Rockets #1 priority should be to trade/sign for a 6'9+ Center that can guard the perimeter, run the PnR alley oop, and shoot the 3. Christian Wood would be perfect but Pistons will probably keep him. Marquese Chriss could be a fit but he disappointed last time. Needs more discipline. Myles Turner may be on the trading block. Swap EGo with Turner. Solve problems for both teams. Buy a 2nd round pick and draft Omer Yurtseven. A bruiser that can shoot the 3. Slower than I like but could give the Rockets a different wrinkle on offense. Not sure of any other prospects the Rockets could realistically get.
Rockets should review this list in offseason. Need more of these type of players around Harden and Russ.
Not those players specifically but those types. For example Ryan Broekhoff was shooting 40% off the bounce with Mavs before they released him.
Redick would be such a tremendous fit and system player on this team. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll push for a buyout this offseason to make one last run at a chip. Unlikely but one can dream. It would certainly make me feel a lot better about moving Gordon.
It all depends on EG’s playoffs performance. I’m skeptical that Morey can get Myles for him, especially with Bird being around.
That is a concern but both are injury prone players so neither side has any real leverage. Both players are rumored to be on the trade block. Maybe add cash and a pick if talks start to falter. And/or add a third team to use House as an asset. Rockets are handcuffed with Harden, Westbrook, Covington, and Tucker not being traded. Added bonus: Eric Gordon and Myles Turner both would return to their home states.
Eric, House and a first round pick would be a good offer, provided if Eric plays at a high level in the playoffs.
That was the last chance to get something of real value out of Ryno. It would have made a world of difference in the playoffs
IMO, if we trade Gordon for someone I could see Reddick being an eventual option on a buyout but otherwise I think our next target is a MLE wing/post defender. ALL depends on what Morey is allowed to spend. Rivers at early Bird $9M, Jeff Green and BenMc at vet min+, and then TP MLE? PJ? Hard to see it. Have no idea what is going to happen to the cap. This is going to be brutal when reality strikes. NBA ratings picked the wrong time to go in the toilet.
So much going on with that .... Including Free Hong Kong , BLM , competition from other sports they don't usually contend with , some people found other things to do with their free time and a whole host of other things. But what are the consequences ? I really think the leagues bottom line takes a huge hit , a bigger hit than just not having fans in the seats , particularly in add revenue / commercial time which is a huge part of league revenue - which is used to calculate the cap / tax. The NFL was looking at a 30% decline in their cap for 2021 as a result of no fans in the seats - but after negotiations between the league and players union they spread the damage over a 4 year window instead of all at once - But that is assuming revenue returns for 2022 and beyond. It appears now that some teams will in fact have limited numbers of fans in the stand , KC reported they would allow 16k fans (22% capacity) for the opener against the Texans. I don't find much on the NBA's financial situation / expected losses from no fans but TV viewership being down is a double whammy for the league. Probably the worst case scenario for us Rockets fans with our miser of an owner. This team could be in the tax with current contract commitments and that's only 9 or 10 players depending upon Rivers player option and we know damn well he will sell off assets to get out of paying that tax.
The NBA has gotten VERY political and not everyone thinks / believes the same way. Some have given up the NBA all together while others are just going to watch on TV without supporting in the merchandise sales. The world has changed and that effects the bottom line.
Yeah, without more detail this is where I'm alluding. I think the NBA is going to take such a massive hit they are going to have to reconfigure contracts. If my deductions are correct on Tilman's debt structure I think he is going to have to sell the team in a buyer's market and no one is going to be eager to buy a revenue loser right now on the prospects that you begin to recover losses in ~5 years. I just don't think anyone has wanted to scratch the surface of this yet even with knowing some of the details. Oddly, the deal he missed out on would have put him in a much worse debt situation but much more properly leveraged to have access to bailouts instead of the loan shark deals he needs for cashflow.
Since our draft capital is essentially nothing, perhaps we could get value by engaging with OKC and lowering some of the protections on our picks we owe them. Gallo would be an amazing fit here, has experience with MDA, and gives some much needed size. SnT Gallo to Houston for Gordon and lowering protections is something we should consider.
Honestly I believe the political aspect is pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme - Its all the "other things" that are a bigger deal , and some of that is Covid related. But we have to factor in the fact that the season is "incomplete" , its an asterisk season .... and that work stoppages and or shortened seasons in the past have had similar fallout. Is anyone really watching them "take a knee" pre game ? I'm not .... Or are they really reading the crap on the back of their jerseys ? I'm not. Many football fans are sharing the same apathy .... There are countless posts over on the Texans forum expressing the same sentiment. Something's missing ... So it isn't isolated to the NBA. I'm not too concerned about Ferntits .... Only how and all this other crap affects the product on the court , his cheapness only exacerbates that. Sure it would be nice to have an owner with deep pockets and a willingness to spend rather than blow hot air about spending and doing exactly the opposite. The NFL was looking at a 30-35% reduction in their salary cap. Imagine that same 30-35% drop in the NBA's cap for next year. This years Cap Maximum: $115,000,000 Luxury Tax Threshold: $139,000,000 At 30% the reduction would be $34.5m for the cap and $41.7m for the tax line. The cap would be $80.5m and the tax line at $97.3m. Harden and Westbrook alone put you at $82,613,734 - Over the cap with just those two contracts. Add EG's contract and you are already over the luxury tax line with $99,483,010. Add in Covington , Tucker , House , Rivers (player option) , McLemore , Nwaba and Clemons and you are at $131,340,820. That's $34,040,820 above the tax line with 10 players. Can you see Ferntits allowing Morey to use the MLE to add a quality FA in that situation ? Or does he mandate only adding the minimum ? Under this scenario , there are going to be No teams with actual cap space and quite a few solid players becoming free agents - Those who have bird rights , I'd expect to stay put as they can earn more doing that than signing on with teams for the MLE or minimums but those without bird rights .... they get short changed , there will be some really good players earning the minimum next season. I suppose its possible the league makes some adjustments / allowances to the tax line considering it could affect literally the entire league as NO team would start the year under the cap and only 5 teams would start the league year under the tax line. As for Ferntits .... yeah , that would really leave him behind the 8 ball if he were to sell the team. But there's such a limited number of NBA teams that they come at a premium. Yeah , I think he'd be taking a significant loss if he were forced to sell. My head is spinning thinking about all those figures ....
Horfiord, Gallo, Ibaka, and Millsap could all fit in our system and may be available as a free agent or by trade. Horford should be attached with assets since his deal is so onerous Gallo could be acquired if we lowered pick protections (s/o @larsv8) Ibaka would take a lot of assets to pry away from a contending team like Toronto, but maybe is he is really keen on a reunion with Harden/Russ and Toronto decides EGo is better than nothing Millsap is an interesting target, but Denver is so deep that they may just let him walk (Jerami is their PF of the future imo). Is he attainable with the MLE?
Man, Morey getting Grant in that Westbrook trade wouldve been insane. I genuinely think about it all the time haha
