14 replies to this topic

[Red94]

New post: Should Houston make a run at Gasol, Smith, or Millsap?

[phaketrash]

I like Millsap a lot, and sort of like Gasol, too. Gasol's 32 isn't that bad, esp. as you noted, his technique and skillset are still there. He doesn't rely on athleticism to power through his opponents. Athleticism dies out earlier and isn't as useful in the long run for big men (see: D12). That is what worries me a bit w/ Millsap and Smith. Both, of course, are much younger so this is somewhat a moot point.

I don't think your hypo deal w/ Utah can happen since we dont' have a first to trade (until we make playoffs and give ATL ours), so I can't imagine Utah parting w/ Millsap for even less. But regardless, I have a feeling Utah would rather part ways w/ big Al before Millsap.

Trading for Gasol, as you mentioned, is near impossible w/o moving one of our 4 'core' pieces, but I'm really not against moving Lin for Gasol. His skillset is a bit redundant w/ the way the team's currently run. I'd rather give up Lin than make up for it by trading a ton of depth/young assets.

[timetodienow1234567]

I like Gasol, but that price tag would keep us from getting him. He wouldn't clash with Asik that much since Asik isn't really an offensive player. Having a starting 5 of Lin/Harden/Parsons/Gasol/Asik would be great, but we would have ZERO depth. We would have to give up Delfino, Douglas, Jones, Morris,etc... Getting Millsap would be great though. We wouldn't have to give up much more than Douglas, Delfino, Jones, and one other guy.

[phaketrash]

Exactly timetodie. That's why I think a trade for Pau must include either Lin or Asik...but giving up Asik would be a mistake imo. Asik's worth a lot more to our team than Lin is. Throw in Lin and the deal for Pau (along w/ maybe LAL giving us D.Morris too) is not that bad at all.

Lin Delfino 2Pat or MM...or alternatively, Lin Douglas Aldrich 2Pat or MM. We wouldn't even have to give up Jones or DMo.

His $19M comes off the books in 2014, which is perfect. He'd make us instant WCF contenders, though not NBA Finals contenders. That may not be what we as fans care too much about, but make no mistake, Les and Morey care about it, esp. since it does not funk up our long term (2014 ) plans. That FA is much better than this yr's. I mean, who would we even spend the cap money on?

1) Small pieces that expire in a yr
2) JSmith, who WOULD mess w/ our long term plans and not make us contenders
3) Millsap, who is awesome might might also mess w/ our long term plans and not make us contenders

Gasol or Option 1 are the safest choices, imo, but Gasol = more wins without REALLY sacrificing too much development when it comes to our young assets. Man, I'm starting to really convince myself of a Gasol trade haha.

[timetodienow1234567]

The Lakers wouldn't want Lin. 8 mil to a backup is steep. They would have to add Parsons and Jones to there. Why shed salary just to eat part of it back???

[phaketrash]

Oh I know LAL would ask and want Parsons. That might be a deal breaker for us. I know personally I would not want to give up Parsons. I like the idea of a Gasol trade (centered around trading Lin and some pieces/expirings), but I mean I like getting Millsap for the right amount or anything else not named JSmith almost just as much haha.

Either way, we have like $7M in cap space. Even if they had to eat up Jones' $1.5, they're still shedding more than $5M, and with where their payroll is at, that $5M is a LOT more than $5M lol.

$8M for a backup is steep, but so is having a $19M unhappy man brooding on the bench. LAL might agree w/ those that believe Lin can thrive in a situation where he gets the ball more...not just someone relegated to a spot up shooter. And don't forget, their coach is D'antoni! Last time that happened for Lin, it worked out pretty well hahaha. If LAL will go w/ D'antoni partly for his pairing w/ Nash, I don't know why they wouldn't at least consider Lin for similar reasons.

Also, don't forget that Nash is on a 2 yr deal and is 38/39 this year. Guy can ball, but he's old. He isn't a long term PG option for LAL in all honesty. Lin coming off the bench gives them that spark (where Lin can dominate the ball) and lets Nash/Kobe rest (depending on what other piece we throw in the trade, i.e., Toney Douglas). LAL already sits Nash a lot and he may not even be around for too much longer. Lin, while not a "sure thing" investment, is not a bad take for LAL. Their options are limited.

Finally, again, I'd like to point out that Gasol's K comes off the books in a year. 2014 FA is such a big offseason! This one kind of sucks. Just on a 1 yr comparison, I would rather have Gasol than JSmith and maybe Millsap (bigger prob w/ the Sap is the length of his K). He would help us make the playoffs THIS season and free up our pick after this yr instead of being the 9th seed and having fewer assets. This is a great way for the Rockets to take advantage of the cap space we have against desperate teams (ex: LAL).

