Let's take an honest assessment of the Rockets roster and what they have to build on going forward with the trade deadline coming Thursday.
Yao Ming: His $17.686 million comes off the cap after the season. There have been surprisingly few bites on his insurance laden contract. I hope he retires, but I could see him coming back to Houston for the veteran minimum in 2011-2012.
Kevin Martin: ($12 million next season) He's essentially done what was expected of him shooting close to 40% from 3, while making close to 90% of his 8.5 FT attempts per game. He still is a terrible defender and does not create much offense for others. He would be much more useful with a low post scorer who required a double team and/or a shot blocking big. Rick Adelman clearly loves the guy, but I don't think Daryl Morey would hesitate to move him for a better contract and/or player.
Luis Scola: With a salary that will be under $10 million until 2013-2014, Scola is the definition of bang for your buck. You can plug in 18 points and 8 rebounds for him pretty much every night, but he also does not have to be the focal point of your team to be happy. I think any contending team would love to have this guy as a complimentary piece and I wonder if he was dangled before Thursday what he could net you on the open market. If he makes it past Thursday, I would imagine he is on the team starting next season.
Shane Battier: His $7.3 million comes off the cap after this season and he is a commodity for contending teams. Shane has tried to re-invent himself to some extent showing the reability to be a spacing "4" at times for Houston this year. His stats pretty much to his career average with the exception of FT shooting which has taken a dip. Battier and his wife really like Houston and there's an outside chance he would return for the veterans minimum if he does not find full mid-class money from a contender. If he is not dealt it will be interesting to see whether Terrance Williams gets any of his minutes down the stretch.
Jared Jeffries: Jeffries has essentially been a high priced cheerleader his last 3 years in the league after former Knicks GM Isaiah Thomas stupidly paid him full mid class money. He's the likely salary dump trade to happen before the deadline to get the Rockets under the luxury tax.
Kyle Lowry: The Rockets smartly allowed the free agent market to dictate his contract and what initially seemed like an expensive 4 yr $25 million deal for a backup PG has turned into a fair deal for a starting PG who has earned those minutes. His play and contract have probably made Lowry the closes thing to untouchable on the roster. If he's not starting in 2011-2012 the Rockets have likely acquired an All-Star at his position.
Brad Miller: He was brought in to back up Yao Ming and to help run Rick Adelman's offense. Unfortunately once Yao went down, it didn't make sense to have a veteran like Miller on the team with the huge void on the defensive end. If they had to do it all over again, the Rockets would likely have passed on Miller. They are probably stuck with the remaining $4.4 million on his deal next season.
Jordan Hill: ($2.8mill next year) It's a big dissapointment that Hill has not earned more than 17 minutes per contest. His laziness as a defender is often matched by his inability to find a home in Rick Adelman's offense leading him to be in the dog house. Patrick Patterson has clearly passed him in the eyes of the team. Hill is expendable and could be a throw-in should the Rockets make a big deal Thursday or in the off season. I'm not convinced he will ever be a competent backup on a contending team.
Chuck Hayes: An upcoming free agent, Hayes is arguably the team MVP. Chuck has done everything you could want from an undersized center including vast improvements in his offensive repertoire and FT shooting. The Rockets want him back badly, but some team might offer him full mid-class $.
Terrance Williams: The only thing I can say about Terrance Williams' season is he threw up a triple double in the D-League. Rick Adelman just won't play him. I'd say he'll see the floor next season, but if Adelman is back....I liked Williams coming out of Louisville, but he is not a good shooter. He can be a multi-positional defender if he would apply himself to the job.
Aaron Brooks: Brooks season has been a disaster and I can only imagine that other teams are going to try to buy low on him at the deadline. Unless they get a starting center (Brook Lopez?) in return the Rockets are probably better off taking the Kyle Lowry approach to Brooks and seeing what he can get as a restricted free agent before determining whether they want to keep him or not. It's clear that Brooks and Martin can't play together defensively and the Rockets seem to like Martin more.
Patrick Patterson: You can see the flashes of brilliance from Patterson. He looks like he has the potential to be Carl Landry 2.0 with better defensive abilities. He has a clear knowledge of the game and knows what Adelman wants him to do on offense. He probably has been a little too unselfish with his shooting considering how reliable his mid-range jumper has been. I'd like to see him get all the backup "4" minutes behind Luis Scola the rest of the season.
Courtney Lee: It hasn't panned out from a record standpoint, but Lee is a better player at a better contract than Trevor Ariza. He's the best perimeter defender the Rockets have and his outside shooting has been exceptional. Considering his low $2.2 million salary will be next season the Rockets would have to be blown away to trade him. He has the type of salary you pair with a supertar's.
Chase Budinger: He did not take the big leap forward that the Rockets would have liked but his salary of under $1million for a guy who is probably a long term rotation player in this league still makes him attractive.
For the sake of this discussion, if the Rockets do not resign Aaron Brooks and let Yao Ming, Chuck Hayes, Shane Battier, and Jared Jeffries go off the books, they would be checking in at just over $43 million when you factor in their likely lottery pick this year. Operating on this year's cap, that would but the Rockets $15 million below the number. However, the cap is expected to go down by as much as 30%. If that drastic "rollback" happens the Rockets would right up against the number, but then again so would 90% of the league. Still, for the 1st time since he has been at the helm, Rockets GM Daryl Morey should have some cap flexibility coupled with the freedom of not being shackled by a 7 foot 6 Chinese anvil.
It's Rodeo season! Anyone want to ride her?
How about a 2 chick ride?
These girls are clearly sober...or not...
This chick probably should have worn different clothing if she wanted to ride.
Is this real?!?!?!
No comments:
Post a Comment