I won’t comment about Morey’s position. I have no idea how Tilman will handle that (but my guess is it will be a business (China) decision to let him go). I’d like him to stay Harden and Russ aren’t going anywhere. They’re both stars, box office, our guys. They want to play together and we ain’t trading both so they’re both staying MDA - he’s consistently had us near the top of the toughest conference and the league. Harden and Russ both want him. If they’re staying, he should stay too Current role players: We’ve got Roco EG and PJ locked in, they’re all good pros, and they’re more valuable to us than anything they could net us in a trade. Makes it easy going forward knowing our top 5 guys are back. Mclemore isn’t great but we have him on a minimum contract and it was his first year with us. Danuel House screwed up big time. But he’s still young, athletic, shown improvement and most importantly he’s on a cheap contract. He just screwed up his family life; that’s as big a reality check as it will get. We should try to keep Jeff Green, he should ideally not be heavily relied on, and only kept if his money doesn’t affect us adding two more players. Rivers has to go. Unless he picks up his players option. We need to add free agents. A veteran guard and a versatile big. Unfortunately the best candidates are not realistic. Let’s not waste time trying to get a Grant or Millsap. Serge would be great but he too is not realistic. All out of our price range. Ditto on most available guards Tim Hardaway and Clarkson too pricy. I laughed earlier when someone mentioned Teague but after scouring the free agent list I choose him. And Markieff Morris as our big. No not because of this series, but because he has potential to maximize his abilities with a team like ours, because he can shoot from deep, is big, and he’s affordable. Very likely he chooses to stay in L.A. though. Lastly, roll the dice at a random Euro player. Cuz ain’t no one in this league coming in as a third get. Harden Russ House Covington Markieff EG Teague Green PJ Mclemore That’s 10. Roll the dice on the last 5 spots. A Euro player, Anthony Bennett? Nwaba? A G League player? Another vet min (Brinf back Ennis?) Hope some of the smaller pieces improve/excel, Russ gets more comfortable and healthy, Harden continues to grow as a leader, Danuel improves again, Ben gets more comfortable and consistent. @HP3 I was surprised you were all for blowing it up
Im really surprised at the optimism bro haha. Even after what just happend, that's really great bro. But for me....as long as Westbrook is here, we arent winning. I've seen enough from him. He's simply not the second best player or maybe even a third best player on a championship squad. Im tired of him. But the good news, is I just read a report that Tilman doesnt intend to fire Morey so that's great news.
Haha. I’m optimistic that this is the best we can do, and being more level headed about the fact that we don’t have it that bad. Russ was bad. But he was playing an amazing stretch of basketball at some point in the regular season. It’s his first year here, in a totally weird system for him, and had some health hurdles. He is on great terms with Harden and he does play hard always, and that should count for a lot. And he does inspire others. He isn’t the second best player on a championship team UNTIL HE IS. Could you really have said Lowry can be the second best player on a championship team before last year? Are they the same type of player? No. But the thing they have most in common is their hustle and energy. And up until last season Westbrook has always been the better player. And guess what? Lowry is 3 years older. (Hell Kyle almost looked like he could be the first best player on a championship team at some points this restart) Harden can’t be the best player on a championship team until he actually wins one right? So we try again because we don’t have much choice and we don’t have it that bad, make the right (realistic) tweaks, and hope we get over the hump.
I think Harden, Tucker, WB, and RoCo are all back next year. I want to see a new coach brought in though. D’Antoni is a great offensive coach. Problem is, he doesn’t make in game adjustments like he needs to and he keeps his rotations too short. Glad we had Elston Turner as the DC because without him, the Rockets probably would have lost in the first round. It’s time to move on from EG. The Rockets should trade him for Aldridge if they can get him or Miles Turner or Al Horford. A big that can space the floor. Would love to see them sign any of the following: Olynyk, Grant, Bogdanovic, Korver, Jamychal Green, Jeramy Grant, Joe Harris, Gerald Green (is probably coming back as well), or even Marco Belinelli. Yes it’s more likely they go the cheaper route though and not bring in any of those guys aside from Gerald Green. With Harden, WB, RoCo, and Tucker taking more than 3/4 of the cap space up, it will be extremely hard to fill out a bench. Need veterans minimum guys. Hopefully Rivers opts out and the Rockets are able to move House and Gordon and I would bring back McLemore as well even though he is a defensive liability. Morey is here to stay. If he is going to stick to his 3’s and layups schtick, for the first time in his career, he needs to bring in above average 3 point shooters. It’s something he has never been able to do while he has been the GM of the Rockets. McLemore was the first I believe.
