, both love and lma are under team control until the summer of 2015, which would make the time to deal them if they don't recommit between July 2014 and February 2015. And I serious don't see either team trading those players before that time. So you'd have to consider how we'd use the cap space and have a spot gap to help us contend for all of next season and possibly the season after until either of them become available. Pau seems like a good stop gap considering you can get him for 1 year instead of signing someone lesser than the fa options on a multi year contract taking us out of the running.
Morey is patient and I think if he goes after a big name player he's going to wait to try to get his chubby hands on LMA or Love because one of those two teams are going TO HAVE TO MAKE A TRADE. Especially Minnesota because Love is not staying. Or do like a lot of teams are going to do and wait to see if LeBron opts out his contract. And also _ Lin, Asik, and Parsons all become free agents at the same time. And if all three keep improving they will not come cheap. Morey is going to wait to see if Robinson can play. He even wanted to move up to draft him. I
I'm a little nervous about this summer and I should probably have more faith in Morey to do the right thing. Personally, I don't want Smith and I don't want Bynum. I would much rather Howard than either of them and I would be just fine with a short term acquisition of Pau. I have seen a lot of people put a lot of their hope into the free agency this off-season but if Dwight resigns it will take a lot of the wind out of it I think. I want another superstar as much as the next guy but I would be happy to watch this squad develop into next season. I just am not excited about anyone entering free agency outside of Dwight. I can't see anyone else elevating this team to a sure contender that might be available.
While I don not really want either one of them, I would much rather have Gasol over Dwight. Gasol has proven that he is able to work with a superstar player to win a championship. Dwight has only proven he is selfish and will b**** and whine when he isn't happy causing locker room problems. Gasol fits much better than the "Me First" Dwightmare.
That's where we disagree. If Portland and Minnesota wait until that window, their potential return package shrinks tremendously. Teams that aren't on the "wish list" of Aldridge/Love have one season or even less to try and sell them on the new environment. Even teams that are on the wish list (like the Lakers were with Howard) are at risk because the player can't re-up until the contract expires, and all it takes is one year with fluke injuries or off-court distractions to sour that situation. Other teams, like Houston this year in the Josh Smith derby, are unwilling to give significant assets because they're under the cap and can sign him in four months, if they want, without giving up anything. Plus, the "fallback" option for Portland/Minny of a S&T is less likely under the new rules. Bottom line is that under the new CBA, there's more leverage than ever for prospective free agents and more risk for the teams acquiring them... and I think situations like what happened with the Jazz and Deron (traded year before contract expiration season) will become the norm. It's a big risk to wait until the last year... just look at what happened with the Hawks this month and their efforts to move Smith. Teams aren't going to be willing to give anywhere near fair value unless they have more than one season contractually guaranteed.
My post wasn't really in response to the point of this thread or challenge your thoughts on the matter. However its my thoughts on the current topic of Rockets acquiring a 2nd star this Summer and the backup plan. I just didn't want to create a new thread. Sorry for any potential de-railing that should occur. -As for hoping to acquire Gasol off the amnesty wire.... Its been reported that its highly doubtful they Amnesty him even if they resign Howard and go deep into the lux tax. The will surely exhaust every single trade option first even if it means dumping him for expirings. If he hits the amnesty wire, teams like Atlanta, Phoenix, and Cleveland surely will bid Gasol up on a contract piece WAAAYY bigger than 6 mil since they will have the cap room, and I believe the piece of the contract they acquire will only be for the remainder of his current contract... So one year. No way he goes that cheap on a one year deal. The best way to acquire him is to package expirings and just enough assets(2nd rounders, a young player, etc) to get him via trade.
if we dont get howard, we skip this year and wait till next season, I wouldnt lock anyone up if they are not worth it. I might even suggest taking this FA off. Next ones amazing
I disagree because it depends on player and if they are really worth max money. We all know Smith and Milsap aren't worth max money it so that is why they are available and their teams are giving them up. With LMA and Love, Portland and Minnesota aren't going to trade him because they know they have all the leverage when it comes to money. That is why Dwight isn't going any where unless he's willing to give up 30 million bucks.
What would be the downside of taking on Gasol on a large 1 year expiring contract? How would this hurt the Rockets in any way? If another star player came available during the season, the Rockets actually would have better flexibility to acquire that player with a large expiring like Gasol.... Remember the T-Mac expiring contract?
Why did Orlando trade Dwight, then? Why did LeBron and Bosh commit to Miami without knowing if they'd have S&Ts? Money isn't everything. These guys want exposure and to be on the big stage, and it's not going to happen re-signing in a small market for a team going nowhere. The point of the Smith example wasn't to look at it from the Atlanta side (i.e. why is he available?). I referenced it to illustrate the lowball offers they got from others around the league. There are plenty of teams that like Josh Smith, including the Rockets. But no one was willing to give fair value (even relative to him as a non-true-max guy) for Smith given the uncertainty of his contract situation. Same happened with Dwight last summer. The only team other than the Nets/Lakers (the two on his list) to seriously make a play for Dwight was the Rockets, and even our offer wasn't as good as it could be because of the contract situation. I think the Blazers/Wolves might string it out until the February 2014 deadline, to see if they can get some traction with their younger players and such. But unless their fortunes change dramatically, I think at least one gets dealt by this time next year... teams lose too much leverage by waiting until the final season.
Nothing related to basketball, but man I do not want to see an ostrich on the court, that is all. I just dont like him. But if he makes us better im down
At least you are honest about it. I do feel like that's a big reason why people dont like him, but would NEVER admit it. They would just go on about how he's apparently old and injury prone even though he's the same age as Hakeem during their 2nd championship run(not comparing him to Hakeem on the court), and this is probably his first real significant portion of games he has missed during the regular season due to injury. Add in everything he does overseas with the Spanish National Team in the Summer and its pretty obvious that he is a true iron man. If you dont like the guy because he's annoying looking, or ugly that's fine, but dont try to sell me BS that just simply isn't true about him as a basketball player. If the Rockets strike out on making a major acquisition this Summer, Pau Gasol on a 1 year contract makes much more sense than getting locked in long term with a sub par all-star PF for 5 more years on a toxic contract like Josh Smith will carry with him. Gives the Rockets a better player, and much better flexibility moving forward to acquire someone like Kevin Love, or LMA.
