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[Red94]

New post: Houston Rockets decline to match on Chandler Parsons, sun rises Monday morning
By: rahat huq

All of my initial reactions to this story are on Twitter.

• This is not the end of the world.  Friday, when Chris Bosh spurned the team, was the end of the world.
• I am definitely shocked by this news.  As I had written over the weekend, I fully expected the team to match on Parsons.
• I had been operating under the premise that even after bringing back Parsons, the team would still have the flexibility to make another impact move.  The staff determined that that would not be possible.
• If bringing back Parsons means that that is essentially your team, that that is it, are you ok with that?
• In response to the above, many of you have answered in the affirmative, wondering when the tinkering will ever stop.  One reader asked, quite poignantly, "when will Morey's final team ever happen?"  I'd raise that one notch: Morey is in a race to realize his "final team" before Dwight Howard's prime expires.  Problem: Dwight Howard's prime is expiring.
• Ariza is roughly similar to Parsons, we can all agree.  But today, you're a worse team than you would have been had you matched on Parsons, simply by not having both Parsons or Ariza.  Though you keep open the hope, albeit slim, of drastic improvement via a later trade.  This whole thing gives rise to fascinating philosophical basketball questions: at what point do you stop?  at what point do you stop trading the present for hope on the future?  The Rockets could have gone all in this year, and they would have been better than they probably will be.  But on the flip side, they would not have been as good as they possibly can be if the right trade comes along.  Is that a wise gamble?  I don't know.  The clock is ticking on Dwight Howard's prime.
• Unless it was the case that letting Parsons hit free agency was a condition precedent to Dwight Howard's signing, on the part of Dan Fegan, Houston's handling of the Parsons situation goes down, unequivocally as the biggest blunder of Daryl Morey's career.
• The team could have brought back Parsons at a shade under $1million next season.  Now, in hopes of securing him long term, they've allowed him to walk altogether, to a conference rival.  A horrible miscalculation.
• This offseason can only be classified as a complete and unmitigated disaster.  Nabbing a star free agent had been Houston's ultimate end-game all along, as they had refused to take back multi-year contracts in any trade made in-season (see: fake trade deadline, Asik).  They pushed forward all of their chips and whiffed.
• There is much ire this morning directed towards Daryl Morey.  I don't know if that's justified.  As I've been saying, this was a colossal miscalculation on his part, but I can never blame a guy for swinging for the fences.  He had a clear and coherent plan and it simply backfired.  Sometimes in life, when you take chances, they don't pan out.  I have to wonder whether those of you so furious with Morey would prefer he just aimlessly sign the likes of Mo Taylor and Moochie Norris.
• It appears the "he only treats his players as assets brigade" has found it convenient to rear its head over this turn of events.  Again, I have to ask, if Morey didn't "treat his players as assets", we'd still be rolling with a nucleus of Chuck Hayes, Trevor Ariza, Kyle Lowry, and Aaron Brooks.  There would be no Dwight Howard.  You can't have it both ways.
• One wonders what caused Morey to exude such confidence regarding an Anthony/whomever signing by going so far as letting Parsons hit free agency.  It almost makes me feel this was a condition set by Fegan.
• I have agreed with the plan all along and am still in defense of it, in hindsight.  But I think it has to stop now.  They need to use the flexibility saved in a trade in-season, or towards future trades.  But I do not support an eye towards 2015 free agency.  That game has become too great of a gamble.  What we've learned is that Dwight Howard was the outlier, not the norm upon which to bet futures.

[timetodienow1234567]

Lin was not a good fit for the starting lineup because he was a point guard that had sub-par catch and shoot abilities. He improved those while he was here, but not enough to stay. Lin needed the ball in his hands to be effective as a play maker and with Harden as the primary ball handler and Parsons as the secondary playmaker, Lin's greatest strength was redundant.(this post isn't about lin by the way just making a point about how we might not have lost much with Lin since we had Parsons, the absence of both will be more noticeable).

 

So we lost our secondary and third option playmakers and are left with only Harden. While Ariza is your typical 3 and D wing that will fit with Harden, he's not a playmaker. So we still need to fill that role unless we believe Beverley can take some of that slack up. I'm afraid that asking Bev to do more will expose the flaws in his game and rather than be a great asset, he'll struggle next year with more responsibility. Normally that wouldn't be a huge problem with a great system in place, but our system is predicated on driving and dishing and I don't see us being able to be as effective with Bev/Ariza as the primary options(when Harden sits) and as the secondary options when Harden's in the game.