[phaketrash]

I have to disagree malky.

I think Rockets are one of the few teams where a deal w/ Gasol IS plausible. We can help them shed salary. Few other teams can do that. We can give them some of the pieces they need, though not the best of what they would hope for. Lin's contract is just a yr longer than LAL would like, but maybe not, depending on what they want to do w/ Nash...and Nash is old/on K for just 1 more yr anyways. As long as the deal is centered around Lin (not saying it is probable that LAL and HOU could agree to this, but if they did since, as I have argued above, it is somewhat win-win for both and so at least plausible), HOU can absorb Gasol's contract w/ easy.

JSmith being moved to HOU before the trade deadline seems improbable, but not 0%. I haven't thought too much about this mainly because I don't like JSmith for our team.

Wow, I would cry tears of joy if Utah agreed to give us Millsap for 2Pat. I would jump on that in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, there is 0% chance that is happening. No idea why Utah would want to do that w/ them coming off the books anyways. Millsap is a pretty valuable trade piece indeed, but 2Pat is not the asset they want back. The whole point is Utah wants to clear their logjam of PFs. To get another PF, and one that is worse to boot, makes no sense. 2Pat is not nearly valuable enough for them to want to move Millsap to us for, so compounded by being a '4' and there's no way Utah will do it.

btw, welcome to the forums lol.

[Cooper]

Gasol is possible if Lin is included maybe going to a 3rd team, I'd rather overpay gasol for 1.5years than over pay smith or milsap for 4-5 especially if we had to trade to overpay for milsap/smith. Yeah gasol doesn't fit our system but our system isn't a playoff system anyways. He's not being used right by the lakers and still has a little left in the tank. I wouldn't mind milsap or smith they're good players but the new CBA was made to try and prevent teams giving near max or max contracts to guys like that.

[blakecouey]

I'm to the point where I would rather pass on Gasol than help the Lakers. I'm enjoying them sucking it up this year. It's hard to want to pass on Gasol after his Olympic performance, but he's not even a shadow of himself of years past. I believe Smith has more upside than Millsap, but that Millsap may be the better choice at the moment.

Ultimately I would be equally interested in finding a replacement for Lin as I am for finding a PF.

[tombrokeoff]

im with ya...if pau was the piece to put us over the top and into championship contention, then fine, but its nowhere near that, and hes not a future piece, so pass.

[timetodienow1234567]

I'm to the point where I would rather pass on Gasol than help the Lakers. I'm enjoying them sucking it up this year. It's hard to want to pass on Gasol after his Olympic performance, but he's not even a shadow of himself of years past. I believe Smith has more upside than Millsap, but that Millsap may be the better choice at the moment.

Ultimately I would be equally interested in finding a replacement for Lin as I am for finding a PF.

While Lin is not playing great, neither is Asik. Are you looking for upgrades there?

[blakecouey]

Asik hasn't had near the bad stretch that Lin has. A week ago he had 3 double doubles in 4 games, and is ALMOST averaging a double double for January(his worst month as a Rocket so far). It's hard to fault a guy for not being offensively productive when he wasn't brought in for his abundance of offensive production-be thankful for the 9+ points he gives you. Lin on the other hand has far underplayed the expectations placed upon him.

[datruth]

Asik is a defensive presence on a horrible defensive team. Not sure Lin problems are on Lin or Mchale. Gasol, Smith will cost 20 million and a lot of questions. Millsap is more of a team player doesn't mind getting dirty and tough. Asik can't catch a cold in the paint. The main problem with this team is Mchale. If you gauge this team talent compared to other teams in the nba they are in a good position. If you compare this team coaching compared to the others teams in the nba. This team is at the bottom.

[phaketrash]

People seem to complain so much about Gasol not being a future piece, so therefore pass. Who this offseason IS a future piece? Cousins is not going to be moved any time soon since the new owners will want to "take stock" and the real good FAs are in 2014 and 2015. Gasol's contract ends in 2014. He wouldn't help us win a championship, but we'd go deep, which is VERY GOOD experience for our developing players. They get better through winning rather than losing. Les would also love it because he's a businessman. This helps him make more money without giving up on longterm championship goal.

Again, the only other alternative that makes our team that much better while allowing us to retain 2014/2015 flexibility is a flurry of small moves or no moves. That's a viable strategy, but it seems to get us to the same place but with fewer wins in between lol. 2013 FA sucks.