45 replies to this topic

[Rahat Huq]

If the Rockets waive Dalembert and drop Courtney Lee's cap hold, they can get to around $15-$16million under the cap. It's probably a moot point as New Orleans would likely match any offer, but I'm wondering, is Eric Gordon worth blowing the bank?

I was extremely impressed when we played them in New Orleans. But my biggest fear is a Detroit Pistons situation of wasting inordinate sums of money on mediocrity like Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon. Now Eric Gordon is better than either of those guys, but is he worth tying up the max?

You'd have Dragic and Gordon locked up throughout their primes, but to high dollar deals, and no flexibility left to pursue a major contributor. Is that a nucleus around which you can build a title contender? I lean towards no, and therein lies the problem. There are just so few 'true max' guys that I don't know what you can really do without overpaying someone. If you don't overpay, you're left with no talent..

[Stephen]

Yes,but...
Gordon has all the tools,excellent shot,ability to get to the rim and draw fouls,decent passer,highly competitive on D despite size,mentality to take the big shots.
But,he's missed nearly one-third of his team's games with injuries. You're really rolling the dice giving him a huge cotract. The talent is worth it,but will his body hold up?

[Stephen]

Here's one I'd have to think about.
Kevin Garnett at $10mil/yr for 3 yrs.

Suppose Morey is able to pull off a trade for Gasol or Bosh or Howard and dumps Martin for pick and Cap relief.
You've got your star big man,but you're teaming him w/Patterson,a Euro rookie and perhaps an ancient Camby and or another rookie.
Wouldn't signing KG look pretty good? But what if KG's late season surge was his last gasp? would you take the chance?

[Rahat Huq]

If it were Gasol or Bosh, KG wouldn't agree to come here. I don't think he thinks highly enough of either of those guys to spend his last years here. If it were Howard - that's tough as you wouldn't know yet if he intended to re-sign. If Dwight walked, you'd still be on the hook for 2 more years with KG. I think I'd do 2 years for KG, but 3 is a bit too rich for me to swallow.

[areteejay789]

also, KG has been pretty clear that he doesnt want to/like playing center. He wants PF, as does Bosh, so they wouldnt fit together. And Gasol is more of a PF and is better there than at C, so i doubt KG would work with them. Maybe with howard, but i dont honestly see KG coming to houston

[Rahat Huq]

KG seems to despise Bosh.

I think Daryl would definitely inquire as, for his production [on team defense], KG might be quite a bargain at $10million.

But I don't see any chance of him wanting to spend his last years here. He's going to go somewhere where he can win some more titles. Even if we get Dwight, that still won't seem like a possibility to him (even though i do think that team would contend.)

I could see him landing in Chicago, reuniting with Thibs.

[rockets best fan]

I don;t think I would touch gordon or garnett. I agree with Stephen (gordon stays hurt much to often). I think after the mc grady and yao situation we would want to stay away from players with a long injury history. he is good (a star level talent), but it don't mean a thing if you are hurt all the time. as for KG.........if KG begged me on on his knees and told me he would play for free I still would say NO. we don't need over the hill players, we need young rising talent. while the rockets have this flexibility we can not waste this chance to wing for the fence, and right now KG would be an infield grounder

[blakecouey]

I like that Im not the only one that would entertain getting KG, and Ive been an advocate for Gordon since preseason. I dont particularly care for KG but you can't deny that even though he is getting older he is still productive and is still great defensively. I may be off base, but 10m/yr seems a bit high for him though at this stage in his career it should be less about money and more about championships. This fact may push him toward another team, as without other changes even adding KG we wouldnt be championship caliber. Regardless, I think if we can attract a true star there is a possibility he would play for Houston.
Eric Gordon is a risk, if you want to get into it though it seems all SG's are a big risk there seem to be more 2s that get injured than any other position(I have no statistics on this, merely what I see). Examples would be KMart, Wade, Eric Gordon(that 1/3 of his teams games missed is painful to hear), Brandon Roy(5 years then retired due to knees), Stephen Jackson(11years in the league, never played a full season), etc.
Back to the point of the original topic, Gordon is a star when he's on the court, and I'd be ecstatic if we were able to get him. Whats the odds of him demanding a trade if NO matches an offer? He's young still but he was doomed playing for LAC during their darkest days and when he was traded to NO they fell to the bottom of the West. If he doesn't want to be traded would we want him anyway? Doesn't that show some kind of lack of winning attitude?
I say we look into OJ Mayo, in his 4 years he has played all but 11 games, and he isn't starting for Memphis anymore. Comparing STARTER stats with Lee he is a 6-7ppg upgrade as well as a slight REB/AST upgrade and has great durability. He is also likely a cheaper alternative than Gordon.

