yahoo speculation

Speaking of taking on salary: What is the most salary you'd be willing to pay for Nene?

Would you, say, take Harrington + Nene for Yao+Budinger+1st Round Pick if Nene agrees to, for example, a $13 mil a year contract extension?

 

Think about it. Besides Lowry's contract they would basically have no large contracts on the books for the summer of 2011 going into the new CBA if Melo decided to leave. Morey would still have some decent talent, huge financial flexibility, and probably would be confident to think he would be getting back assets/TE's in a sign in trade for Melo in the new CBA.

If Melo is signed then the players left on the team, with the addition of help in the middle hopefully, might complement a primary scorer better than Scola and Martin. Two players who are one sided on the offensive end.

If they traded Luis and Martin then most likely other teams/players would need to be involved in order to make it work sending possibly more talent/assets back to Houston.

 

C'mon Morey. Move your feet to Thabeet.

 

This debate is probably for a different thread but Thabeet wouldn't make as much of an impact as you would think with the lackluster perimeter defense the Rockets currently have. He simply would get into foul trouble way too easily in the Rockets defense and would be completely useless in Adelman's offense.

A quicker/more skilled big like Nene would fit more within Adelman's system, and can offer more flexibility and quicker defensive rotations.

Thabeet looks the part, has the size they need, but doesn't yet have the BBIQ and skill level to help this team win anytime soon.

If Morey wants to take him on as a project, then its possible AT THE RIGHT PRICE but thats probably a price too steep for Morey to climb.

 

As far as the DPE goes, if Morey can't do anything by Monday, go after Thabeet. Melo's situation won't be done by Monday, so Nene's won't be done either. I would just like for them to get something for the DPE before it expires. If they were able to get Thabeet now and Nene later, then we would be set.

 

There's no point in getting Melo if we're lettiing Scola go. I don't think Pat and Hill are good replacement of Luis. Getting Melo now is thinking that we can still get into playoffs, but without Luis, it's not possible.

 

Who couldnt use an extra 6 million go sweeten a deal...any deal...

 

That is TOTALLY different that what I was talking about. jopatmc was proposing that the Rockets use the DPE on Harrington with only the "promise" that the Nuggets would LATER trade Melo to them by the deadline. My point was that it would be stupid to take any other team's word on something like that, and that it served no purpose for the Nuggets not to trade Melo to Houston at the same time as the Harrington-for-DPE trade.

This. (And, yes, you do . . . but then again, so do I! :grin: )

Not sure. That's quite a lot, especially if the new CBA imposes a max salary somewhere in that range. I love Nene, but he's no "max" player. Also, for as good a players as Harrington can SOMETIMES be, I wouldn't be too pleased with being stuck with his contract for the next 4-5 years.

If all it cost was Yao's expring, Bud and one first rounder, I'd almost prefer to take Nene without an extension (and sans Harrington) and just roll the dice in free agency if Nene opts out. I'm sure the new CBA will carry over rules making it much more advantageous to re-sign with your old team. Heck, those rules may even be beefed up further.

Think about what??? If Melo bolts after this season, that would be one of the worst teams in the league. No free agent is going to WANT to come to Houston until AFTER the Rockets (hopefully) get a superstar in the draft. Even then, most top free agents wouldn't want to play with that superstar until he had already signed a max extension, thereby making the addition of other max players more difficult.

Bottom line: Trading Martin and Scola JUST to maximize 2012 cap room is simply poor asset management and is foolish considering that the rules under which 2012 will be governed have not even been finally determined yet.

 

My proposed deal of taking on Harrington would be with an already agreed to proposed deal that had some contingencies with another third team being possible by the trade deadline. In other words, Morey eats someone's salary, with a second already agreed to deal to be done at the deadline. Morey has that deal in his hip pocket and he can then go shop for a better deal using parts of the deal he already has agreed to. If nothing better works out, he takes the already agreed to deal.

 

There is literally NO WAY that scenario is possible with Morey at the helm. That would be outright LUNACY on his part.

No freakin' way Morey takes on salary without all "contingencies" for Melo being already met. If it means letting the DPE expire and then having to use the Ariza TPE to make the Melo trade work, then so be it. But what you are describing in no way, shape or form in any way resembles a rational maneuver.

(Cue clip with my favorite line from Billy Madison, by the high school principal.....)

