Houston Rockets’ Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony Free Agency Watch: Part 3

A few short, and very random thoughts.

I think most people would agree that if assuming a healthy Derrick Rose, Chicago is the clear cut, no-brainer choice for Carmelo Anthony.  Even basketball genius* Tracy McGrady came out and said that the Windy City should be the choice.  If you’re Houston, how do you emphasize the Rose angle in your pitch?

*McGrady, when it comes to personnel transactions, does not have the richest history of comprehension.  I’ve recounted this tale numerous times, but I’ll never forget the time I heard him shortly after the Francis trade on Houston radio, ripping Orlando management, saying, “They never got me any help when I was there and now they go out and get Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley?”  Seriously.

Melo isn’t an idiot and is no doubt aware of the inherent risks of tying his future down to Derrick Rose’s knees.  But how do you really hammer that down?  ”Hey!  We have two healthy superstars!  You could end up like T-Mac in Orlando waiting for Grant Hill if you do this, except you’ll be 32 and not 22!”  How do you hammer that down without being tacky?

Recall that last summer, shortly after the Howard coup, Houston management charged that other suitors (it later came out that it was the Mavericks) had attempted to smear the Rockets’ pitch by painting James Harden as an egotistical primadonna along the lines of Kobe.  You’d think a powerpoint presentation replete with ACL recovery statistics would be viewed along those same lines.  Setting moralism aside, it might not be smart business to make too many enemies.  On the flip side, smart business is always smart business.

This leads me to my final, very random point: The Mavs were right in that Harden really turned out to be who they described him as.  This became clear as the honeymoon waned over the course of last season and his true tendencies more and more came to light.  I promised I’d push this to the dormant recesses of my brain, but the overtime sequence in one of the games in the playoffs (see?  I told you I tried to forget it) that saw Houston run its offense exclusively through Dwight Howard, and its accompanying effect on Harden, was one of the most chilling sequences I can ever remember witnessing in my 20 years of following this team.  Harden literally just quit.  Apart from dumping the ball into Howard, he ceased doing anything else on the court.  The best player on this team, in the prime of his career, had quit on this team for a critical stretch of a playoff series.  For all of the slack a washed up McGrady got for a certain play against Toronto (you can look it up), that paled in comparison.  It wasn’t even close.

You won’t/didn’t see much discussion of what happened, save for some random confusion on Twitter, maybe because no one really got what happened.  To this day, I tell myself he was just gassed and had run out fuel.  After all, lack of conditioning is excusable.  Giving up on your team isn’t.

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Total comments: 26
  • Lyfestyle says 2 months ago

    I'm not arguing against him coming here. I see all the benefits the same as the rest of you, as well as some of the media. I just think there is more "intangible draw" to lob city than houston. the king wearing rockets red for years to come almost guarantees that he/we will be in title contention for the duration of his stay.


    lebron wasn't traded. he left via free agency.

    Well, no. He "chose" Miami, but then Miami offered Cleveland draft picks in a sign-and-trade to make the cap situation more tenable and they accepted.

    "MIAMI, July 10 – The Miami HEAT announced today that they have re-signed guard Dwyane Wade and acquired forwards LeBron James and Chris Bosh from Cleveland and Toronto in exchange for draft picks."

    Via: http://www.nba.com/heat/news/heat_resign_wade_acquire_bosh_james_2010_07_10.html

  • rockets best fan says 2 months ago

    I admit I did LOL on the McHale at the doctor joke

  • timetodienow1234567 says 2 months ago That last one was hilarious.
  • thejohnnygold says 2 months ago

    In the huddle, McHale looked at Bev and said "Ball can't stick!".

    Bev would say "Nah, me got noooo touches."

    And then McHale turned to Parsons and Hair would cut it off like "they would give more touches to my hot girl, not me"

    McHale had no choice but look at Beard but only saw Harden winked at Melo. A tick.

    McHale swung his head slowly toward Melo and saw similar wink and a tock.

    Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.......

    Finally, McHale would shout these in random directions as any lame duck would do: move the ball, don't stick, play hard, defense

    I wish this was actually funny. If you're going to make a snarky little post about how much you hate the state of the team can you at least make me laugh a little....is that asking too much? I mean, can we get a Celebrity Death Match style fight for the ball between Melo and Harden?

