78 replies to this topic

[areteejay789]

Josh Smith can't be relied on. He has the body of Lebron James and the mind of J. R. Smith. That is not someone you give max money to. I think the problem with Jefferson is the $$. We paid Dalembert 10 mil a year or right around it. So Jefferson would command essentially the same money. Do you think 15-20 min of Jefferson a night is worth that? Especially when it would take us out of the running for someone else? If the Bulls amnesty Carlos Boozer do you think the Rockets bid on him? I'm not a huge fan of his, but getting him for a reasonable price sounds like a Morey play.

I think Al jefferson would get more than 20 mins a night for us... If we can get him at an average salary of below 15 million, I think it is worth doing, but not as a first option. Id really prefer to get someone maybe one little step above jefferson (bynum, bosh, howard, marc gasol) if he is going to be paid what i think he will get (60 mill over 4 years). If we cant get one of those top level big men i'd prefer we got 2 players in the 10-12 million/year range to help alleviate some of the burden from our backcourt to create shots, rather than a max type contract for a player who isn't quite a max player.

[sircharles]

why chase a PF b4 we know what we already have at that position. you do remember t-jones and d-mo don't you?

im talking about in the off-season. and derrick favors is better than both players mentioned, but hopefully they can get on the same level or surpass

[amacbrooks12]

I wouldn't touch Carlos Boozer , not even if he was free . Dont forget he is a PF , we already have Patterson, Jones, and D-Mo at that position . And in IMO Patterson is better, younger, and more valuable than Boozer so theres no point of trying to get him ( especially since we need to get Jones and D-Mo minutes so they'll reach their full potential )

Al Jefferson is someone I was begging to have last year, it wouldve been a huge upgrade at C and we would've most likely made the playoffs. Aquiring him now would upgrade our scoring at the 5 but Asik does everything else so much better than Jefferson . So I wouldn't touch him either but that's an honorable choice .

[Chichos]

I wouldn't touch Carlos Boozer , not even if he was free . Dont forget he is a PF , we already have Patterson, Jones, and D-Mo at that position . And in IMO Patterson is better, younger, and more valuable than Boozer so theres no point of trying to get him ( especially since we need to get Jones and D-Mo minutes so they'll reach their full potential )

Al Jefferson is someone I was begging to have last year, it wouldve been a huge upgrade at C and we would've most likely made the playoffs. Aquiring him now would upgrade our scoring at the 5 but Asik does everything else so much better than Jefferson . So I wouldn't touch him either but that's an honorable choice .

I agree that Boozer is unpalatable. I think today he is better then any of the 4's we have. But it does nothing for the future. Same with Jefferson. We do not want to be perennial 2nd round outs. Which is why, as a fan, I say let's stand pat for now. Any trade we can make has become much more complicated because of our lack of large contracts.

But I am not Les Alexander, and he loves to squeeze out every win he can get. I would not be surprised to see a few older veterans on this team before the trade deadline. Let's all hope his trigger finger doesn't get too itchy this year. I still think one of our young guys need to be that final piece. And any trade we pull of now will definitely cost us one of them.

[Cooper]

Jefferson will get max money, and to me he isn't the right fit for the rockets he's a little too old to fit with all of our other young guys and not good enough to get us past the second round of the playoffs so I probably would wait and keep our cap for someone better or younger.

[Sir Thursday]

I wouldn't touch Carlos Boozer , not even if he was free . Dont forget he is a PF , we already have Patterson, Jones, and D-Mo at that position . And in IMO Patterson is better, younger, and more valuable than Boozer so theres no point of trying to get him ( especially since we need to get Jones and D-Mo minutes so they'll reach their full potential )

Al Jefferson is someone I was begging to have last year, it wouldve been a huge upgrade at C and we would've most likely made the playoffs. Aquiring him now would upgrade our scoring at the 5 but Asik does everything else so much better than Jefferson . So I wouldn't touch him either but that's an honorable choice .

The reason people are (correctly, in my view) looking for PFs is because that is the position where we are weakest right now. We may have a lot of depth there, but it's not particularly high quality depth. It may turn out that way in the future, but only with the proper seasoning and there just aren't enough minutes to go around that all of our young guys are going to see time. If we were able to tidy up the rotation by trading away a couple of our average PFs for a better one, it would free up minutes for whichever young guys remain while simultaneously improve our winning chances.

ST

[rockets best fan]

The reason people are (correctly, in my view) looking for PFs is because that is the position where we are weakest right now. We may have a lot of depth there, but it's not particularly high quality depth. It may turn out that way in the future, but only with the proper seasoning and there just aren't enough minutes to go around that all of our young guys are going to see time. If we were able to tidy up the rotation by trading away a couple of our average PFs for a better one, it would free up minutes for whichever young guys remain while simultaneously improve our winning chances.