Sorry, man.

 

From a basketball perspective it doesn't make sense to you that Scola and Martin might not be the best surrounding pieces to play with Melo anyways. Also From a financial perspective they also have the two largest salaries for the next few years on the roster?

As I mentioned earlier though, this wild theory of Scola & Martin for Melo would not make sense unless they were getting back other talented pieces as well. The value from the Rockets front office for those two players for Melo alone is too high even if they would not fit well chemistry/basketball wise with Melo. It makes sense to me that they would be pieces that could be moved anyways if Melo becomes the centerpiece for the team into the future.

Not saying that Morey would even consider make the deal without an extension being signed by Melo(even if he is pretty much saying it now), but if thats the card he was playing he at least has an exit strategy to gut the team if they made the move without an extension and Melo bolts.

Its a scary thought, and yes I agree that team would be horrible, but other GM's have gutted their rosters plenty of times in the past. That being said, it isnt something I would expect this front office to do, and I believe they are committed to winning, but this is why I have a hard time believing Morey would really make the deal without an extension in the first place.

 

It would be a deal that all the contingencies are nailed down to be executed at the trade deadline. Certain players going out and certain players coming in. Morey could agree and the other GM agree to a deal to be executed at the trade deadline with Morey having a little wiggle room to possibly send some of the incoming player to a third destination if he can work out that part of the deal and make it even better.

Not likely to happen.

 

If he goes after Melo, even though I think it's extremely unlikely, I think he HAS to do something with scola. We won't need his low post presence any more. If we get Nene also we need a pf that can defend. Chuckwagon would fill that void. But a lineup of Martin Melo and Scola isn't going to stop ANYONE, they are all poor defenders. But if the lineup is Lowry Martin Melo Hays Nene you have a much better defensive team then we have right now, not that it's a good defensive team but much better then what we are playing with.

 

No <i>Two Step</i> contingency deal will be done by the Rockets.

How can it be <i>nailed down</i> if the <i>paperwork</i> isn't sent in to the league office for execution?

The NBA can review the parameters of a proposed deal and tell teams if it will meet the required criteria - rules for a trade, but that is different than holding teams to a deal that was tentatively agreed to, but not yet executed through the league office.

 

I'm not against trading Martin and Scola, depending on what comes back. At this point the Rocket's have two best case scenarios (really just one when you put it into perspective).

Option 1: The Boston Blueprint
You could try and maneuver to make moves to get you the disgruntled superstars that turn you into a championship team. The reality however is that Boston was REALLY BAD before they were able to get better. It was because they were so bad that they were able to obtain the assets to aquire Allen and Garnett. Not to mention that they already had Pierce, Perkins (not sure where/when Rondo joined). The Rockets have no Pierce. You could argue that they may have a few young role players.

Option 2: The OKC Blueprint
And yes I know that it's been discussed a ton already. BUT Seattle moved both Allen and Lewis, whom you can make cases that both were better in their own right than Martin and Scola. Both were AllStars. What seperated OKC from the other teams is that they were able/smart enough to sell before it was too late (while they both still had value). You can make arguments that the time to move them both is NOW. Let's sell high on both and get the picks and cap friendly contracts required to get us out of mediocrity. Is it gonna suck? YUP! But, so did OKC and Boston before they were able to improve.

 

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=18578

Morey has something up his sleeve. They're all aware, by them I mean (Battier, Martin, Scola, all of the 'valuable' players so to speak)

- Trade deadline 26 days 54 minutes.

 

Yep, sneaky sneaky morey...probably the most creative way to blow up a team ever seen in the nba lol

I'd do it Nene or no Nene. Carmelo is more important than Nene, right??

 

I absolutely do not believe Alexander would endorse this. No way, no how. There are suites to sell, tickets to sell, marketing contracts to up and re-up. Those don't occur in Houston in the OKC model.

Alexander wants stars to pave the way; that's why Melo means so much. Nene? Is he star enough? Josh Smith? I could see a push made to extract Love from the tundra to the Tundra Zone.

Forget fiscal responsibility if it means acquiring a big, or good sized name.

 

I would, and believe Rox would - - if there isn't a bigger name alternative available for similar package. So, not a quick deal, one say Thursday the 24th?

 

I hope there will be a last minute trade of Yao's contract. Only a few days left for the exception to expire!!!