Wednesday Links: Renewed Interest

So, Patrick told me he hates you all and refused to write for you guys today. I, as a kind and caring man, stepped in saying "But sir, our loyal readers desperately crave these links and cutting insight into a cycle with literally no news going on!" So here we are, there is little to nothing to analyze and hardly anything worth mentioning now that our rookies are in safe harbor for a few more days.

This offseason has been one of massive turnover in the organization and I, for one, am glad that the Rockets have managed to keep people interested. Granted, I was not the happiest person in the world when the draft failed to materialize a deal but I was giddy when Summer League came around and showed some hope via our four rookies. I got a bit more excited in the ensuing Dwight Howard chaos, then as that wore on I just could not care anymore. Houston is currently staring at around 20-22 million dollars tops (at best) on the payroll next year if they don’t chase Dwight , which would leave them with roughly 28-26 million in cap room. That’s a lot of room to pay when any marquee free agents max their deals out at about 14 million a season. I’ve chided the Rockets for their flexibility in years past but now is the time to actually have it. We’re young and have tons of money sitting in front of us next season, which is better than "we have plenty of veterans we can trade and some promising picks to ship out." For me, the moment we gutted the roster was the moment that the Houston Rockets set off in the right direction. I’m not convinced Houston has thrown in the towel on the Dwightmare but I am increasingly convinced that it’s not a necessity anymore. So, in a very rare gesture of mine, I say, great job Daryl, good call Les.

Reminder: If you have questions for Writer Roundtable tweet them to @VismundGarret or email them to tdsmailbag@gmail.com I'm gone for about a week starting tomorrow and we'll get the column back up after I'm back. Your submissions are huge for us. Links after the jump (Though, you probably know that, but you know what? I’m cool with that).

Rockets:

Yao is Glad Lin Left New York

Yao thinks that the move is a mutual benefit for both teams.

Rockets Gamble On Playoff Run Later

I feel like this story comes with the obligatory DURRR HURRRRR but whatever, it's the New York Times and they're not reporting any tissy fits.

Free Agency:

Free Agency Rankings

A duplicate from yesterday but it is pretty handy and comes with latest rumors attached.

Nate Robinson is a Bull

He still sucks though.

Show Some Love for Carl Landry

I still can't fathom how he gets 4 mil a year but there are so many awful signings for 9 mil a year. He's a Warrior, has been since he was a Rocket.

Olympics:

Recap of the Tunisia Game

I described it adequately

Twitter is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

I just thought this was funny. Twitter and the Olympics, making trolling easy.

Since this is an awful post:

Threw It On The Ground (via thelonelyisland)