    ...After a great back and forth, Melo is going for the kill shot....he's got Harden by the beard and is about to deliver a wicked finishing move that involves balling him up and tossing him 30 feet into a trash can....swish. Melo releases the shot, but wait! Out of nowhere Dwight Howard swoops in and blocks it! Harden flies into the 5th row of the stands (where else?) and Howard spins towards Melo.

    "Give me the ball", he says.

    "Why don't you just.....mellow out",Carmelo hisses back at him.

    Dwight, quick as a cat, reaches out and palms Carmelo's head with one giant hand, twists, and lifts ripping his head clean off his neck and shoulders. He then spins around, takes two giant steps and leaps over the ropes of the ring skying 12 feet in the air and ferociously dunks Anthony's head into the same trash can he was trying to shoot Harden into.

    Standing, glaring at the crowd like the Terminator right before he kills everyone, Dwight calmly utters one phrase. "Melo. Out."

    Joey Crawford (playing the part of Mills Lane) grabs Howard's hand and raises it (as high as he can) declaring him the winner. The stadium starts playing some funky music and Dwight, Crawford, and the whole stadium all start doing the nae nae.

    DH+dance.jpg

    Or how about this....

    Kevin McHale goes to the doctor for a physical. They're going through the process, poking, prodding, etc. and it comes time for the dreaded, "turn your head and cough" moment. So the doctor has got a hold of McHale and he has coughed....and the two are just standing there.

    McHale, after a moment, turns to the Doc and says, "I think you can let go now".

    The Doctor says, "I'd love to, but the balls are too sticky"

    rimshot.jpg

    ...or what about this...

    James Harden drinks like he plays basketball..........it's just four guys standing around watching him take shots. (see rim shot above)

    ...How about this...

    Phrases never uttered to James Harden:

    Don't get so defensive

    Hey, relax man...your going to over-exert yourself

    James, why don't you call the play

    Pass the ball

    NBA Finals MVP......

  • Buckko says 2 months ago

    If faced with getting nothing or getting assets, they'll choose the assets (the Clips could just deal with other teams to make the cap room and sign him outright). Remember that Cleveland ended up trading LeBron to Miami, despite their anger/resentment.

    The clippers would have to be hopping through hoops of fire to open up cap for lebron, the clipper's only realistic option would be a S&T and Miami can just say nope.

  • Buckko says 2 months ago

    I'm not arguing against him coming here. I see all the benefits the same as the rest of you, as well as some of the media. I just think there is more "intangible draw" to lob city than houston. the king wearing rockets red for years to come almost guarantees that he/we will be in title contention for the duration of his stay.


    lebron wasn't traded. he left via free agency.

    No technically lebron was traded in a S&T and cleveland got a couple picks.

  • dbd says 2 months ago

    Do you really think the Rockets might get Melo?

    McHale trying to coach Harden and Melo during crunch time. Hack-a-Dwight. Lin Fans going berserk over lack of PT. Chandler Parsons' hot girlfriend. Great stuff. I may have to hang out here next year.

    In the huddle, McHale looked at Bev and said "Ball can't stick!".

    Bev would say "Nah, me got noooo touches."

    And then McHale turned to Parsons and Hair would cut it off like "they would give more touches to my hot girl, not me"

    McHale had no choice but look at Beard but only saw Harden winked at Melo. A tick.

    McHale swung his head slowly toward Melo and saw similar wink and a tock.

    Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.......

    Finally, McHale would shout these in random directions as any lame duck would do: move the ball, don't stick, play hard, defense

  • Dusty says 2 months ago

    Whoa... what happened to the bullet points?

  • slick shoes says 2 months ago

    As it's been proven a team need needs depth and a decent bench to win, which lebron has been frustrated about the entire time with Miami this past season. Recreating the situation in LA would be redundant even if the two superstar are better. CP has been very injury prone. The only way LA keeps it's depth while getting lebron is trading BG which won't. Thus would you rather play with harden,Howard,parsons,Beverley,Jones,Dmo or Griffen and CP caped out? Besides the other facts such as income tax, and houston has far more foreign stash players and draft picks to keep adding talent.