 

 

Secondly, while we're probably not going to slide very much, if any, in the regular season win/loss column, I don't see how we beat the Blazers/Clippers/Thunder/etc... without a second big to defend the power forwards. If we move Dwight onto them, we lose our rim protector with all of those guys able to hit long 2s/3s. 

 

 

On a side note, I'm waiting to judge this offseason for a few days, until the rest of the free agents are signed. But if it ended right now, it was a disaster.

[rockets best fan]

@Rahat

I disagree. I don't know if Fegan had some sort of wink wink deal with Morey, but it does sound possible. I don't think we lost that much ground off last years team. Parsons and Ariza are close enough in talent to minimize the drop off at SF, moving Lin is addition by subtraction and I didn't want to see another year of Asik's pouting. SO WHAT DID WE REALLY LOSE BY SWINGING FOR THE FENCE? Parsons isn't worth 15 mil per under any conditions. ask yourself this...............if we sign Parsons knowing what it will do to our cap......are we then good enough to be on level with OKC? how about the Clippers? fact is Morey knows we aren't as good with Parsons to compete with those teams and won't settle for 2nd best. we are trying to build a championship team not just a good one. your notion of panic seems to be that we are somehow wasting D-12's prime. I disagree with you on how long and how much he has left. we have not neared panic stage. I want to win the championship tomorrow too, but it's a process and one that is very hard to short cut. I STILL BELIEVE IN MOREY. he hasn't made any move that I would not have made myself. he didn't have the advantage of looking into a crystal ball. do I wish things had turned out differently.......YES, but I still think when confronted with our problems Morey responded correctly. with Parson and some other tweak pieces we were not going to win the championship, so don't tie yourself to that team........that's what Morey really did and I agree with that opinion

[Doug]

I tried to post this and it didn't seem to work, so my apologies if the below appears twice.  

 

* * * 

 

I disagree that Morey made the wrong call about making Parsons a restricted free agent this year.  It was entirely unforeseeable that someone would offer Parsons a max contract.  It’s entirely irrational for the Mavericks to do what they did, and they are going to pay for it by not having an elite team for the next few years.  It was much more realistic that he’d be offered something in the 9-12 range, which we could have matched.  That was preferable to his being a free agent in 2016 where he could go wherever he wanted, including going to a team that could give him more money and more of a starring role.  Moreover, the salary cap keeps going up each year, so Morey might very well have believed he could get him for a lower number on the market this year compared to next.  Additionally, he might have thought the fact that he was a restricted free agent might have suppressed his value a little bit.  Thus, at the time he made the decision he did, I think he made the right call.   

 

Moreover, even in retrospect, I think it was the better decision because I think Ariza is a significant upgrade over Parsons.  I think we all agree that Ariza is a better defender, which is something this team needs.  Moreover, I think Ariza is a slightly superior offensive player.  Ariza’s true shooting percentage last year was 59%.  Parson’s was 56.5%.  One talking point of every article about Ariza is that he was a more efficient scorer last year -- and that it was because it was a contract year.  But the numbers tell a different story.  Last year Ariza shot significantly more corner threes than he had in prior years in his career.  Per NBA.com, he shot 180 corner threes last year (hitting them at a 45% clip).  The prior two years combined he shot 124 (and hit them at a similar rate).  Four years ago, when he played for the Rockets, he shot only 89 corner threes (hitting them at a 37% rate).  Thus, there is every reason to believe that Ariza’s increased offensive production will remain at a relatively similar level as it was last year, given that the Rockets encourage corner threes.  His increased numbers are really a function of his decision to take more efficient shots.  Moreover, he’s also a slightly better rebounder than Chandler, albeit he gets less assists.  Moreover, you must remember that the Rockets play at a very fast past, whereas the Wizards played at a very slow pace.  According to espn’s numbers, the Rockets played at the fifth fastest pace, whereas the Wizards played at the nineteenth fastest pace.  That means Chandler's per game numbers will be artificially inflated a bit compared to Ariza's.  Thus, even assuming Parson’s improves his game this year -- and remember that Parson’s shooting percentages actually decreased this past year -- I think Ariza will likely be a slightly better offensive player than Parsons.  So, we have a better player at a better salary.  Also, for those who value such things, Ariza is a veteran who has won a NBA championship. 