I'd be perfectly fine packaging Ego and Covington. Covington is completely pathetic moving laterally - can't play a small-ball lineup when you have players that can't stay in front of their man only to give up a lay-up/dunk cuz you also dont have any rim protection. EGo has been even more frustrating to watch.. You may not get the same talent back in return, but the Rockets have almost $29mil tied up in salary between the 2 next season. I'd rather see them moved.
I really really love the optimism man, I really do, its great. I believe in Harden, I dont believe in Westbrook, and I don't believe he will ever get a jumpshot or being bad at defense....I really just hated watching him play basketball except for 2 months season, I wish I had your optimism bro, I just dont believe in him.
to match GSW, DM signed players who supposedly can shoot but lack size, if the Lakers win this year, Daryl will sign tall players who can't play
@Tristan_fiore @waytookrzy079 Like you said, we’re not getting the talent back. So why move him. He’s the best 3rd offensive option we could have. Unloading him ain’t gonna give us cap space. I’m surprised you feel that way about Roco. I don’t think he’s amazing but thought he fits well and can bring it a little more next year. @Tristan_fiore like you said, all those names you listed are out of our price range, but I forgot about Gerald, great point. And Bellinelli may be attainable at a vet min and have always wanted a strictly 3 point shooter. I would load up on any vet min wings if we make Teague and Markieff, the veteran ball handler and big the priority.
For those wanting to dump EG, we need that third scorer in the backcourt. I’m sure last summer some thought if we got Rivers at the vet min and he can step it up, we can afford to trade EG, and then quickly learned Rivers ain’t that and no vet min is going to come anywhere close to matching EG. And how is it in a trade that EG would net us a scorer better than....EG?
Haha. K that was funny. But blowing it up would be a horror flick. And nobody who has said to blow it up has even the slightest idea of how to do that. It’s just criticism. Russ ain’t going to net you young studs and high picks. EG ain’t getting you an all star. Our squad may not be set for a championship, but we’re definitely not better set to blow it up and turn that into a positive situation.
Since this is the optimism thread, replace EG with McLemore. Younger, cheaper, better shooter, can become a better a defender with the right coaching. It worked for me in 2K, it's gotta work in real life too right? lol
Each year they've come up short, it seemed like they needed a tweak here and there and they could compete, this year they have significantly regressed and backed themselves into a corner, I don't know why trading both Harden and Westbrook would be completely out of the question, Tilman can barely afford to make payroll, and had to restructure Westbrooks contract to avoid the beginning of season lump sum, and that was when he had fans in Toyota Center. Anything is possible in this environment
Regardless of who we hire, fire, trade or keep. I do know this: We need to find taller, more athletic big men. Small-ball works but you can’t make that the only defense you’re capable of. Eventually, you’re going to encounter an elite big like AD that’s going to absolutely massacre your 6’5” center and make the entire strategy, and your inability to counter it, look foolish. It also makes sense to resurrect the Harden PnR during the minutes where Russ is not on the floor. To abandon it completely, as we have done, was surprising. I know finding playable bigs is easier said than done, but it’s time to make that (using whatever trade capital we have) a priority.
Hire the Lakers shooting coach. I can't not believe that a team that could not shoot 3s to save their lives all of a sudden developed into the Worriers sharp shooters. Lakers Game 5 three-point shooting percentage: 56%.
Yeah, no. If we have the same starting line-up with the same coach, I'm not even going to bother. Changes are necessary! Even taking a few risks.
Well Harden said in his exit interview that he wants a 3rd star to pair with him and Russ so we all know what's going to happen. Our GM (Morey or otherwise) will listen to Harden and trade away more future assets + House, Tucker, EG and possibly even RoCo to get that 3rd star. It's pretty clear Harden is demanding a superteam to be built.
Players under contract for next season Harden, Westbrook, Gordon, Covington, Tucker, House, Rivers (PO), McLemore, Nwaba (TO), Clemons Best we can do is add one MLE player and bunches of minimum salary players (G-League and undrafted players) How far do you think we can go?
