117 replies to this topic

[Steven]

the rockets have waived jon leuer and jerome jordan.

Guess I should throw away my Jordan 23 Rockets Jersey.

[Rahat Huq]

New post: http://www.red94.net/fork-road/9883/

[tombrokeoff]

id still gamble on howard if it meant keeping motie/lamb and giving up white, jones, (maybe parsons) and future picks.

[Johnny Rocket]

Last week I thought it was an absolutely must to trade for Howard. Now that we have Lin and see the potential of the rookies, I'm not so sure. So let's imagine that we stay the course with Lin, Asik, and all our other young players. Yes, we'd be bad--a roster that young, no matter how talented, is going to lose a lot of games. But that means we'd be sitting with a high draft pick (perhaps the opportunity to get the top choice) and lots and lots of cap space. And we have the Toronto pick as well, and maybe a pick from Dallas. We'd have a ton of options, and it would be exciting to see Morey go to work with all of these possibilities. So I guess Howard is still the best option as long as the deal is right, but now I won't be heartbroken if we end of staying the course. We'll be a fun and interesting team regardless.

[TheDream]

It has been fun thinking about Howard on the Rockets, but he is just so unlikable right now. I have been mildly obsessed with Royce White ever since I saw him play in college. He was the best player on the court in the Kentucky game. (I mean, I know that A.Davis is better, but the point is made) As for T. Jones, I never understood the negatives of poor focus. I always thought he was a monster in about 8 games that I watched. The young team is fun.

PG - Lin/Machado
SG - Martin/Lamb
SF - Parsons/White/Morris
PF - Patterson/Jones/White
C - Asik?/D-Mo/Harrelson

+Potentially 2 lottery picks? Mavs pick at 20.

All under 24? I know it means not as much winning, but there will actually be some excitement to see these young kids and Lin. I am in. No Howard please.

[TheDream]

Also check out the Player power rankings for the summer league. 3 in the top 6!!!

http://www.nba.com/rookie-ladder/

[Johnny Rocket]

It seems our main competition for Howard is the Cleveland and LA scenario. I couldn't figure what Cleveland has that would interest Orlando, so I looked at some of the Cleveland blogs. What Cleveland has to offer Orlando is 1) lots of cap relief; 2) several 1st round draft choices (all lottery protected, though, and from teams like the Heat and Lakers), 3) Tristan Thompson, a first round choice last year with a PER almost identical to Parsons, and 4) A. Varejao, a productive power forward on the downside of his career with a somewhat expensive contract (a somewhat younger Louis Scola). To me, there isn't a lot here that should be of interest to Orlando, except getting rid of the bad contracts. Orlando could insist on Irving and Waiters to be included in the trade, but I think Cleveland would say so no unless Bynum agreed to an extension beforehand, which seems unlikely. The Rockets would seem to be in the driver's seat, and some Cleveland bloggers acknowledge this. This is from Cavs: The Blog:

What throws a wrench in this whole thing is the presence of the Houston Rockets, who have a bunch of young players and picks. I’m mildly perplexed about why they think Bynum would put them over the top. Bynum-Irving is a lot more appetizing prospect than Bynum-Lin, but then, they’re in Houston, which is a more desirable free agent destination than Cleveland. Regardless, they’re very capable of facilitating a Howard’s departure for LA, and they would be more able than the Cavs to provide the Magic with decent draft picks (they shipped out Kyle Lowry for a Toronto first-rounder) and recent draftees (Terrence Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and Royce White).

http://www.cavstheblog.com/?p=11607

It would seem would could get a good deal, but never underestimate the irrational in the NBA.

[Stephen]

Rahat,
Completely agree.
If les thinks he can use Lin to tap the Chines/Asian markets and sell the young players the pressure is off to a large degree.
He can relax a bit knowing he can sell ads on his new network and get some fannies in the stands.
It also keeps Morey from having to throw in the kitchen sink for Dwight/Bynum,which I still believe they'll still pursue hard,but w/out desperation.

And Les can really have a cheap roster this yr if they miss out on Dwight/Bynum.
The team needs a minimum payroll of $49.34mil,but they can count Scola's buyout towards that,Lin and Asik will count $16.6mil against the Cap,but they're "only" getting paid $10mil this season and the Knicks are covering Douglas' salary,and Phoenix is paying $3mil+ of Scola's salary.
As of right now,the Cap value of the salaries for minimum payroll purposes for the 9 guaranteed Rockets,the 3 rookies and Lin and Asik and Sola is $55.4mil.
But Les only has to pay some $44mil in real money.
And just to confuse matters,Scola's salary CAN count toward the minimum salary requirements but it DOESN'T count towards Salary Cap.

[blakecouey]

Even better news, Howard has said now that he WILL re-sign with the Lakers if traded there. Look for us to be the facilitator as we have a better package than Cleveland. Although Bynum is not as good as Howard, this may also mean we dont have to take back as many bad contracts which is huge.

Link-
http://espn.go.com/l...akers-extension

[Rahat Huq]

Interesting. Like you guys, just a few days ago, I thought Howard was a must-get no-brainer. But now, after seeing these guys play, while I still think he should be the main focus, I'm not willing to give up too much. No better bargaining position than when you don't need to do the deal.

I think the team will be terrible without Howard, but if they're actually good, the exciting thing is that it means they were good because of the young players! No more useless production like Scola/Dalembert carrying the team to wins.

