Around the League: July 2014

[ShelC]

You can't keep Parsons at 15mil. It throws the rest of your roster out of whack. The Mavs are in a unique position because Cuban's the owner and their best player takes less so that the Mavs can take a risk and overpay a guy like Parsons. So instead of Dirk making the 16-18 he should be, he takes 10 and Parson's makes up the difference. But on a team like Houston, you can't pay him like your other two stars. A team like Portland, that has Lillard, Batum and Aldridge can't pay him 15mil. Even Donnie Nelson has admitted Dallas is hamstrung a bit with what they can do. They lost Vince Carter and it's not looking too good for them bringing back Marion and bringing in Mo Williams (who wants to play there and vice versa). So that's the tradeoff and the risk you take.

I love Parsons and Houston may really regret losing him. But when you're looking at Ariza at half the cost, it softens the blow. Maybe Ariza will be a better fit, not necessarily a better player, but a better fit.

[Sunsfan4life]

You can't keep Parsons at 15mil. It throws the rest of your roster out of whack. The Mavs are in a unique position because Cuban's the owner and their best player takes less so that the Mavs can take a risk and overpay a guy like Parsons. So instead of Dirk making the 16-18 he should be, he takes 10 and Parson's makes up the difference. But on a team like Houston, you can't pay him like your other two stars. A team like Portland, that has Lillard, Batum and Aldridge can't pay him 15mil. Even Donnie Nelson has admitted Dallas is hamstrung a bit with what they can do. They lost Vince Carter and it's not looking too good for them bringing back Marion and bringing in Mo Williams (who wants to play there and vice versa). So that's the tradeoff and the risk you take.

I love Parsons and Houston may really regret losing him. But when you're looking at Ariza at half the cost, it softens the blow. Maybe Ariza will be a better fit, not necessarily a better player, but a better fit.

Spot Freaking on. Well done Shel, A+ Post right here.

Dirk has given the Mavs the ability to overpay a guy like Parsons, Morey did the wise thing not tying up his cap and being stuck as a 5 seed the next 3 years.

[In2ition]

The Mavs, who gave the Spurs a real run for their money, have improved their roster quite nicely this summer. Where do they rank now in the West Power Rankings? I'm guessing that Houston took a little bit of a knock.

[INFORMER]

Their point guards stink, they lost key vets in Carter and Marion, and Tyson Chandler was a shell of his former self last year. I'm not impressed with their offseason at all.

[In2ition]

Ah, I forgot about Marion. I've never been a big fan of Carter, but he played a nice role for the Mavs. You are right about their pgs and Chandler, so now you have made me second guess my assessment of them. I could see Chandler having a bit of a bounce back season in Dallas.

[Sunsfan4life]

Their point guards stink, they lost key vets in Carter and Marion, and Tyson Chandler was a shell of his former self last year. I'm not impressed with their offseason at all.

They gave up on Shane Larkin way to quickly I thought

[Mori Chu]

Yeah, I don't know what to make of the current Mavs. Parsons is a nice player, but I don't see him as a max guy or a best-2-or-3-guys guy at all. Marion was quietly an anchor for them, and Vince was somehow actually contributing. I think they still need to make 1-2 more clever signings for low money (like the Thunder's signing of Morrow) to have a solid overall offseason.

As for Houston, they were right to let Parsons go at that money. But they were wrong to let him become an FA in the first place, which was entirely their choice. They were also wrong to dump a bunch of assets and a 1st rounder for nothing, merely to get cap space. I don't even like the Ariza signing. I think he's a bum who just played one good year because it was a contract year. I think he'll slip back into mediocrity just like the last time he earned himself a big contract. Overall I think I dislike literally every single transaction Houston has made this offseason other than maybe picking Johnson in the 2nd round.

[Mori Chu]

I hate J.A. Adande so much. Every article he posts is completely biased toward LA and the Lakers. He writes this bitter column about how Melo just wants the money. Conveniently, Melo chose not to come to LA. Hmmmmmmm. How you can have a guy like this as a "national columnist" is beyond me.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11207 ... es-cash-in

[Sunsfan4life]

When your a high stakes GM like Morey you win some, you lose some. Bosh burnt him, but I think the only mistake he made was jettison assets before he absolutely knew he was going there. If Bosh goes to Miami a few days earlier Lin is never traded w/1st rounder and the whole Parsons thing might turn out differently. Does he even get to Dallas?

Still wouldn't count Morey out this off-season either, you know he is working the phones feverishly.

[ShelC]

Don't sleep on Chandler, he's got a lot of good basketball left in him. He'll have a bounce back year.

They may not need a great PG if Ellis can maintain and now Parsons can facilitate some offense. They also picked up RJ, who may still have some life. They definitely need some depth at PF and SG though.

[INFORMER]

Their point guards stink, they lost key vets in Carter and Marion, and Tyson Chandler was a shell of his former self last year. I'm not impressed with their offseason at all.

They gave up on Shane Larkin way to quickly I thought

I don't think they gave up on Larkin, I just think they were too enamored with the ghost of Tyson Chandler's past coupled with getting out of that awful Jose Calderon contract.

Either way, Phil Jackson owned them.

[INFORMER]

Still wouldn't count Morey out this off-season either, you know he is working the phones feverishly.

He absolutely is working the phones...doing damage control. He's been all over the Houston media trying to explain/justify what happened.

[ShelC]

Of course Melo took the money. But I don't think the Lakers were ever seriously considered though. The West is just too tough. Why go to the Lakers, play with basically an unknown quantity in Kobe, a rookie in Randle and, let's just say for the sake of argument, a re-signed 34 year old Pau Gasol. How good is that team going to be? Short of getting Carmelo and LeBron, the Lakers are not set up to win.

We won 48 games last year and MISSED the playoffs. You think guys playing in the east are dying to come out west? If we were in the East, we'd have been a 4 seed. That's why, as good as our roster is, LeBron wasn't coming out here. You have to win 55+ games to try and get home court advantage, and then you get to kill yourself in the playoffs against the likes of the Clippers, Thunder, Spurs, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Rockets and Blazers. LeBron can stay East, win 50+ games and get HC advantage, and then "battle" it out with the Hawks, Bobcats, Nets, Wizards, Raptors.

[INFORMER]

Don't sleep on Chandler, he's got a lot of good basketball left in him. He'll have a bounce back year.

I know you're a Chandler guy, and I'm not saying he's done. He is still a solid big man, and I hope the Suns pursue him as a backup/part-time big in 2015. He just isn't the defensive anchor he once was, and I don't think Dallas realizes that.

[Ring_Wanted]

My point is that Houston have let Parsons go to be players in free agency again next summer, but there is a very limited number of plausible targets and nobody assures you that you actually get the likes of Millsap or Rudy Gay, even at 15M.

The Rockets will have to get into a bidding war next year if they want relevant talent so my stadpoint is, why not minimizing the risk of being left with nothing? I would have paid Parsons, and next year I look for ways to add another 8M player, which is always easier than adding a star.

[ShelC]

He can be the anchor again. The thing with Chandler is this: He's not a guy who will make a bad team good. But he'll make be a good team a lot better. The Knicks, across the board, were bad and couldn't/wouldn't defend. He was the last line of defense every single time for basically 2 years and that wore him out. Couple that with just a bad team, situation, and lockerroom last year and he checked out.

[Sunsfan4life]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... -With-Heat

Wade close to re-signing in Miami for 4/60mil.

We all knew this was coming, but still....

[Sunsfan4life]

My point is that Houston have let Parsons go to be players in free agency again next summer, but there is a very limited number of plausible targets and nobody assures you that you actually get the likes of Millsap or Rudy Gay, even at 15M.

The Rockets will have to get into a bidding war next year if they want relevant talent so my stadpoint is, why not minimizing the risk of being left with nothing? I would have paid Parsons, and next year I look for ways to add another 8M player, which is always easier than adding a star.

Morey will use that money through the trade market using assets like Beverly,Picks,and Capela. Its just how he does things..Thats why losing that 1st rd pick in the lin trade is so big, esp. if they don't even use the space.

[carey]

Wade doesn't have 4 years of basketball left. Also, it's funny how a bunch of supposed best players of our generation won't leave the cushy East.

[In2ition]

Houston clamoring to steal Dragic from PHXhttp://houseofhouston.com/2014/07/15/houston-rockets-bring-goran-dragic-back-now/