 

I also wonder if Ariza conditioned his signing on the Rockets declining Parson’s option.  I could see Ariza not wanting to play on the same team as Parsons, given that he would eat into his minutes.  If the choice was Ariza on his contract or Parsons on his, I think it’s a no brainer who you choose. 

 

Finally, the team will be better next year.  The team lost a few games early because of the inability to play Howard and Asik.  We have a lot of younger players who such improve, especially Jones.  And, as I said, Ariza is an upgrade over Howard.  That could easily work out to a 4-6 game improvement, which could make us a 60-win team.  

[Cooper]

Current roster we are much closer to the 8th seed than the 4th we had last year. Parsons would have been overpaid but he isn't Amare or Boozer  it wouldn't be hard to get out of his or Arizas contract we weren't locked into anything anymore than we are locked into a mediocre team as currently constructed. Our defense won't be much better unless Jones figures out basic principles and Harden suddenly feels the need to actually try and our offense got worse with Harden being the only real off the dribble threat. 

[bob schmidt]

Yes, the sun rose this morning. That being said, I did not hear the rooster crowing. Seems that he was upset that someone, a Cuban, had raided the henhouse...

 

Said rooster surveyed the havoc wrought by the unwelcomed raid, and faced the new reality facing his prized clutch. In addition to the singular loss of CP, several key pieces responsible for last year's success also must be replaced for a successful upcoming season. No, there will be little to crow about unless something quite magical is upcoming.

 

Having waxed poetically, now let me express myself more clearly... Houston really laid an egg over the past couple of weeks, and it should have been predictable. Maybe Mr. Morey has finally outsmarted himself. Parsons was a budding star created through a successful draft from an unlikely second round draft position. Prediction: His locker room presence will be sorely missed, as will his production.

 

So, if there is to be a resolution that changes things from my perspective, we need to see an unlikely miracle sometime soon. Trade for Love or Goran Dragic and I might just hear the local rooster crow as a future sunrise looms. Otherwise, our current henhouse will probably find it difficult to scratch up enough wins to even make this year's playoffs. Sometimes you get chickens, and sometimes you get feathers. At this point, you can't see the chickens for all the feathers...

[rockets best fan]

@bob schmidt

Parsons a budding star? what player have you been watching? Parsons talents had peaked. what you see is what you get. he is a very good role player........not a star. hence my point he didn't deserve star money

[timetodienow1234567]

Would you have paid him 10 million? Because in 2 years the projected cap space is 90 million so both are about 15% of the cap. I think these new contracts should take that into account. While it's overpaying him now, that third year is not as bad as it looks. 

[rockets best fan]

@TTDN

Parsons contract is a poison pill. not only does he make too much. it had a15% trade kicker that prevented it from being used in trade and he could opt out after 2 years to go for an even bigger deal at the same time as D-12. if the Rockets had sign that offer sheet we would only be kicking the can down the road to create a bigger problem in 2 years

[Alituro]

The Rockets' bolstering and fawning over Parsons in recent weeks was all part of the plan. Their public statements about their intentions to re-sign him (at any cost) was followed by a wink in Fegan's and Parson's direction. Morey knew one of his adversaries would jump at the chance to stick us with what they thought was a $15million/year max role player. But, it backfired on Cuban, and rightfully so. There was no way Parsons would command that kind of money unrestricted.

 

To Parsons: You're welcome

To Cuban: I hope you choke on it!

 

To recap the offseason so far... We got a marginal upgrade for Parsons at a discount. We've dumped Asik and LIn and cleared $16million off the books. We are in no worse position than we ended the season, if not slightly better. At least we know we won't lose what amounted to at least 8 games to bone-headed decision making from an overrated guard (is it safe yet?). And we've got cap room to make one more serious move if it comes our way, or to build up a roster of adequate role players. Either way, as I'm disappointed (of Course) that we lost on Melo and Bosh, I think the jury is still out on our offseason grades. There is something, for sure, up Morey's sleeves, either big or little, he's not done yet.

Edited by Alituro, 14 July 2014 - 04:10 PM.

[Mario Peña]

@Doug

That's a very good post and thanks for the information on some of the statistic comparisons between Ariza and Parsons.

 

@timetodie

I agree that big contracts are about to be not as burdensome as one might think in the near future once the new television deal between FOX and ESPN gets sorted and maybe next year or 2016 is the year to start throwing money around. Does anyone know about how the incremental salary cap increases will project once it begins to increase? I do not believe it will be an immediate jump but I am not sure.