ST

this is where I disagree with you. we are not weak at PF. our young players have high upside and may surpass all of the above mentioned names if we are patient. rome wasn't built in a day you know. the positions I believe we are weakest at are backup PG and backup SG. every time we need to rest harden or lin there is a fall off in quality play. this should be our priority. also if parsons doesn't turn his shooting woes around we may need to upgrade SF. I like parsons, but 3 for 10 ain't gonna cut it. the only reason I would chase josh smith is because he can play SF. I don't like him playing PF. problem is he is a head case and that must be taken into consideration. boozer I wouldn't touch even if he were free. he is overated. yes jefferson can score, but plays no defense and can't rebound. besides I like what I have seen from both aldrich and greg smith. we need to develope our own bigs not chase other people's cast offs. I say we go with just minor tweaks this year, find out what we have and we will be in better position to make a good decision about where we need upgrading.

[Sir Thursday]

this is where I disagree with you. we are not weak at PF. our young players have high upside and may surpass all of the above mentioned names if we are patient. rome wasn't built in a day you know. the positions I believe we are weakest at are backup PG and backup SG. every time we need to rest harden or lin there is a fall off in quality play. this should be our priority. also if parsons doesn't turn his shooting woes around we may need to upgrade SF. I like parsons, but 3 for 10 ain't gonna cut it. the only reason I would chase josh smith is because he can play SF. I don't like him playing PF. problem is he is a head case and that must be taken into consideration. boozer I wouldn't touch even if he were free. he is overated. yes jefferson can score, but plays no defense and can't rebound. besides I like what I have seen from both aldrich and greg smith. we need to develope our own bigs not chase other people's cast offs. I say we go with just minor tweaks this year, find out what we have and we will be in better position to make a good decision about where we need upgrading.

We will not be weak at PF in a couple of years. But there's a difference between high upside and being strong at the position now, and we are the former rather than the latter. Patterson is a decent PF, but not an exceptional one. If you're looking at our starting lineup then I'd say he's the only one there that I don't see as part of 'the core'.

Parsons' shooting woes are a short term thing. If anything his form looks a lot better this year, and he does so much other stuff on the court that frankly it's not too much of an issue if his shot's a bit off some nights. Scoring is not what he's there for primarily, after all. Although I guess it would be nice if he could provide some points when he plays with the second unit...

I would agree with you that the second unit is somewhere that we are weak and need to improve. The trouble is, bringing someone in as a backup is a prickly and difficult thing. If you pick up someone who's too good, you end up with situations like we had with Lowry and Dragic at the end of last season, or Lowry and Brooks the year before. Competition for playing time is a good thing when you've got guys hungry to make the roster. When you've got guys who feel they should be playing both 30 minutes a night in competition (as Lowry and Dragic both deserved on the basis of their play), then you've got problems. So you've got to find someone content to play the backup, and that's not easy unless you look for veterans (Livingston was perfect...*sigh*).

The trouble with saying "Our rookies at PF are talented, they'll be good in a few years" is that a key component to getting good is having the PT to show improvement and learn. There is no way that they can all get the time on the court they need to mature with how the bigs rotation currently stands. The only way they're going to get a chance is if someone goes down with an injury or there's a trade. Sure, there'll be spot minutes here and there, but IMO that's not enough if you're looking to develop a star.


ST

[rockets best fan]

Sir Thursday:
I agree with you in that we may be strong at PF in a couple of years. that's why I would not make a trade at that position until we see what we have. the only way I don't see each player at that position getting their chance this year is 1 of the 4 PS's we have excells preventing the others from getting time. I believe t-jones has that kind of upside and so does d-mo. I believe they are the future at that position. to bring in someone else b4 we have had an adequate look at them would not be in our best interest. now on parsons I keep hearing how some think this guy will continue to grow into a better player, but I don't see it yet. it appears he may have hit his ceiling. parsons was not like the average rook when we got him last year. he stayed in college a long time. usually players who do this are better prepared for the nba when they hit it and a team all ready has a good idea what that player will become. with that said it did not surprise me last year when he excelled past morris even tho he was a much later pick. I believe morris has a higher ceiling than parsons. some mistake the fact he did not get playing time last year to believing he has limited talent. not so (IMO). the longer they play the better morris will get while parsons will remain pretty much what he is now. I know many will not agree with this view, but that is why I believe we may need a upgrade at that position. if a team with a star SF was to start shopping him the rockets need to pick up the phone. as for bringing in backups I am from the school of thought that says get the most and best talent you can all that other stuff is for the coach to work out.

[tombrokeoff]

i like what both of you guys are saying. good stuff from both sides, IMO

[sircharles]

i like that you were able to gauge that parsons has hit his ceiling after watching him play part of 1 season and 3 games into his 2nd season. parsons plays smart basketball, he is good at moving the ball, moving off the ball, playing defense and scoring when he needs to(yeah i know, he hasnt scored much so far but seriously we have played 3 games out of a long season).most importantly though is he is a smart player and doesnt make stupid mistakes. a player with parsons skill set is hard to find

[redfaithful]

IMO, the next target is one already marked in the past - Marc Gasol. Memphis will have to pay heavy tax in a couple of years, and although they have a good team they will probably not contend. Morey could help them avoid the tax like he helped OKC...

