Houston early offseason in review (HW/bondom34/dbrandon/Slava/Mr. E)

[HartfordWhalers]

Question for all reviewers: would (finally) adding Motiejunas do anything to change the grade that you gave the Rockets?

For my part I'd remove the minus from the B- I gave the team. That whole situation has gone on too long and has been frustrating.

It really depends the contract. It could go higher or lower.

[Andre Roberstan]

Question for all reviewers: would (finally) adding Motiejunas do anything to change the grade that you gave the Rockets?

For my part I'd remove the minus from the B- I gave the team. That whole situation has gone on too long and has been frustrating.

I'd probably bump it up to a B-.

[bondom34]

Would depend on price for me, if it was a good deal I may bump it up.

[Mr. E]

Hard for me to establish what would be considered a good deal at this point.

I'm leaning towards him taking the QO with eyes on next off-season.

The only hitch there is if the players fear a work stoppage next season. Then I could see long-term security factoring in.

[desi tmac91]

I gave them a D. I'm glad we locked up Harden but everything else just feels like a disaster. I'm sure we're going to be a fun team to watch but we're going to be one damn mediocre team.

[Woody Allen]

It's funny that Memphis got A's for maxing out Mike freaking Conley yet all Houston gets is D's even with right moves like persuading Harden to extend contract and letting Howard go.

[Texas Chuck]

It's funny that Memphis got A's for maxing out Mike freaking Conley yet all Houston gets is D's even with right moves like persuading Harden to extend contract and letting Howard go.

Memphis didn't get A's for locking up Mike Conley alone. And Houston didn't get D's for locking up Harden.

You know better than that too. Please don't troll the board, it's really not as cute as you think it is.

[RightToCensor]

One thing we lacked last year was constancy from an offensive standpoint. We addressed that by getting two efficient scorers who can both operate through isolation and the pick and roll. What's more important is that we got a coach who emphasises the skills of guards who can score and facilitate offenses.

The extension of Harden showed that there is mutual belief that he'll be the absolute leader of the team this upcoming season. There're no egos (Dwight Howard) or distractions (Ty Lawson) present in the locker room that'll immediately put a damper on the team and take away our focus of staying competitive and winning games.

The worse thing about our defense last year was that we had a lack of effort on that side of the ball. That can be fixed internally by players stepping up to the occasion and being motivated to getting stops.

[Slava]

Question for all reviewers: would (finally) adding Motiejunas do anything to change the grade that you gave the Rockets?

For my part I'd remove the minus from the B- I gave the team. That whole situation has gone on too long and has been frustrating.

I factored into him staying on a QO in my grade. Bit of a health risk for anyone else to make a crazy offer.

[loserX]

Hard for me to establish what would be considered a good deal at this point.

I'm leaning towards him taking the QO with eyes on next off-season.

The only hitch there is if the players fear a work stoppage next season. Then I could see long-term security factoring in.

Any talk around the team re: what the plan is? Are they just taking their time evaluating his health? Hoping to bring him in for the lowest possible offer? Or his agent waiting for other teams' FA options to dry up so they can see if Motie gets an offer sheet?

[Mr. E]

Hard for me to establish what would be considered a good deal at this point.

I'm leaning towards him taking the QO with eyes on next off-season.

The only hitch there is if the players fear a work stoppage next season. Then I could see long-term security factoring in.

Any talk around the team re: what the plan is? Are they just taking their time evaluating his health? Hoping to bring him in for the lowest possible offer? Or his agent waiting for other teams' FA options to dry up so they can see if Motie gets an offer sheet?

It's hard to say. Houston's front office is very tight-lipped about things like this. The only time that "inside info" truly gets out is if they seem to want it leaked out there.

My personal thought is that Motiejunas' agent is still trying to convince a team to offer him a deal that is more than the Rockets would offer so that they'd have to match at the higher figure. This is where losing Sam Hinkie really hurts Houston because I'm sure that Philly would have taken care of this by now if he was still around.

[desi tmac91]

Hard for me to establish what would be considered a good deal at this point.

I'm leaning towards him taking the QO with eyes on next off-season.

The only hitch there is if the players fear a work stoppage next season. Then I could see long-term security factoring in.

Any talk around the team re: what the plan is? Are they just taking their time evaluating his health? Hoping to bring him in for the lowest possible offer? Or his agent waiting for other teams' FA options to dry up so they can see if Motie gets an offer sheet?

It's hard to say. Houston's front office is very tight-lipped about things like this. The only time that "inside info" truly gets out is if they seem to want it leaked out there.

My personal thought is that Motiejunas' agent is still trying to convince a team to offer him a deal that is more than the Rockets would offer so that they'd have to match at the higher figure. This is where losing Sam Hinkie really hurts Houston because I'm sure that Philly would have taken care of this by now if he was still around.

I recall the Scola and Lowry resignings going along smoother than this. Was that really Hinkie's doing? I've always felt Morey handled RFA terribly and rubs players/agents the wrong way in this regard.

[LarsV8]

Team replaced bad players with better players, I got no problem with that.

[Mr. E]

I recall the Scola and Lowry resignings going along smoother than this. Was that really Hinkie's doing? I've always felt Morey handled RFA terribly and rubs players/agents the wrong way in this regard.

That's mostly a tongue-in-cheek comment about Hinkie as the Philly GM working deals with Morey that were mutually beneficial. However, I really do think that he would have offered Motiejunas a deal by now knowing that Morey would match.

I am of the opinion that there may be some concern around the League with Motie's back; but the bigger hold-up is that teams aren't going to waste their time on trying to work out a deal knowing that Houston is going to match it. I don't think that anyone is overspending for Motiejunas at this point, so everyone is probably in the same price range.

Just my opinion.

[KiDdFrESh]

I actually like what the Rockets have done this far. At first I wasn't thrilled about MDA but it's an offensive driven league now and that's what Pringles specializes in. I'm not really worried about his last two jobs. I think he has a better chance to succeed now with the players he's got. I actually think the defense will improve as well.

As for free agency, I like that Morey was aggressive right away and didn't hold out trying to land another big name. I know Morey has had a man crush on Rhino for the longest time. We needed a stretch four and we got him. Never followed Gordon that much but Its gonna be nice to have an additional ball handler/player maker, scorer,sharp shooter to help take some of the pressure of James. I think we got Eric at a great price.

We signed Harden to an extension and I think that was a fantastic move!

I used to be one of the biggest supporter of D-12. I was so excited when we got him and now I'm thrilled that he's gone. That's an addition by subtraction! Good riddance.

I expect James to have another MVP calibre season and put forth greater effort on defense. He's got a chip on his shoulder.

Also, I can't forget about Beasley. We got him for pennies on the dollar and I think he be productive player off the bench. Nene was a nice pick up too.

Nobody is expecting us to challenge for the division but I do think that we can win the 5th seed and be in the race for home court advantage in the playoffs. IF our guys can stay healthy. That's a big IF.

Im excited to see Capela get some major PT. I'm hoping Dekker and KJ get some consistent minutes as well. I hope the Glove part Deux makes the team. I originally voted for a "B" on the offseason grade but as I'm typing this post I think it should have been at least a B+. If we would resign D-Mo to a favorable deal and could get rid of Brewer, I'd consider changing my vote to an A+ given the grim outlook we had at the end of last season.