I get my news from Jalen. Nba players love Houston. Houston matters in a way those other places don't. Plus they're good. Plus better money.

As good as CP3 is, is he really a great fit with Harden, who basically needs the ball in his hands?

Seems weird to me. Would much rather see him go home to NO and try to take on GSW with AD and Boogie to feed the rock to.

I don't really like it for Houston. It's minimal upside as they're not really going to be that much better and a lot of downside as paying CP3 $205 million for ages 33-37 could end up being the worst contract in the history of sports.

It's a nice little piece of business for the Clippers to get Beverly and a first round pick while also not having to give CP3 $205 million.

I'm just going to copy and paste the salary cap situation I covered in this thread like three pages ago:




http://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/
If they renounce everyone, release Zeller, release Mickey, release Jackson and sign Tatum they would have about 32.5MM in cap room. I assume Hayward would sign for about 29.7MM which would leave 2.8MM for George who is making 19.5MM. So they could keep 2.8MM of those guys they let go-renounced, let's say Mickey.

They would have to ship out roughly ~15.5MM to acquire George in that scenario due to 20% of salary matching, which would mean Crowder and Bradley both have to go (~15.5MM---> that gets it very close-unsure if they would need another player or not). If it doesn't quite add up they would ship the one guy they didn't release (say Mickey)


Seems like an awesome lineup, but they don't have a bench anymore and really don't have a SG, with 2 SFs and a SF/PF. Rebounding would be a major issue, but they could switch on the perimeter a ton.

Thomas/Tatum/Hayward/George/Horford

Bench of Brown/Rozier/Smart/minimum guys. That's 7 minimum guys to fill the roster. 0 of those bench guys can play PF or C, what minimum bigs are they going to sign

They get George Hill now, can have a title shot if KD/Draymond break his leg

hahaaa, I'm 20 feet from the ocean getting some sunshine and drinking dirty sprite at noon and I just said, "HAAAA nice save!" loud enough that 2 people turned around asking me wtf I was laughing at.

didn't bother taking my ear buds out to tell 'em. lol

I don't think CP3 can get his supermax unless the trade takes place before CP3 officially opts out of his deal? Sign and trades only allow teams to sign guys when they are slightly over the cap or the other team is way under (due to only 1/2 the salary counting for the team shipping the guy out)

He is no longer opting out . He'll make 24 million this year and then Rockets will have the right to offer the 5/205 supermax. Thats going to be the WOAT contract.

rockets probably gonna chase paul george now too, maybe even carmelo

may as well go all-in if you're gonna build around harden's prime. once this 3-5 year window dries up you can trade Harden and go back to trusting some process

Sorry but y'all bonkers if you think Harden/CP3 need the ball in their hands to be effective. Harden's been a 40% 3 point C&S guy for years, and CP3 is actually one of the best C&S players in the league over that span... FFS CP3's EFG% was close to 70 on such shots the last two.

We just didn't see it a lot because both players had the ball in their hands so often. I think the pairing could end up being like version of LBJ/Wade on steroids.

How can you not love Daryl Morey? if he really does get melo or pg13 then he goes from goat gm of this era to goat gm period, dude making the impossible happen while no other team able to make moves. Boston has so many assets & can't do squat & you call Ainge a gr8 gm hahah.

It's not about whether or not they're effective it's aboht whether or not they'll be optimizing their strengths and optimizing their use of the salary cap and they clearly won't be. This trade will significantly reduce Harden's production. CP3's production will offset that some, and they might be a little bit better overall, but not by enough that it'll make sense to pay Paul 41 million dollars a year.

reduces production, but it probably increases the EV of the production. fewer mpg and fewer running point means he gets to increase his efficiency in other areas, like more energy toward defense and fewer turnovers.

what would you do to maximize harden's prime? this is peak GSW dominance. how would you try to spend the money? trading him isn't an option, he's 27 and UFA in 2020.

I mean, it's just crazy to think how much better the Rockets outlook is than this time last year.

I love the fact that the good FOs are being rewarded while the Knax/Lakers/Bulls of the world can't even get meetings with tier 1 free agents because they are so toxic.

I don't know. But I do know that I'd rather stand pat and not pay Chris Paul $205 million if the result is just going to be the same. Also they probably shouldn't be trading first round picks either if the goal is overcoming the Warriors eventually.

Why?

Kind of a silly thing to say. You could say the exact same thing even before this trade. They were underrated last year and massively outperformed expectations. Of course their outlook is going to be better.

In my mind their outlook is actually worse given the impending CP3 extension.

the result is not the same, they go from a miniscule championship % equity to a tiny championship equity.

also the result is very very not the same if the warriors have an injury. rockets without CP3 have small championship equity if KD gets hurt, CP3 rockets have a very real championship equity if KD gets hurt.

the average value of a rockets 1st is in the 20s, you aren't overcoming the warriors by keeping your 24th overall pick.

currently the best way to overcome the warriors is to have the best core for when the warriors get old (philly, milwaukee, lakers, edit: spurs). by having james harden, it doesn't really matter who the rest of your talent is, you're shooting yourself in the foot for building the best team once the warriors are gone (unless you trade Harden, which isn't really on the table business/image-wise). therefore if it doesn't matter, the only real play is to try and go all-in with Harden.

When did TuT become such a nit?

They are going to suck in 4 years, pretty sure Houston doesn't care about having a bloated overpaid contract on their roster when they are in full rebuild mode... imo it makes no difference for them one way or another.

Yes. It's pretty much do or die now. Houston can't keep on this clippers plus ten percent trajectory they have been on. It does suck to run into Golden State but you can't Ainge your organization thinking some team is going to keep dominating. Stuff happens and you have to try to improve with that in mind.

I ageee with those who think Beverly being a significant loss. Not just his defense I think he has intangibles that served that team. I don't know that Harden and Paul are a perfect fit. For better or worse, though, Paul will become alpha dog of Rockets as it is his natural inclination and Harden has always struggled with that position. Harden will be relieved to lose that role but it could grind him losing control on the court.

Back on waiting out super teams besides the manufactured ones remember Harden, KD and Westbrook were all naturally on a team. That should have been a dominating team for a long time but it fell apart for reasons. I don't know that GS will fall apart but it's likely they lose someone like Thompson and for anyone who thinks coaching matters in the NBA Kerr's health is a significant red flag. I hate Houston and am not a Morey fan but I give them props for actually trying to continue to improve and step up. Stuff happens and all you need is for things to align for one series to allow you to get past Golden State.

Also props for the Clippers luring Deandre Jordan back after he agreed to go to Dallas. It ended up paying off here as Morey removed the free agent risk, resigning risk and trading the pieces necessary to sign Paul in FA. I think both teams ended up doing well given their respective circumstances.

If nothing happens in Golden State for three years and they stay healthy keep their talent level on a relative level, Houston will not get passed them. But it is unlikely for that to happen.

How about a Carmelo for L. Aldridge trade.

Carmelo wants out and wants to play for a winner, and SA doesn't think Aldridge works with their system. Also, that would probably be the best haul the Knicks could hope to get for Melo at this point.


Does this make sense?

Pretty amazing trade for the league and morey, not worried about losing beverly

Sure its probably only a 2-3 year window but at least houston tries to get the players to win and doesn't just roll over like the rest of the league, I remember how close morey was to signing bosh

great off season. dubs have the entire league chasing their tails.

Absolutely no way the Spurs take such a no-defence, empty calories scorer.