[Peckrr]

No, there is no way we could get Gasol, because the Grizzlies are really high on that guy and he is one of their best players. I think that our weakest area right now is the backup PG, i suggest probably giving Machado a shot with a couple of games. Some of you guys says PF is our weakest position. That might be true but i think D-Mo or Jones have great potential, and one of them might actually surprise us and could be starting PF (I consider White to be better off backup SF). I think Morey is going to try and get us a PF (if their performance are not so good) and backup PG by either trading for an expiring contract or free agency.

Rockets should target: Bynum, Howard, J Smith, Tyreke Evans, Jose Calderon, Millsap, Taj Gibson, Rodrigue Beaubois, Jarrett Jack

[Cooper]

If Memphis dumps anyone because of salary it will be Zbo and Gay. I don't like bynums knees unless he can come back and play well the rest of the season, plus i don't see Philly letting him go. Howard isn't coming. Smith has already been addressed. Taj got overpaid by Chicago. I like Reke at the right price also wouldn't mind Wilson chandler he's a starting caliber sf stuck on the bench in Denver I think we could get him pretty cheap as well. Otherwise hold out till next year and see who's available the rockets have plenty of time to add to their core they shouldn't just jump and overpay whoever is available just to try and make a splash.

[tombrokeoff]

ive been anti-bynum since his name first started circulating among possible rocket targets. im tired of big men with injury issues.

[rockets best fan]

i like that you were able to gauge that parsons has hit his ceiling after watching him play part of 1 season and 3 games into his 2nd season. parsons plays smart basketball, he is good at moving the ball, moving off the ball, playing defense and scoring when he needs to(yeah i know, he hasnt scored much so far but seriously we have played 3 games out of a long season).most importantly though is he is a smart player and doesnt make stupid mistakes. a player with parsons skill set is hard to find

parsons is not a good shooter and likely never will be. yes I like the defense he brings to the table, but we need more than defense from that position. defensive players can be found anywhere. we need someone who can take some of the scoring load and parsons does not have the ability to do that. we don't need battier again. we need rudy gay. someone who can defend and score. after all the work I heard parsons put in over the summer trying to improve his shooting he still looks like the same player to me. it amazes me that everyone is willing to be patient with parsons, but was ready to chunk morris under the bus. he will be the best of the 2 in time. once he learns the defenseive rotations he will take parsons job because he is the better scorer. I am not happy with either as the long term solution at that position. we clearly need to look at upgrade for that position and I expect 1 or both to be traded trying to make the upgrade.

[tombrokeoff]

i think (and this applies to any position on the floor) that unless you have a guy thats a stud on both ends (kind of rare) that hopefully you have someone who is a plus defender at each position and for those that arent good offensive players, you adjust your lineup based on the matchups. if harden and lin and filling it up, theres not a ton of need for parsons to put it in the bucket. granted i dont want him missing 10 shots a game. idk just trying to say that i think its ok to have a guy like parsons (if you think hes hit his offensive ceiling), depending on the rest of your roster.

[RocketMan]

I'm conflicted on how to feel about Parsons. I like his passing, ball handling and overall team chemistry. Parsons and Lin are already having their periods at the same the way they move on offense. He would likely shoot better if he didn't spend so much time shooting threes. He's a great slasher and will catch a quick pass and take it home without fail. Sometimes he gets a little heavy with ball-handling and tries to do it himself, which is where I have seen him have some messy turnovers. That is somewhat a reflection of his confidence. At no point when he is on the floor do I not feel like he wants to be there or thinks he isn't good enough to play anywhere. That confidence tells me he's got nothing but improving to do, so I guess that means I want him to stay put. His shooting can only get better as the season moves along and he learns his place (not a 3-point specialist with a minor in PG).

[tombrokeoff]

RM, i agree and want to see him grow and get more experience

[Chichos]

I think Parsons is entrenched in the starting 3 until he can no longer play the wing stopper role. He can guard 2-4 and that in a must in this league. Once he finds his corner three and stops trying to create so much himself his turnovers will go way down and he will be the perfect compliment to the Harden/Lin back court. Remember Parsons came into the season being told he needed to create a lot more, now that Harden is here he is being asked to go back to his old role. That is not an easy thing for a player to do overnight.

Morris should be our 6th man / bench gunner who gets you 16 points in 20 minutes. If he can grow into that role by the end of the season I think the Rockets are in the playoff hunt. But more importantly that will be his role for the foreseeable future (Delfino is on a 1 year deal). He is not a freak athlete or an amazing position defender, he is scorer. And we need a whole lot of bench scoring. I can't see Parsons and Morris switching roles because it would play to their weaknesses instead of strengths.