    I'm not arguing against him coming here. I see all the benefits the same as the rest of you, as well as some of the media. I just think there is more "intangible draw" to lob city than houston. the king wearing rockets red for years to come almost guarantees that he/we will be in title contention for the duration of his stay.

    If faced with getting nothing or getting assets, they'll choose the assets (the Clips could just deal with other teams to make the cap room and sign him outright). Remember that Cleveland ended up trading LeBron to Miami, despite their anger/resentment.


    lebron wasn't traded. he left via free agency.
  • Lyfestyle says 2 months ago

    @slick shoes

    the only way I see the Clippers getting Lebron is via sign and trade and you can best believe Miami's front office especially Rileywant no part of that.

    If faced with getting nothing or getting assets, they'll choose the assets (the Clips could just deal with other teams to make the cap room and sign him outright). Remember that Cleveland ended up trading LeBron to Miami, despite their anger/resentment.

  • Buckko says 2 months ago As it's been proven a team need needs depth and a decent bench to win, which lebron has been frustrated about the entire time with Miami this past season. Recreating the situation in LA would be redundant even if the two superstar are better. CP has been very injury prone. The only way LA keeps it's depth while getting lebron is trading BG which won't. Thus would you rather play with harden,Howard,parsons,Beverley,Jones,Dmo or Griffen and CP caped out? Besides the other facts such as income tax, and houston has far more foreign stash players and draft picks to keep adding talent.
  • rockets best fan says 2 months ago

    @slick shoes

    the only way I see the Clippers getting Lebron is via sign and trade and you can best believe Miami's front office especially Rileywant no part of that.

  • slick shoes says 2 months ago

    Clippers to me are like GSW for dwight last year. Interesting circumstance, but not very realistic. Clippers would have to get rid of everyone except for CP and blake, and lebron would still have to take a big pay cut without room to get depth along with cali's brutal income tax. Basically recreate the situation he is in now with miami. Just doesn't make sense.


    younger, better players and arguably better coaching along with a billionaire owner with a new toy to play with.
  • Buckko says 2 months ago

    Clippers to me are like GSW for dwight last year. Interesting circumstance, but not very realistic. Clippers would have to get rid of everyone except for CP and blake, and lebron would still have to take a big pay cut without room to get depth along with cali's brutal income tax. Basically recreate the situation he is in now with miami. Just doesn't make sense.

  • slick shoes says 2 months ago I have to say this is pretty reassuring to me. based on that it's the heat or the rockets. I don't see lebron wanting to go to the desert wasteland that is the Knicks, I honestly don't see him playing in Dino world aka Brooklyn, I don't think lebron has forgotten the things said in Dan Gilbert's letter after the decision, so that leaves only two. I will say recent reports of the clippers snagging him scares the crap out of me.
  • slick shoes says 2 months ago

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpj6vBMD0U
    check him out


    reminds me a lot of parsons.

    I would like to also note that I am against "highlight reels". it is easy to pick out the great/terrible things a player does/does not do while leaving the other out. also goes along with the infamous "defensive juggernaut" reel. while it does showcase a certain players sub par defense, it also fails to showcase the excellence shown in other aspects of their game. just one mans opinion.
  • since86rocketsfan says 2 months ago

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXpj6vBMD0U
    check him out

  • majik19 says 2 months ago

    When McHale decided to start Beverly, he was giving in to Harden.

    I disagree - we needed more defense on the 1st unit, and Beverly is a better shooter. Also staggering Lin's minutes with Harden's maximizes Lin. There were a lot of basketball reasons to start Beverly.

  • feelingsupersonic says 2 months ago

    Not all isolation plays/players are created equally and if anyone believes there is only one kind of "iso" then it would be difficult for me to have an informed basketball conversation with some of you, and that's okay.

  • payplay2 says 2 months ago

    The Spurs and their team play dominated the Heat and their star oriented play.

    Harden is the epitome of iso play. When McHale decided to start Beverly, he was giving in to Harden. His two guards, LIn and Harden were opposites, Lin is team play and Harden is iso play. Until McHale takes charge and controls Harden, the team will never advance in the playoffs.