I really want to know what it would take to get Bynum here. If you can give up say, just the Toronto pick and take back only one bad contract, and not give up any of the rookies, that would be incredible.

[Freebird]

I think Orlando's mistake was waiting this long. Now that we've seen what the rooks can do, our emphasis will be to retain what we can, rather than trade whatever we can for Howard/Bynum. If they had pushed for a draft day trade, we would have given up all 3. Now, they will get one, a few future picks, and some cap relief.

Also, the rumored deal with CLE involves Varejo going to ORL with picks. Didn't see anything about the other players ORL wants to divest.

[blakecouey]

All I've seen is that Cleveland is unwilling to part with Irving. Seen conflicting reports mentioning Thompson and Waiters. Without them offering Kyrie Irving I don't think they can get close to what we could offer.

[Mario Peña]

I have already stated I would be fine with either path. The clear difference for me is that attaining an elite 5 like Bynum or Howard sets up the Rockets to catapult themselves into the top four teams of the NBA within 2 or 3 years. The other path would lead to being a top 8 team in 2 or 3 years. I can only imagine the battles between the Rockets and Lakers if the teams were to land Bynum and Howard respectively.

[Alituro]

I never had any fear that there was a 4th option (selling all for a second tier). every summer league game that happens and our guys perform as they have been, lessens Howards value to the Rockets. ORL made a huge mistake by not jumping on earlier offers. I think a re-signed Bynum is way more valuable than a iffy Howard. Given the right supporting cast, Bynum may be a better player than Howard, especially outside of 10' from the basket. My preferred option is to play the season out with what we have, enjoy a possible high TOR pick and our own, shed Martin, evaluate our young guys after a full season and maybe re-enter trade talks for a star. At this point, the pressure is off Houston. Second preferred option would be to acquire Bynum for as little sacrifice as possible, maybe a rookie or two at most (or Pat and Morris), Martin and our protected pick next year and maybe DAL's. I'd hold onto the TOR pick for now though. I wouldn't even want Howard at this point, no matter the cost. I'd rather deal with Bynum's on court antics (kinda fun) rather than Howard's off court BS (ever).

[Freebird]

At this point, I think Bynum *should* be our focus, if we move anything. D12 agree to extend in LA, and Bynum agreed to extend here. What does CLE have that we don't? More picks? A moveable C in Varejo? A forward in Thompson (who was *dominated* by Morris in the Big 12, as I recall). I think we can match all of the above, if we wanted to. I think the question is how much would CLE overpay to rent Bynum?

http://tracking.si.c...t2_a6&eref=sihp

[pharmag]

What about this scenario...

Howard to lakers
Bynum, turk, Richardson, Duhon to rockets.
Martin, Douglas, Livingston, Forbes, Patterson, Morris, rights to one of rookies (white is my preference), Toronto pick to magic

That gives magic an expiring in Martin, Douglas is paid by Knicks, Livingston is on a team option. Forbes is a young guy on an expiring contract, and Patterson and Morris are young players who are on team option next year and then they get a promising rookie and a guaranteed lottery pick. That is a nice mix of cap relief and young players.

The rockets get Bynum and take on 17 million in contracts which ( if hoops world is right would put us around 48-50 million). We could still sign Asik and use lee's bird rights to go over cap for him. Turk has a player option next year which is only partially guaranteed and Duhon expires next year. Richardson is the only bad contract, but maybe a stretch buyout after this year (13 million over 5 years is only 2.6 million). Rockets could then field a lineup of:

PG Lin/Duhon
SG Lee/Lamb/Richardson
SF Parsons/Turk
PF Motie/Jones
C Bynum/Asik

Thoughts?

[Rahat Huq]

Pharmag - 3 bad contracts, lotto pick and a rookie is way too much for bynum, in my opinion. I would rather just stand pat personally.

[pharmag]

Pharmag - 3 bad contracts, lotto pick and a rookie is way too much for bynum, in my opinion. I would rather just stand pat personally.

Guess it depends on how you define bad contracts. Richardsons is the only one that I see has bad. We have to fill out the depth chart and I don't know that there is much else out there that would be worth getting to fill it out (that is at least significantly better to negate the impact a guy like Bynum could have). If you take those contracts and play the year with them then next year you waive Turk and he becomes a 6 million cap hit for 1 season instead of 12million, and you stretch buyout Richardson as I said then those awful contracts become 12 million cap hit next year and then after that it is just Richardsons 2.6.

As for lotto pick, I don't want to give it up but would be willing to if necessary In conjunction with a rookie. Bynum is still young enough to fit with the youth movement but is one of the best at his position (a position that is very hard to find at that)

[Mario Peña]

Pharmag, the cost for Bynum would not require taking that many bad contracts but would definitely cost more than just Patterson and Morris. It would probably be a different combination.

Freebird, Bynum has stated he would sign with the Cavs so he would not be a rental.

Also i would like to add that I think Bynum's game would aide in a longevity advantage over Howard. Howard relies on athleticism that will errode over time plus he is 2 years older. In my mind Howard has 5 to 8 years whereas Bynum has 8 to 10 years to average double doubles and dominate defensively. I agree the center position is a rare commodity and Morey should make a serious play for Bynum.

[Freebird]

Freebird, Bynum has stated he would sign with the Cavs so he would not be a rental.

So he did. My mistake. Still think we should make the attempt, but not at too great a cost. The amount of size possible in next year's draft is sizable. Heh.

http://nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft