Upping the ante with aces in hand
Morey eyes next deal with Paul on board ahead of free agency
The Rockets could have held a winning hand.
They could have won 55 games, maybe a few more, and lost in the second or third round of the playoffs. They would have sold a lot of tickets and sponsorships and watched the Warriors in the Finals.
They have always said championships are the goal, but everyone says that. On Wednesday, they proved they mean it, reaching a deal for Chris Paul that general manager Daryl Morey said helps them close the gap on the Warriors in the NBA “weapons race.”
But that was not all they said. Morey and coach Mike D’Antoni added that they are not there yet. More needs to be done, to the point they spoke of the combination of Paul and James Harden potentially enticing free agents to sign on to the chase and pulled off five other trades (with another Thursday) for players with nonguaranteed contracts.
The moves were not just to
keep NBA lawyers busy or stump Charles Barkley in the next edition of “Who he play for?”
“There’s still a long ways to go to get to Golden State,” D’Antoni said. “We don’t want to play for second. Nobody wants to play for second. We want to get up there and be a legitimate contender.”
The most conspicuous option to close that gap is a trade for Pacers All-Star forward Paul George. The Rockets’ talks with Indiana about George are generally on hold, according to a person familiar with the team’s efforts, but the Rockets had no qualms about dealing for George, 27, in the final season of his contract, even before the all-in move for Paul.
The Rockets could have the contracts needed to make a trade for George work, particularly with forward Ryan Anderson, who is due to earn $19.4 million next season. But after the Paul trade, they lack the customary sweetener. The earliest first-round pick they could trade would be their 2020 selection. They moved Pat Beverley, a starting guard with a modest contract, Wednesday.
Acquiring assets
The Rockets on Wednesday collected assets for another move, bringing in three players with nonguaranteed contracts Morey said can be used as if a trade exception. The Rockets could use the contracts of Ryan Kelly, Tim Quarterman and Shawn Long in a package to take on a burdensome contract from a team needing to rebuild or to help match salaries.
(The Rockets on Thursday acquired forward Jarrod Uthoff from Dallas, the Mavericks announced. Though he has a similar contract, the Rockets acquired him after the deal for Paul pushed them over the cap, so his contract cannot be aggregated in a subsequent trade for two months.)
Offering non-guaranteed contracts might not be much incentive, especially with the Celtics and Lakers in position to offer attractive prospects and picks. The Boston Herald reported Thursday that the Pacers have sought the first-round picks from the Lakers and Nets that the Celtics own, along with multiple starting-caliber players.
Having landed the top player on the free-agent list likely to switch teams, the Rockets could look to lure forward Paul Millsap, though that would take a complicated sign-andtrade with the Hawks and likely the threat Millsap would leave Atlanta one way or another.
Said Morey: “We now walk into free agency knowing what financial tools we have to get players with Chris Paul and James Harden recruiting those players versus the other way: meeting, hoping to convince Chris to come to the Rockets. That’s very different on July 1 having him in hard and having those players wanting to come play with two of the best playmakers ever.”
The Rockets’ most likely recruiting tool will be their mid-level exception, worth $8.4 million. Their hope is that players they might not have been able to land at that price would meet them halfway to play with Paul and Harden.
They could look at shooting wings such as C.J. Miles, Kyle Korver and Bogdan Bogdanovic, fours Patrick Patterson or Ersan Ilyasova, a versatile frontcourt player such as Omri Casspi, or more expensive options such as James Johnson or Danilo Gallinari.
Even that could be complicated. The Rockets would like to sign Zhou Qi to a long-term deal by using a portion of the midlevel exception, according to a person with knowledge of the team’s plans, but they would be willing to spend the exception on the right free agent and sign Zhou to a shorter deal if necessary. It is a consideration to weigh.
‘Flexibility to get better’
Either way, they did not go fishing after Wednesday’s blockbuster but hope to put different sorts of lines in the water when free agency begins at 11 p.m. Friday.
“Chasing these super teams we’re trying to join out there, you have to keep your resources dry to keep improving the team,” Morey said. “It’s not just enough to have James Harden. It’s not just enough to have Chris Paul and Trevor (Ariza) and Eric (Gordon) and the great players we have. You’ve got to have flexibility to get better again.
“When you’re at the 10yard line, you have to get all the way to the touchdown, not get stuck with no more resources to upgrade the team.”