Rockets’ glare
GM Morey may set sights on big names.
With his post-draft news conference complete, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey — deprived of sleep and weary from the hours working his Blackberry — was asked to roll up the sleeves on his suit coat.
Morey did not initially get the reference, but when he did, he played along. “It’s still there,” he said. Morey had told ESPN’s Zach Lowe on a podcast: “We have something up our sleeve.” Close to his vest
He did not then or since reveal what he was hiding, though the context was clear.
With no apparent threats to the Golden State Warriors’ preeminence — Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are no more likely to move than the Golden Gate Bridge — Morey said his and other teams would have to take greater risks to close the gap.
With that in mind, the Rockets did not seem willing to let a little thing like not having the money to spend keep them from chasing the summer’s top free agents. Morey’s thinking on the matter was clear.
“Whenever you have a chance at a very, very high-level player through trade or free agency we have to explore it no matter what,” Morey said.
That seemed to suggest he believed the Rockets “have a chance” at players worthy of two verys.
The reduction of the expected salary cap to $99 million leaves the Rockets slightly under the cap when including non-guaranteed contracts and cap holds. They can drop those and have between $7 million to $9 million in cap space.
To get the kind of cap room it would take to fit one of the stars of free agency, the Rockets would have to move one or more of their large contracts to a team that can make that kind of trade without sending back matching contracts.
That has tended to complicate things. Last season, with the enormous cap spike, the Rockets had room for Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon. When they signed Dwight Howard as a max free agent in 2013, they moved contracts to create the cap space so that would not be an issue heading into the meeting. George remains an option
The Rockets have worked to have options at the ready, but are unlikely to do salary dumps unless they have a need. While being among the teams talking to Indiana about a trade for Paul George, who has told the Pacers he will be a free agent in 2018, the Rockets would need those contracts if they can find agreement on a deal.
The Rockets seem more likely to pursue the top free agents on the market beginning Saturday. Though it was widely reported the Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin and Chris Paul would take the perfunctory step of opting out of their contracts to allow themselves to cash in or move on, there remain doubts about whether they would move on.
Would Paul cost himself $50 million on his contract, a possibility he helped get into the collective bargaining agreement as union president, by leaving Los Angeles? He appears ready to consider it, with San Antonio seeming to position itself for a pursuit. Paul, 32, could earn $205 million over five seasons with the Clippers. The most another team could offer is $152 million over four years.
Griffin could play the field, too. Griffin, 28, could get a $172 million max, five-year contract from the Clippers. The most another team could offer is $128 million over four years. The Rockets would have interest in plugging either into Mike D’Antoni’s offense.
Atlanta’s Paul Millsap would similarly seem a good, expensive fit and could be ready to move with the Hawks showing signs of rebuilding. New general manager Travis Schlenk said the Hawks want Millsap back (and insisted the Hawks are not rebuilding), but added others might exceed the team’s offer. Millsap, 32, could earn as much as $200 million over five years in Atlanta or $149 million over four years with another team. Thinking of Plan B
The Rockets tried to re-sign Kyle Lowry in 2014, beginning free agency by meeting with Lowry, and could try to get him back from Toronto again.
If they fail to land one of the high-priced free agents, the Rockets are likely to go the other way and work as a team over the cap. That would give them their mid-level and bi-annual exceptions worth roughly $11 million between them and more than they would have in cap space without moving contracts.
But that would not qualify as a magic trick. After weeks on the phone, Morey hoped to pull more than a rabbit from his hat.