 

@rockets best fan

Totally agree, you don't pay players like Parsons you find them and imagine if he had stayed how much sway Fagan, Howard and Parsons would have in 2016. No way Morey sets himself up to play that game with that agent.

[miketheodio]

 

So we lost our secondary and third option playmakers and are left with only Harden. While Ariza is your typical 3 and D wing that will fit with Harden, he's not a playmaker. So we still need to fill that role unless we believe Beverley can take some of that slack up. I'm afraid that asking Bev to do more will expose the flaws in his game and rather than be a great asset, he'll struggle next year with more responsibility. Normally that wouldn't be a huge problem with a great system in place, but our system is predicated on driving and dishing and I don't see us being able to be as effective with Bev/Ariza as the primary options(when Harden sits) and as the secondary options when Harden's in the game.

 

terrence jones is... point forward 

[bob schmidt]

@RBF

 

Budding and being in full bloom are distinctly different. If you are right that he has already peaked, then you are also right that the money is too much. That will become clearer within a couple of years. As to team chemistry, Ariza was always pouting and seemed unhappy most of the time when he was with us before... CP doesn't walk around with a stink cloud over his head, but I don't know how much you pay for that. One thing is sure, 15M is a lot of salary however you look at it.

[rocketrick]

I am in agreement with pretty much everything Rahat posted in his article. The only thing I would add is that if Morey and Alexander had decided to keep Parsons one more year then allow him to be an Unrestricted Free Agent next season, to me that is a much more bold gamble than the one they chose instead.

Keep in mind at the beginning of free agency (July 1) there was much less certainty that Chris Bosh would be in play. So I really do believe their first option truly was Carmelo. As it turned out and which no one needs to be reminded of, Chris Bosh turned out to be the guy the Rockets pushed all the chips on the table on.

Dallas clearly overpayed for Parsons and Cuban has decided that Parsons along with Dirk and Monte Ellis are his Big 3. Good luck with that, I certainly don't see the Mavericks challenging for the NBA Title with that strategy. The Mavericks certainly will be a playoff team assuming no major injuries.

Is this what everyone that is blasting Morey now wanted? By matching Parsons, the Rockets in effect would have made the statement that for the next 3 seasons our Big 3 would be D12, Harden and Parsons. Just like the Mavericks Big 3 listed above, not good enough to challenge for the NBA Title, but obviously more than enough to make the playoffs, probably get into the second round at best.

By the time Bosh finally made his decision, just hours after Lebron chose to go to Cleveland, he decided to stay where he was comfortable and be the max guy. I can't blame him for that, he has 2 rings (not of his doing, just being in the right place at the right time in my honest assessment) and he seems OK with the possibility of no more rings the next 5 years. He chose money over a strong possibility of more rings.

It has been reported today by ESPN that the Rockets are now targeting Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo. To me that makes the most sense, to continue the saga of locking in a Big 3 that can seriously contend for Championships.

Yes, the Rockets as some on this board have said, clearly have whiffed thus far and I would agree they have a weaker roster now than going into free agency. Morey still has around $10 million or so in cap room to make moves plus the exceptions, so I would clearly expect that Morey will look to fill in the holes with short-term contracts and non-guaranteed contracts when possible.

For sure the Rockets need a solid backup PG and more help in the blocks for D12 along with a PF that can do battle with the likes of Blake Griffin, Zack Randolph, LaMarcus Aldridge. I doubt Morey will find the absolute perfect free agents now that the second tier is pretty much gone, too. There could be some trades down the road, too, in season to continue trying to strengthen the team.

Finally, I am in Rahat's corner that the Rockets shouldn't try and wait for 2015 free agency. I assume if they do, it is because they exhausted all possibilities they will obviously continue to explore the rest of this summer up to the Trade Deadline in February.

Short-term, yes the Rockets are not as solid and deep. However, Morey's masterpiece is yet unfinished. And let's face it, the Lin and Asik moves made perfect sense. Neither are good fits for this roster and now other players will have the opportunity to step up and play those minutes. The loss of Parsons really hurts in my eyes. However, by keeping him one more year under his original contract and then letting him walk in unrestricted free agency after next season would have only delayed the inevitable.

[uojoe82]

The Bummer Summer,

 

Marc Stein reported that the Rockets didn't match on Parson's because they wanted flexibility in chasing star players. 