[rockets best fan]

blakecouey:
I agree on gordon. oj mayo is a better option without giving up to much flexibility. we got lowry from memphis when they were overcrowded at point guard now we can do the same at shooting guard. signing mayo along with what we have would be a winning backcourt to me. everyone on this sight seems bent on trading lowry, but I am not. I say we keep both him and dragic in addition to lee. I even believe we are going to be alright at sf with parsons, morris. where we need help is in the frontcourt. we have montieujnas coming over and that will be a big help , but we still need much more. unless we can get howard or bynum then we need to keep the young players we have and continue to upgrade with draft picks. this team is not that far from being really good. I am all for trading martin and scola, but unless we are getting a major upgrade at another position we should not include any of our young players with them. teams are going to want martin not only for the player, but his contract can subtract 13 mil off the salary cap the following year. I can hear teams picking up the phone right now inquiring about him now(ring ring). if martin had worked out at sg gordon wouldn't even be in the conversation, but I don't think gordon can upgrade us that much. we have good guards we need bigs

[Lyfestyle]

In my mind, Gordon's exactly the kind of guy we should target. I assume New Orleans would match, but we should absolutely extend an offer to him.

And unless we're in a position to win a title next season, no way I'd pursue KG with a 3-year deal.

[blakecouey]

blakecouey:
I agree on gordon. oj mayo is a better option without giving up to much flexibility. we got lowry from memphis when they were overcrowded at point guard now we can do the same at shooting guard. signing mayo along with what we have would be a winning backcourt to me. everyone on this sight seems bent on trading lowry, but I am not. I say we keep both him and dragic in addition to lee. I even believe we are going to be alright at sf with parsons, morris. where we need help is in the frontcourt. we have montieujnas coming over and that will be a big help , but we still need much more. unless we can get howard or bynum then we need to keep the young players we have and continue to upgrade with draft picks. this team is not that far from being really good. I am all for trading martin and scola, but unless we are getting a major upgrade at another position we should not include any of our young players with them. teams are going to want martin not only for the player, but his contract can subtract 13 mil off the salary cap the following year. I can hear teams picking up the phone right now inquiring about him now(ring ring). if martin had worked out at sg gordon wouldn't even be in the conversation, but I don't think gordon can upgrade us that much. we have good guards we need bigs

I dont think there is any way we can keep Lowry, Dragic, and Mayo would be great, but I think we're about 26games removed from any shot at keeping both Lowry and Dragic, Dragic can play the 2, but his preference is the 1, and he will undoubtedly be given an opportunity to do that elsewhere. Not to mention that if we did that we'd likely have less bargaining power with Mayo as he is probably looking to start wherever he signs, and I don't see the three of them being too excited about splitting minutes equally in the two positions.
You're right about the 3, with Parsons/Bud/Morris(with some improvement) we are solid here.
The frontcourt, the biggest need that we have.. If the Lakers do not pick up the option on Bynum they are retarded, plain and simple window lickers. I also don't see them trading him for anyone other than Dwight, and without a commitment on an extension that is even a bad idea. Now Dwight might be a real possibility, it has been discussed at length here .
All I'd like to add to that is, if we were able to get Dwight in one of the trade possibilities listed on that topic, would we be better going for Deron as well, or keeping either Lowry/Dragic(whichever isnt involved in the trade) and getting an upgraded SG such as Mayo.
More or less which lineup is better:
Williams
Lee
Parsons
Patterson
Dwight

or

Dragic/Lowry
Mayo(or other similar talent/contract..not Lee, as then its obviously not as good a lineup)
Parsons
Patterson
Dwight

And the other end of the question, would Mayo be enough to lure Dwight for more than one year.

I must say I think we're more competitive from top to bottom in lineup #2, what we give up at PG we would be upgrading at SG.
Purely hypothetical, as most likely none of us have even mentioned a lineup we will actually play next year.

[rockets best fan]

blakecouey:
I am not in favor of chasing deron williams. if we keep lowry and dragic to me that is equal to williams at less money. if we sign mayo he will be the starter at sg. I wouldn't assume there is no way lowry and dragic can work out. now patterson is where you and I disagree, to me he is a reserve player not a starter. if montieunjas doesn't work out we must seek another answer at that position. to me this is the most talented team we could possibly put on the floor
pg lowry/dragic
sg mayo/lee
sf parsons/morris
pf montieunjas/patterson or scola
c howard/FA signee

trade martin's contract, bud,scola or patterson, and draft picks for howard. as for howard I think if we can get him to houston we have a very good chance of keeping him once he realizes what kind of talent he has around him

[Rahat Huq]

I personally don't think Mayo is that much better, if at all, than Courtney Lee.

