in the context of what’s available. Once it has become clear that Bosh/Iggy/Martin/etc. aren’t available (or are available, but not for what the Rockets are willing to give up), then this sort of deal becomes pretty good.

At the same time, Jeffries’ contract would hurt a lot. Houston will have something around $11 million this summer, depending on the cap, and so Jeffries would eat most of that, leaving us with only $4 million and the MLE.

Still, Morey made some comment in an interview (I think it was the Slam one, but I don’t remember exactly) that they’d be looking at the free agents this summer, and that a sign-and-trade would be possible. Hill’s got upside, Jeffries’ expiring deal is large enough to matter in a trade, and the Rockets have plenty of other assets available for such a trade.

Accumulating low-priced assets is never a bad thing.

I think that if we’re not getting back Butler or Iggy or one of those second-tier stars, this is our best case scenario aka. grab young talents and lots of draft picks (and even if New York attracts Lebron and becomes a good team, it’s not a major concern given Morey’s drafting ability). We give up no one of value, get Hill who has potential, and Harrington who could do damage (heck, even Hughes might be of some value given our SG problems.) Jeffries sucks, but it’s like the new Brian Cook of the Lowry trade, and Jeffries can actually be a not-awful player unlike Cook, even if he’s paid more.

And say what you will about him the man gives you points in bunches.

We need a big contract to take on to match McGrady

if we can get beasley then im all for it 1,000 percent!

we are just adding mored depth. hill will probably go to the d-league so he can become chris bosh. jeffries and harrington wil give scola, ariza, and battier more resting time. as much as i hate harrington, he gives us more firepower off the bench with landry and lowry.

Even if they are late first round draft picks in the worst case, we’ve seen what Morey can do with those.

And Jamison is also massively overpaid, and for much longer than Jeffries, and is far older. Jeffries frankly is not as bad as people think he is – people act like he’s another Cook, and he’s not. He’s definitely overpaid, but can actually be a potential part of a roster.

On top of that, the draft picks quickly lose their luster if NY does hit a home run in free agency this summer (or even a double); they better off they are, the lower the pick[s].

Let’s be honest here: who is going to sign with NY this summer? The way I see it, LeBron’s almost certainly going back to Cleveland, Wade’s staying in Miami, and what’s left is merely sorting out what’s left. So maybe Bosh signs with Miami, and then what’s left? The Knicks make max offers to Johnson and Amar’e?

This trade only makes sense for NY because of their continued vague hope of attracting two big free agents based entirely upon the “glamor” of New York and a half-assed promise of “no more fuck-ups.” I don’t see why LeBron, Wade, or Bosh would ever sign with the Knicks, and that basically means that New York is going to be sitting around in 2011 with a vastly overpaid Stoudemire and maybe some fleeting hopes of playoff contention.

Yes, it’s possible they pull off the impossible and grab two top-five players. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

I don’t see how this makes us contenders next year,

It doesn’t. At least, it doesn’t make the Rockets much more of a contender next season than they already were going to be.

nor do I see how it would allow flexibility for another trade that puts us in that conversation sans some out-of-left-field second trade Morey pulls out of his ass

You’ve got a 2009 lottery pick and two future first-round picks. You also have a sizable expiring deal. Yes, that’s a big deal when formulating a trade. How can it not be? You can say, “Well, but maybe there won’t be a significant trade available then,” and I totally agree, but I don’t think any trades of that sort were available this season, either.

It’s not easy to move his MASSIVE contract

Maybe Morey can make some last-minute magic happen and trade away Harrington/Hughes for something useful

Much Better than buying out TMac’s contract

There’s basically no way the Rockets would buy out McGrady’s contract. That’s not because of spite or anything – it’s just that insurance pays for all but about $5/$6 million of Tracy’s salary, so he’d probably be giving back way more than he’s willing to.

he didn’t have very good collegiate stats at all. He is compared to guys like Chris Bosh because he is tall and has dreadlocks.

He can be a good big, but he’s not a top ten talent in the draft.

“We traded for a guy who couldn’t get minutes on the Grizzlies! What the heck was Morey thinking!”
So the fact that Hill didn’t get significant minutes is not really a concern to me, especially D’Antoni does not like big rotations at all.

I like this trade. We get rid of a bunch of “bench warmers” (T-Mac on mandatory leave) and get a one of their starters, a scoring machine off the bench (I’d prefer Harrington) and the possibility of getting more young talent in the future (an extra pick on the 2012 draft). Best we can get for an all-star nearing the end of his career

1) He’s not a great post defender. He goes for the block too often, gets out of position, and fouls too much. He has the potential to be a great defender, but right now he isn’t one.

2) He is a phenomenal rebounder, on both boards. He’s roughly Dwight Howard’s size and has similar strength, so that should give you some indication of what he’s capable of. The Rockets made sure he developed those skills while in the D-League, and it’s paying off now.

3) As far as actual shooting goes, Joey’s got some issues. He has no post moves to speak of, nor can he make anything beyond some basic layups and dunks (Carroll Dawson, former Rockets GM and a pretty well-respected coach of big men, noted last season that Joey didn’t learn any low post offense while at Memphis, and the Rockets were concentrating on teaching him just the very basics). On the other hand, he’s very powerful, so he frequently can get his misses back, and he can dunk fairly impressively with a little space.

4) From what I’ve seen, he can be a very good passer in the post. Right now, he sometimes struggles to find whoever he’s looking for, but he’s pretty good at making the actual pass.

Overall, he’s a guy who can give you 10-15 rebounds/game if he’s given significant minutes.

and why doesnt he get any minutes??

Because the Rockets felt there were better options at the 4/5 throughout most of the season. With their struggles over the past month, it looks like Joey has passed David Andersen on the depth chart.