 

It's time to stop. The Rockets just let go of 3 quality pieces (Asik, Lin, Parsons) in their futile attempt at Bosh and have nothing to show for it except Trevor Ariza,

 

So lets recap the off-season thus far:

 

Additions:

 

Trevor Ariza

2015 First Round Pick from the Pelicans

 

Subtractions:

 

Jeremy Lin

Omar Asik

Chandler Parsons

Omri Casspi

2016 First Round Pick

 

 

Its safe to say that looking at this team in a vacuum the 2014-15 Rockets are a less talented squad then the 2013-14 Rockets. Looking how the Rockets transactions have affected the Western Conference it looks as though they have also assisted in making 2 teams below them in the standings last year much better.

 

Look at the starting lineups for the Rockets, Pelicans, and Mavericks

 

Rockets:

 

PG Beverley

SG Harden

SF Ariza

PF Jones

C Howard

 

Pelicans

 

PG Holliday

SG Eric Gordon

SF Tyreke Evans

PF Anthony Davis

C Omar Asik

 

Mavericks

 

PG Felton

SG Ellis

SF Parsons

PF Dirk

C Chandler

 

Just looking at the starting 5's of these three teams I'm not even sure if you could say that the Rockets 5 is the best. And then if you dig a little deeper and look at depth the Rockets finish last in that category.

 

 

The Rockets aren't done yet but there isn't anyone left (via Free Agency) that can help.

 

With the addition of Ariza it still looks like the Rockets have a lot of cap space (see calculation below):

 

2014-15 Salaries (all figures in millions)

 

Howard $21.44

Harden $14.73

Jones $1.6

D MO $1.4

Beverley $0.9

Covingtion $0.82

Canaan $0.82

Ariza $8.0

Nick Johnson $0.85 (pure guess based on last years second round picks salaries)

 

That only adds up to $50.5 Million (salary cap is $63.065 million), leaving a difference of about $12.5 million. Since it looks like the team only has 9 players so far (assuming Nick Johnson makes the team) that leaves 3 roster spots which require cap holds of about $.55 million each or $1.65 million total. That leaves roughly $11 million in cap space,

 

As we've seen so far this off season free agents aren't jumping at the chance to play on this team. And who is left? 

 

Some notable names that havent signed yet:

 

Ray Allen - Probably not interested

Alan Anderson- Good defender, doesn't offer much else

Jarryd Bayless- 

Elton Brand - yes, he's still in the league

Aaron Brooks-  Could probably just tell the post office to stop forwarding his mail to Denver

Jordan Crawford- 2013 Eastern Conference player of the week

Ed Davis- Good quality player but not sure the Rockets need another young PF

Toney Douglas- Mchale favorite

Jimmer Fredette- Just looking for the right situation?

Jermaine O'Neal- gave GSW good minutes in playoffs last year. Maybe he's got another year left in the tank

Luke Ridnour- Essentially Toney Douglas but more susceptible to sun burns.

Evan Turner- Averaged 18 ppg before the trade, only about 7ppg after the trade. Rumored to have been the reason the Pacers plummeted to end the regulars season. Still a nice player. Can be a secondary ball handler. Maybe give him 1 year $8 million and see what happens?

Charlie Villannueava- HAHAHAHA

Mo WIlliams- interesting if they signed both him and Troy Daniels 

 

Even if Morey signed the best three players on the list above the Rockets still are worse off than where they were when the playoffs ended. They also dont have any assets of value to trade for Rondo or Love.

 

Its hard to have one all-star. Harder to get 2 all stars. Near impossible to get three all stars. Not sure if its Morey or Leslie Alexander who is hell bent on having three stars but this off season has been a huge blender so far. If the last 2 years were two steps forward this season might be one step back. Not signing Parsons to keep flexibility to chase the big names? The 2015 free agent market is void of big names besides K Love and Aldridge. Aldridge isnt going anywhere and K Love will probably be traded and commit to whoever he gets traded to this season for a long term deal. 

 

No one can say that Morey isn't trying, but shouldn't he be trying something else.

Edited by uojoe82, 14 July 2014 - 05:36 PM.

[rocketrick]

Responding to uojoe82's post:

It can be argued that acquiring Ariza and letting Dallas have Parsons and his poison pill contract is more or less a wash. Ariza is certainly a much better defensive player.

