Although the 14-year tenure of Rockets GM Daryl Morey did not yield a Finals appearance, his place in basketball history as a daring risk-taker is secure, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle posits. Feigen suggests that the Rockets adjusted to modernity in innovative ways with Morey at the helm.
Morey pioneered significant changes in the team’s shot profile for years. The club went all-in on small ball with an undersized, versatile line-up this season following a deadline trade that sent traditional center Clint Capela to the Hawks.
There’s more out of Houston:
- If the Rockets opt to hire Jeff Van Gundy to return to the team’s bench as head coach, he may bring former Knicks interim head coach Mike Miller aboard as well, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Van Gundy, who served as the head coach in Houston from 2003-07, worked with Miller during his time coaching Team USA during World Cup qualifiers.
- Kelly Iko of The Athletic tracks some of Morey’s cost-cutting moves in recent years, and suggests that the team may have to finally dip into the luxury tax in building its roster under owner Tilman Fertitta if it hopes to compete for a title.
- As we previously relayed, Fertitta indicated today that he’s looking to keep Houston competitive heading into the 2020/21 season, despite the departures of head coach Mike D’Antoni and Morey thus far this offseason. Led by veteran All-Stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the Rockets finished as the No. 4 seed in the West, and fell 4-1 to the eventual-champion Lakers in the second round of the 2020 playoffs.
JVG …… Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Finding a decent center won’t be much of a challenge considering how little they’re valued these days. Boogie Cousins could definitely fill a need for them, and he wouldn’t even need to do that much since they already get plenty of scoring from Harden and Westbrook. There aren’t many better places for him to sign where he would join an instant competitor and give him a better shot at getting a ring than he had with the Warriors.
You had a decent center and they traded him
They need a defender, not Cousins. If Russ gets comfortable at forward, with Roco & Nwaba, and Tucker, Gordon & House, they will still be a wimner.
What, exactly, have they won?
Boogie can actually be a small risk/big reward here, that is if AD hasn’t reached out to him yet.
Baynes …….Whiteside …….. anyone over 6’8″.
Would never happen but I’ve heard that Rockets are making big moves to try get Joel Embiid and that the Sixers if they were to blow things up would want to trade Embiid over Simmons.
However Sixers probably don’t want Russell Westbrook and Rockets probably don’t want to give up Harden. Also heard reports Kawhi Leonard wants a point guard in LA and that he and the rest of the locker room aren’t very settled.
Big ask but what about this:
Rockets: Joel Embiid, Pat Beverly and JaMychal Green
Clippers: Russell Westbrook, Josh Richardson and 2 second round picks (Sixers)
Sixers: Paul George, Eric Gordon and 4 first round picks (Rockets)
Rockets get a starting line up of Beverly Harden Covington Green and Embiid. Plus they have a semi decent bench but the major improvement would be the defence and the future of the team is solidified with Embiid.
Clippers get rid of PG13 who really underperformed in the playoffs and has done for awhile. They in turn get back Russell who is a LA man to run point and get Richardson to replace PG at SG plus a couple second round picks this year.
Sixers blow up the process but get a haul of picks from the Rockets. They go semi small ball around Simmons giving him shooters with Gordon PG Harris and Horford.
This deal would be a huge move from all theee teams hence why I can’t see it happening but all three have underperformed for a while and need a big move. Rockets I think win this deal and potentially could be title favourites. They have two elite perimeter defenders and a low post beast plus the best offensive player in the game.
Clippers would be moving from a PG issue to a Russ issue but who knows maybe he helps carry the load that Kawhi is always resting from.
Sixers I think would be making the right call getting picks and a star for Embiid but they probably need to make another 2/3 moves to be a real contender
Rockets get too much and they’ve already given up a handful of picks… they may just hsve 2022 to trade.