Asking here more out of curiosity, but from the vets following the nba, who is the MOST LIKELY next player to be a star in Houston. I'm hearing Love and maybe Cousins, but I don't know how likely that is. Is it Smith in Free Agency? Maybe lure Dwight or Bynum away when their contracts expire? Millsap (although not sure he is a star)? Realistically, who could I see in Rockets red at the beginning of next season?
how can you call smith a star if he hasn't even made the all star team once? He was robbed on a few occasions though. Either way, smith wouldn't turn this team into a contender. I want Cousins or Love.
HELL NO to Bynum. No more busted stars on long, huge contracts please. Easiest would probably be Smith or Millsap, but I don't think Millsap is talented enough to bring the team to contender status and I don't think Smith fits well with what the team needs out of a 4. Dwight or CP3 leaving LA seems extremely unlikely. Doubt they'd take a smaller contract (no birds rights max) to play in a less glamorous city, and the Clippers at least are in contention right now. Wouldn't sleep on the Lakers either, too much talent to keep sucking it up. So... hell if I know. I don't think anyone can predict it. Who would have thought we'd land Harden? You just have to keep, develop and build your stable of young trade assets until something random happens and you can strike. Smith is probably the easiest though- I believe he's a free agent this summer and we have max cap space.
Josh Smith is okay but i feel like Patterson and Morris is just as well playing under this type of offense. What we need is a TRUE SUPERSTAR, not a just a decent player, but a superstar like Harden. Someone like Howard or Baynum. It's too bad this summer free agency don't have many. Chris Paul is great but i don't want Lin to be replaced. He and Harden are doing just fine. The only 2 possible positions that can be replaced is the SF and PF or even Center position although i don't want Osik to come off the bench because he's the foundation of the defense. So, therefore a superstar in the SF and PF position will bolster the offense. Getting Ginobili to play the SF position will be great but he's old. Josh Smith to fill the PF position is okay i guess since there isn't a true world class superstar out there. I don't want any Millsap or Jefferson. They're just decent players and not warrant max contract. Maybe we can sign Chris Paul and trade him for something bigger.
Pau Gasol for the rest of this season and maybe the next one too. Gasol to help lure Llull who I believe can be the third wheel in a big 3. He's Lin & Douglas rolled into 1 player. When Gasol is an expiring contract next season he can be used as a trade asset either in a S&T or simply trade for Josh Smith, Love, or Cousins. All these PFs have been disgruntled with their management/coaches at some point.
I feel like LMA and Love are the ideal pieces to pair with but they are under contract for 2 more seasons guaranteed. Since that is the case, you want to be good now but not kill your shot at getting these guys in 2015, you need to offer high dollar, two year deals, with a team option for a third year to guys like Paul Milsap, Josh Smith or Andrew Bynum.
Josh Smith is a lot better than people here think. He is underrated because at times he takes bad shots so he doesn't seem like a smart player. While his offensive game is average, on the defensive end he is the real deal. He completely changed the game last night in the 3rd quarter when he blocked 2 or 3 shots in a row. If it wasn't for Delfino making timely 3s we could have lost, mostly due to Smith. Right now he is the best player on a team that is 19-10. And for the past few years he has been a top 15 player in the league, having a bigger impact on the game than his teammate Joe Johnson(why they haven't missed a beat without him). As far as fit, Smith can knock down the occasional 3 as the stretch 4 that we want on offense. And on defense, paired with Asik, OH MY. I think he would be transformative for this team on the defensive end. Overall I think Smith is easily an allstar caliber player. The question is, is he good enough to put this team over the top and give up all flexibility for? Tough call.
Jeremy Lin is already signed to a contract. The team has enough money to throw at another existing star.
What about renting dirk nowitsky for year and a half. His contract will expire when bosh and a couple other big names are in free agency. Smith milsap and Jefferson would make us better but not real contenders. Dirk can space the floor and that lethal on foot fade away in the post. The only problem is that it would be hard to make the salaries match. What do y'all think?
If Harden is as close to Jordan as there is these days, then the Rockets don't need another star. All they need is a shutdown defender.
The real answer is this: The star player to pair with Harden will be whoever happens to be the first star player that Morey actually manages to acquire. As the past few years show us, these guys don't grow on trees and you never know who becomes available and whether your team can acquire them. One note I would add is that the Rockets should not blow their cap flexibility on signing a good-but-not-elite player to a big contract which his performance/potential does not warrant-- for example, what Toronto did when they signed Hedo Turkoglu. The one thing that changed this year is that HOU is now a more attractive "relocation target" for an elite free agent or disgruntled star (i.e. the next Dwight/Melo/CP, etc.), so you don't want to miss out on the next real elite player by using your cap room on a player a couple steps below (to me, this means guys like Millsap, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, etc.).
