We all put a lot of faith in our GM's contingency planning and mastery of salary cap manipulation, but for the life of me I can't figure out how this thing plays out positively. So much is dependent of other people and as importantly, their own agendas and timing. I understand not exercising on Chandler, it allows him to get paid, establish his own number and keep his cap hit low while we look for a third star and let's us match whereas if we let it go until next years UFA we didn't have that right. But it allowed Cuban to use his one asset to, money to screw us and even induce Chandler to screw us by signing the sheet earlier than he had to. I understand shooting for Melo, Lebron and Dirk. You have to be in the game to have a shot. No big deal here. I understand wanting Bosh, he is a great fit to make the team netter, the money didn't really matter that much since we would be over the cap signing Chandler anyway. But the Asik/Lebron/Lin situations are so complex and intertwined by timing, I just don't see how anyone could be confident of pulling it off. And your trade partners know they have you at a disadvantage. They are going to want all your other assets to help you make your numbers. That is going to wipe out any semblance of bench or team continuity. So you possible outcomes are a Big 3 with no bench or a failed gambit and a team with less attributes than last years team. I'm having a hard time figuring out what the big win is for Morey and the Rockets. If you have a theory on what Morey is thinking, how the timing works and what the possible end games are, please post them. I am a huge Morey supporter but I am at a loss to see his plan.
the rockets weren't going anywhere if they kept both lin and asik anyway. it was absolutely the right move on parsons to make him restricted. we now know how easily he'd jump ship. before the dwight trade, there were those rumors of an uneasy relationship between fegan and morey too. there's a market for parsons at 15M. worst case scenario the rockets trade him to a team with cap room for a protected first round pick to houston. bobcats, cavs, suns, lakers, etc... all willing and desperate.
I was going to be a smart ass here, but I don't think your post really deserves it. None of us can possibly know what's going on behind the scenes. But let's just assume that GMs act with honor, keeping their word when they reach an agreement, otherwise other GMs and agents wouldn't want to do business with them again. Under that rule, isn't it possible that DM had an agreement in place to let Parsons out of his contract a year early for his part in bringing Dwight here, as they share the same agent? And isn't it possible that before the moratorium went down and we all knew that the top free agents would take 12+ days to decide which teams they were going to sign with, that DM had agreements in place to move both Lin and Asik to other teams? If I had to guess, I'd say Morey is thinking about ways of building a championship team. But I'd like to hold off on my judgment until the team building is finished. And even then, unless someone in the know posts exactly what is going on in his mind, we won't really know. So what's the point? I'd suggest waiting until the off-season finishes before questioning the direction of our team's building. We aren't even 2 full days removed from the moratorium yet, and you're questioning what Morey is thinking. As you stated, there are a lot of elements at play here. Let them play out.
I just wish he would've put all this MELO wine & dine/BOSH throwing max/LEBRON waiting game effort into a new coach. With a better coach we make it out 1st round last year, then use this offseason filling holes once asik & Lin are gone. By keeping mchale his mentality is has him believing, only way out the first round is getting a BIG 3, but that's far from true. we won 54 games last year, beat all the solid teams, only team we struggle with is the clippers, due to coaching and depth
Morey is trying to win a championship. You've got to bet big to do that. We have decent odds (not 100%, of course) to add a third star and dramatically increase our chances of becoming a true contender. I like that bet.
I understand in the best of all worlds: 1.Lebron announces he is going to Cleveland today, Bosh is ready to come to the Rockets for max 2. We quickly execute a deal for Lin and whomever else is necessary to open enough cap space 3. NO moves Austin and executes the Asik deal 4. We sign Bosh 5. We match Chandler 6. We use the MLE on a wing defender and LLE (replacing Dmo as back up 5?) 7. we fill out the roster with minimum contracts and keep all the promising young players we can But the odds of all that happening in sequence has to be discounted for other peoples agendas. And I am most interested in thoughts on how Morey is playing his hand right now, this week and what his Contingency Plan looks like. (because when you include the human element in anything, you own plans can go off the rails, just watch this thread for examples of how it happens, ha!)
I really would like to know why we released Parsons early. This boggles my mind. Letting him go because of Dwight seems asinine.
I understand gambling, it is statistical odds, straight up numbers. But I have a hard time betting what other humans will do. You can have a pretty good hand and get raised out of it by a gutty bluff. Releasing Chandler is a good example, my thoughts above explain it rationally, but humans (Cuban in this case) can act irrationally. Your Contingency Plan always needs to account for variables out to the extreme possibilities. i.e. Bosh stays in Miami because he likes it, NO can't execute Asik because of cap issues, takers for Lin want your whole team other than Harden and Howard, required deals don't get done in time for the next step to happen, we can't raise Max Max for Bosh and have to ask him to take a couple of million less so Riley says OK max, Deng signs somewhere else first and we lose Chandler
If the Rockets had kept him, he would have been a one year rental. This way, there is at least a chance they can keep him and still get their third star. It's a gamble, and sometimes you lose gambles, but that doesn't mean it's not worth the risk.
match and he's still a trade asset. let him become unrestricted... well, now we know the rockets would lose him for nothing. this uncertainty the rockets now face is why he'd return a poor value if traded last season.
First you say you understand not exercising the option on Parsons, then talk smack about the outcome that we all knew was possible. Worst case scenario we can get Deng who even though not as explosive on offense is a vet and solid defender and the Mavs have Parsons on a MAX CONTRACT. Parsons is not worth a max deal. They only way you get him on a max deal is if he is the 4th best guy on the team. How many years does Dirk have left? What other true max players have actually decided to go to Dallas? If Cuban's only big move is getting Parsons on a max deal, and he is happy in a club just because he got him from us...says so much about there state right now. Yeah Tyson Chandler is tough, but he is reguarly injured, and he is useless when taken away from the basket. So the Bosh/Jones line-up would take advantage of it.
"LeBron, if you're not gonna choose us, the least you could do is make a decision. Though, it'd really be nice if Chris {Bosh} could make a decision on his own. We really feel we give him the best opportunity. Unlike Chris, I'm gonna make a decision and I'm gonna have to move forward here. You talk about free agency being a circus? I have a juggling act of my own to carry out."
I know its tough for us as fans to look into all of this and be able to find anything possible. However, Keep in mind that with the FAs of Lebron, Melo, and Bosh...these are rare opportunity when Rockets are in the position of possibily getting anyone of them. You as a GM has to do anything in your power in order to be in that position, and this just doesnt take months or a year to setup, its a long time in the working. We may very well come out at the end losing all and Parsons, but this is a chance a gamble Rox must take. The backfire would be a lot greater if we just sit/wait and let this opportunity goes to waste. Parsons is what poison pill we put in when we signed Lin from the Knicks. I doubt we would match Parsons at his salary offer from Mavs. Having Parsons contract would spell us for no big name signing for the next 3 years, and that we have all the faith in the world he would turn out to be that 3rd star. Nothing to knock on Parsons, but his numbers has alot to do with playing next to Harden and Howard. how many second round players has become an all-star type player that worth 15 mills a year? Hayward was overpaid and his team will be stink for years to come with no cap flex. Do we see our GM doing this kind of move? Nope, I dont. Even if we lose out on everything, we still have next summer and their FA to look up to. One more option is that we match with Parsons contract and then trade him to Wolves for Love. Either way, I dont see Parsons will remain long term with rockets.