Neither Lin nor Asik fit with this roster. Nothing more needs to be said about that. Remember, both were signed BEFORE the Rockets acquired Harden and D12. And both Lin and Asik is in the final year of their respective contracts.

Keep in mind the Rockets acquired a lottery pick from the Pelicans in the Asik trade. The last time the Rockets had a lottery pick, guess what, it turned into James Harden.

True, to begin this upcoming season, the Rockets will be somewhat weakened. However, I agree with what Morey said on local radio this morning, that by the end of this season, the Rockets should actually have a much better team. Will they win the title this upcoming season? Quite unlikely. But neither are the Mavericks who committed to a Big 3 of Dirk, Monte Ellis and Chandler Parsons.

Lastly, if the Rockets did match Parsons, then they would have very little flexibility to make any additional necessary moves to improve their roster. By letting Parsons go, they have ample cap space, as you noted in your post, plus with all the exceptions they now have and the MLE and BAE, they can make solid moves to shore up their roster this season and have the ability to offer the max contract next summer to the next group of free agents.

Let's face it, by not making these moves, the Rockets weren't going to get any better this season. They had mismatched players taking up most of the playing minutes and likely would have continued to muddle towards another 50-win season and quite possibly another 1st round knockout.

I'd much rather have the today's team knowing that Morey has tremendous flexibility to find new players that can fit in much better around Harden, D12, Beverley and Ariza going forward. Plus we have some really nice youngsters, TJones, Motiejunas, Troy Daniels (assuming Rockets re-sign him which I expect they will), Canaan and Nick Johnson. I'd much rather see these guys get meaningful minutes to see what they can become this season then waste 1 more year on giving minutes to Lin and Asik who everyone knows wouldn't be here for the longterm anyway and certainly were not good fits to build around Harden and D12.

[rockets best fan]

@oujoe82

perhaps the concept of flexibility is new to you  it's how we got the two stars we have. staying poised to make big moves as opportunity presents itself and not overpaying inferior talent is wise IMO

 

@rocketrick

I agree I would much rather move forward with what we have than dragging Parsons anvil contract along for the ride.

[McG]

<br /><br /><p>So: lost Parson, Asik and Lin, three of their better players (obviously not Dwight or harden, but after those two, these three are in the next tier).</p>
<p>No LBJ, Melo or even Bosh.</p>
<p>Got Ariza.</p>
<p>Yeah, disaster. I guess they can still go for Rondo or Love, but... I have a feeling big stars aren't seeing the Rockets as all that appealing. Their performance in the postseason was downright embarrassing (especially their supposed "star", Harden... Dwight, a legitimate star, was awesome).</p>
<p>So much for the Rockets. I wouldn't be surprised if Dwight jumps ship too. Then Harden can have the ball all to himself, which should make him happy.</p>

[Mario Peña]

<br /><br /><p>So: lost Parson, Asik and Lin, three of their better players (obviously not Dwight or harden, but after those two, these three are in the next tier).</p>
<p>No LBJ, Melo or even Bosh.</p>
<p>Got Ariza.</p>
<p>Yeah, disaster. I guess they can still go for Rondo or Love, but... I have a feeling big stars aren't seeing the Rockets as all that appealing. Their performance in the postseason was downright embarrassing (especially their supposed "star", Harden... Dwight, a legitimate star, was awesome).</p>
<p>So much for the Rockets. I wouldn't be surprised if Dwight jumps ship too. Then Harden can have the ball all to himself, which should make him happy.</p>

I thought they might all be gone by now.


It's hard to reason with some fans rockets best fan who don't understand flexibility (not to mention losing Lin will be addition by subtraction and Asik was a negligible factor this past season). We could get locked down and have Blazers type flexibility where fans are forced to cheer for an overpaid Kaman acquisition, what a joke.

[sax]

It looks to me as though the logic of making Parson a restricted agent was that Morey found it to be the best way to get a team with four almost max salaries and the best way to go over the cap. It makes most senses.
The bad side of it is that even though "you do control your destiny" (rockets logic for doing so) t usually the contracts offered for restricted free agent (after good seasons ) are bad contracts .
For that reason in general the best way with a player you like is to extend him.
My questions is if someone can answer .
Since could the Rockets not extended Parsons. then after signing Bosh (lets say he said yes) before the season starts offer Parsons a new contract starting this season for which ever they agree too . This way after one year they will loose Parsons for sure because they won't be able to pay him.
The only way Morey will give up flexibility is for a team he thinks can win it all