LeBron cake walked in an eastern conference where he could go nights of playing limited minutes or just at half pace. The first time he actually got tested to go a full season was last year, and we saw how that story ended. The lakers will be an interesting team to say the least, I still think the Clippers will be far better even with their own version of load management going on. If either one doesn't take the best in the West regular season record I wouldn't be shocked. As long as they get a high seed and avoid a dreadful first round matchup I could see both teams being rather happy.
Also, Les never mortgaged our future to win now. Say nasty things about him all you want, he had somewhat of an eye of where the rockets are and where they were going (probably because he always knew he would sell the damn thing).
I think morey had a ton to do with that though. we know he's always had the vision of being flexible year after year, all leading to the point of getting cp3 2 years ago and having their best chance at a title to date and it almost came to fruition. sigh
We’re operating over the cap because Les told Morey to find talent regardless of costs, which resulted in Ryan Anderson. Doing all of the moves clutchfans wanted to last year would have ended with the same result, except with additional pressure to avoid the repeater tax. Doing the moves clutchfans wants to do this year will end in the exact same way. Next year will also be the same. Let’s be honest, no team (even the Lakers/GSW) will pay the repeater tax more than 3-4 years in a row, which means we should never go over it unless a player is truly game changing.
rockets dumped ennis to avoid LT bc they thought house could more than fill his role in the postseason. we saw that completely backfired. and the rockets absolutely needed a wing vs GS. the rockets haven't signed any additional pieces to their depth thus far. as of now it seems, they're still focused on staying underneath the LT and it sucks bc trading for wb has now put the repeater on reset since he has an extra year on his deal thats larger compared to cp3's yeah you spend on guys that you think are game changing but as last year clearly illustrated, they went for value and it sucked. they were extremely lucky rivers and shump played well at crucial times in the playoffs.
It's this. No matter what you think of CP3 vs Westbrook, the Rockets ended last season with 6 players they considered playable for significant minutes in the playoffs. As of right now they have added zero players to that total. They are counting on House taking a big leap and being the regular season sample size guy and not the playoffs sample size guy. If that works out they are at 7. Because of LT concerns they haven't added any new players to the rotation. Some have been so blinded by the excitement over Westbrook that they have lost sight of this.
and not only house, the value replacements now are bennett and ben. hoping that they can find that diamond or undervalued contributor. and its obvious again why theyre doing it for LT purposes. we've seen more times than not how well that works out.
I know Iggy is old and isn’t a great 3pt shooter. But when it matters he is great. In the playoffs he always brings his A game. His defense is on point and shut down or slows down the other team super star. I mean no one is going to stop a super star but they can sure make it hard for them. That’s what Iggy brings. Plus he was shooting daggers after daggers against us. It looked like he wasn’t missing many 3 point shots. So he scores or gets hot when it matters. That’s why he would be a great addition to this team. He could guard or try to slow down PG or Kawaii while another player like PJ, Harden or Russ guards PG. or against someone like Giannis and specially Golden state. I still feel they will be good. Specially once Klay returns. So having someone that knows them well would be a great addition.
Defense, which was heavily downgraded when Tilman traded CP3 for Fireworks. Small market OKC just paid the repeater tax and were prepared to pay it again this year with no player even in the same tier as James Harden on their roster. Tilman is cheap. Come to terms with it.
Actually, at this point, the debate as to whether Andre Igoudala or Allen Iverson is the better player is again valid. And I'd still rather have Chauncey Billups than either one.
Well at this point, a legit Small Forward. Rockets can sign any SF and he’d be our best sf. House is unpredictable and seems to me a player that might be more fitted off the bench. Tucker and Harden can always slot in but there height becomes an issue depending on who their guarding
So it’s cool to have the highest payroll (okc) in the league, and still get bounced in the first round 3 straight years? That’s how coaches GMs and players start getting fired and traded. Spending money doesn’t mean your going to be good. Who’s been signed for the 5.3m that we missed out on? The Rockets still have the 5th highest salary in the league. We’re pretty damn expensive if you ask me. Unless you have harden Russ AD and Kawhi all on the same team going into the repeater tax is dumb and not going to keep you competitive for the long haul. You’ll be the Cavs and that sucks.
I really don’t see Iguodala choosing the Rockets over other teams. He wants either an extension (which I doubt Tilman gives) or I think he goes to LA. However if by some Miracle he ends up with the Rockets, he would be a MASSIVE get. He Would the Rockets be better with someone like Al Farouq Aminu and his 7’4” wingspan? DeMarre Carroll? Kevon Looney? Those are a few of the players the Rockets likely could have signed using the MLE. The point isn’t to constantly be in the tax. The point is to be in the tax if you are one of the 2-3 best teams in the league with a legitimate chance to win. The Rockets could have added a player worth up to 17-18 million with the Westbrook deal and been able to basically bypass the cap and give the Rockets a massive competitive advantage during the Rockets window. Last year the Rockets could have added a key rotation piece for the MLE... it didn’t happen. This Rockets team has an opportunity to win a championship and ownership isn’t maximizing that opportunity. When the inevitable rebuild comes, that’s when you avoid the tax. That is when you keep payroll low because you are not ready to compete. When you are the 5-10th best team in the league you don’t pay the tax.
I mean, I dont want us to make the same mistake as last year. We were one good role player away from winning that thing and we didnt have one. I dont want to come up short again thinking "well if we only had one more guy" no, not this time. We were one JaMychal Green away from beating the Warriors. Whatever issues come up during the season, we need to address them, because we didnt do anything about the rebounding last year and it did us in.