[rockets best fan]

I personally don't think Mayo is that much better, if at all, than Courtney Lee.

I disagree mayo is an elite scorer. he's not as good as gordon, but he won't cost as much either. mayo is not as good of a defender as lee, but he does play defense(unlike martin) the combo of him and lee would ideal.

[blakecouey]

Mayo isn't Gordon, but he is an upgrade over Lee, even at a backup spot Mayo's numbers are up there with Lee's starter stats. If it werent for Memphis' depth Mayo would have probably continued to improve as well. Because of our attempt at marc gasol last year Memphis likely won't match an offer for Mayo, unlike NO who would be lpsing their best piece. I just think its a better option than Gordon, if were wanting to bring in a max guy we'd still have plenty of room afterwards. And this year, Patterson surely didnt earn the starter spot but give him an offseason after he gets his ankles worked out and maybe he can write it off as a bad year and not regress further.

[majik19]

OJ Mayo averaged 12 points a game this year. He's not an elite scorer.

And I agree - he is a better offensive player than Lee. But he's worse defensively.

I wouldn't roll the dice on Gordon just because of injury history. He's a very good scorer. Does that make him a star? Kevin Martin (was) a very good scorer. But never was a star.

[blakecouey]

OJ Mayo averaged 12 points a game this year. He's not an elite scorer.

And I agree - he is a better offensive player than Lee. But he's worse defensively.

I wouldn't roll the dice on Gordon just because of injury history. He's a very good scorer. Does that make him a star? Kevin Martin (was) a very good scorer. But never was a star.

Mayo wasn't a starter this year(or last), so yes his production has decreased from his first two years when he started every single game for the Griz. When Mayo was a starter he was averaged 18pts, nearly 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. When he began coming off the bench last year, he dropped off a bit but there is a direct correlation with his mins/stats. His minutes went down about 1/3 as did his points, yet his rebounds, assists, and steals all stayed relatively the same, and his turnovers fell to under two a game.
I am not saying Mayo is a cure-all for the Rockets, but he is an upgrade over Lee, even if you lose some defense. Also you can say Gordon is a better player, and the stats will reflect it, but I don't believe Gordon alone would do much for us aside from possibly being a more entertaining option for a star. If I were management though, I'd be skeptical of Gordon due to his injury issues, which you don't seem to have with Mayo, and being able to count on your starter to be there 82 games a year(or at least 70+) is worth the loss of 2-3pts/game and +1reb -1ast.

Anyways, the more I talk about Mayo the more I'm intrigued by the possibility of getting him in a Rockets uniform.

[Lyfestyle]

Anyways, the more I talk about Mayo the more I'm intrigued by the possibility of getting him in a Rockets uniform.

Where is this Mayo stuff coming from? We need a 9 or a 10. We've got plenty 6s and 7s.

[Rahat Huq]

Where is this Mayo stuff coming from? We need a 9 or a 10. We've got plenty 6s and 7s.

I have to agree here. I like him a lot - very versatile, good shooter etc....but he's not a difference maker. Daryl Morey can get O.J. Mayo's in his sleep. The real issue is getting a cornerstone in here.

[blakecouey]

It comes from the FACT that if we do intend on finding a star, of which there arent many available, we will be giving up either starters, or quality depth in most if not all of our positions. Scola, Martin, lowry/dragic, some say any of our 3s. So who's left to play in those roles? One decent pg regardless of which, Lee, Parsons hopefully, Patt/motie, and hopefully that star in Howard(the only true superstar at this position remotely available). At that point we have a substantial amount of cap space left. The object should then be to upgrade if possible, I see the weakest link there as Lee, although the 4 probably needs work too unless patt improves(I cant say about Motie as I've yet to see him play, and the NBA is a different animal than he is accustomed to). Some say Deron Williams, with him we get no more upgrades the cap is spent. Guys like Mayo, KG, etc that have been mentioned could all come in an add quality depth or upgrades to starter roles, which in my opinion will make our team better all around. The reason i think Lee is the weak link is because of the games he started i didn't see nearly the player i hoped he'd be, offensively. You can say defense wins championships, but without points you cant win either.