  • since86rocketsfan says 2 months ago

    I like the idea of adding Melo, but it is no way he can guard Duncan, Aldridge, Ibaka, Griffin, and Randolph if he returns with Memphis. The regular season will not be that bad, but in the playoffs when the game slows down we could get torched like this year against Aldridge. We need a tall physical four to bang against those guys. And I like T Jones game so he should be the other four.
    Parson's has to come off the bench or be moved, and I really like Parson, he played well in the playoffs, Melo is just better. To knickabokkaz, Lin is no scapegoat, he just was not worth 8 mill a year, and lets not forget he was paid that deal to start not be a reserve. His first year was dreadful, this season he improved, but continued to be very inconsistent, I am still waiting to see Linsanity. Lin and Asik are the only other players with high enough salaries to get back a star.
    And Red, do you think it is any way we finally bring Sergio Llull over. He can shoot well, plays great defense, and can play the point and the two. In the last Olympics he was shutting down Tony Parker, and against USA he guarded Durant alittle. He would be an upgrade over Lin and would be a good fit with Bev.

  • txtdo1411 says 2 months ago

    Cancer like attitude and losing in the first round next season in 4 games WITH Melo... Give me a break. The guy was horrible in the series, I don't think anyone is going to deny that, but calling him a cancer after two seasons is premature in my opinion. The first year we wouldn't have even been close to the playoffs without him, and last year was his first year with Dwight. How quickly we all forget his regular season play when he was dominating, and Dwight wasn't due to injuries or whatnot. Now if we get bounced in the first round next season, and it is directly related to Harden's selfish play, then I will eat crow. I just think its pretty ridiculous to call the player that made us a relevant team again a cancer after 2 seasons.

  • Knickabokkaz_2 says 2 months ago

    this is the most scary thing as you mentioned

    i think nothing will change the overall lazy attitude of this team (apart from Howard Asik and Beverley) especially of Harden, unless:

    1- A guy like Popovich or Phil Jackson is coaching

    2- A TRUE LEADER like Lebron joins them to kick their a.. and make them change their view of the game

    seriously Melo would be excellent from a talent view but overall i could see the team losing in 4 games of the first round if Defense and Leadership and unselfishness are not there

    Lin was never lazy, everyone just needed to blame the scapegoat.

  • SadLakerFan says 2 months ago

    Do you really think the Rockets might get Melo?

    McHale trying to coach Harden and Melo during crunch time. Hack-a-Dwight. Lin Fans going berserk over lack of PT. Chandler Parsons' hot girlfriend. Great stuff. I may have to hang out here next year.

  • RyanB says 2 months ago

    this is the most scary thing as you mentioned

    i think nothing will change the overall lazy attitude of this team (apart from Howard Asik and Beverley) especially of Harden, unless:

    1- A guy like Popovich or Phil Jackson is coaching

    2- A TRUE LEADER like Lebron joins them to kick their a.. and make them change their view of the game

    seriously Melo would be excellent from a talent view but overall i could see the team losing in 4 games of the first round if Defense and Leadership and unselfishness are not there

  • Knickabokkaz_2 says 2 months ago

    New post: Houston Rockets' Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony Free Agency Watch: Part 3
    By: rahat huq

    Mavs were right in that Harden really turned out to be who they described him as. This became clear as the honeymoon waned over the course of last season and his true tendencies more and more came to light. I promised I'd push this to the dormant recesses of my brain, but the overtime sequence in one of the games in the playoffs (see? I told you I tried to forget it) that saw Houston run its offense exclusively through Dwight Howard, and its accompanying effect on Harden, was one of the most chilling sequences I can ever remember witnessing in my 20 years of following this team. Harden literally justquit. Apart from dumping the ball into Howard, he ceased doinganything else on the court. The best player on this team, in the prime of his career, had quit on this team for a critical stretch of a playoff series. For all of the slack a washed up McGrady got for a certain play against Toronto (you can look it up), that paled in comparison. It wasn't even close.
    You won't/didn't see much discussion of what happened, save for some random confusion on Twitter, maybe because no one really got what happened. To this day, I tell myself he was just gassed and had run out fuel. After all, lack of conditioning is excusable. Giving up on your team isn't.


    Wow! Intervention Rahat? Glad someone of significance pointed out Hardens egotistical/ selfish/ Cancer-like attitude and professionalism. Damn and I thought it was just me.