- What's the plan entering next season, as far as the 12-man roster is concerned? Daryl Morey has said that he'd like to be active in free agency, but if the Rockets decide to keep their pick and select a big body in the draft, who becomes the odd man out? By summer's end, someone will be on the move, because this roster doesn't have any room to simply add a free agent and/or a draft pick. Expect a sign-and-trade, but don't necessarily tie your arms around Chris Bosh. Instead, think more along the lines of a solid, defensive-minded big man - that way, if the Rockets manage to land Bosh, you'll be even happier.
- As far as Bosh is concerned, yes, there's a good chance that the Rockets could make a play for him. Unlike many other teams, the Rockets have valuable assets that they can ship up to Toronto in exchange for Bosh. Chicago, New York and Miami, while having plenty of cap room, don't necessarily have the same pieces that the Rockets do. Not only do the Rockets have young talent in Trevor Ariza, Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and others, but they also have extra draft picks, and for a near-complete team wanting to win fairly soon, they won't be hesitant to sacrifice a few picks and players in order to secure an elite talent who is still very young.
- Let's assume the Rockets decide not to pursue Bosh, re-sign Luis Scola, and, as they have hinted, sign a big man. What are their realistic options (italic emphasis is mine)?
- Restricted Free Agent Bigs: Tyrus Thomas, Josh Boone, Kyrylo Fesenko, Joel Anthony, Nathan Jawai, Aaron Gray, and Jon Brockman. Oh, and Mike the gas station clerk. Almost forgot about him.
- Unrestricted Free Agent Bigs: Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire (ETO), Joel Przybilla (ETO), Brad Miller, David Lee, Jermaine O'Neal, Channing Frye, Udonis Haslem, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Shaquille O'Neal, Brendan Haywood, Fabricio Oberto, Tyson Chandler (ETO), Kwame Brown, Drew Gooden, Josh Powell, Rasho Nesterovic, other useless people.
- We don't need another David Andersen on the roster: we need a big guy who can rebound, play defense, and finish down below. Joel Przybilla fits the bill. So does Tyrus Thomas, for the most part. While I understand the Rockets' interest in Brad Miller (his glory days in Sactown were with Adelman at the helm), I don't think he fits this mold quite as well. Neverthless, if the Rockets were to sign Brad, I wouldn't be disappointed. He did, in fact, play in all 82 games this season.
- OK, so let's say we decide to draft a big dude. Options, please:
- Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson, Ekpe Udoh, Greg Monroe, Daniel Orton, Hassan Whiteside, Donatas Motiejunas, Solomon Alabi, Gani Lawal, Jarvis Vanardo
- Now, before you do anything else, don't evaluate the players themselves, but rather, how they would fit in with the Rockets. In that case, doesn't Jarvis Vanardo sound like a pretty decent option? Next: Cross off Motiejunas. Like I said, we don't want another David Andersen.
- Anyways, I don't think we're going to select anyone outside of this pool. Dexter Pittman and Jerome Jordan don't appear to be anything more than big wastes of space. I'm one of the few who likes Aldrich as a player (hate the man otherwise), because he's one hell of a defender. But chances are, he'll be gone by the early teens where we are projected to pick from.
- If you had to ask me who I'd prefer us pick, without going into a ton of analysis, it would probably be in this order: Orton, Vanardo (assuming we traded down), Udoh, Patterson, Monroe, Alabi, Whiteside, Lawal.
Chime in, people. As the draft approaches, I'll have more useful stuff for you.