Rockets Best Match Bobcats' Carl Landry Offer

If you watched the Rockets during their buckwild winning streak last season, or saw their playoff series with Utah, you know about Carl Landry. During the streak, he teamed with Scola to give Houston an undersized, scampering, ferocious front court; his stats may not wow you, but when it comes to doing the little things, racking up intangibles, and helping cement a team concept, Landry's right up there with teammate Shane Battier.

So then why exactly has it taken them all summer to sign him? Landry's a restricted free agent, coming off a knee agent. Houston wanted to examine the knee; Landry threatened to go to Europe. Then, the Rockets up and got Ron Artest, who can do pretty much anything and play pretty much any position when his head is right.

Now, the plot thickens, with another team entering the mix. From the Houston Chronicle:

With next week's start of training camp bearing down, Landry on Wednesday signed an offer sheet for a contract worth $9 million over three seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats. The last season of the contract is at the team's option. If the Rockets wish to retain Landry, they have up to one week from the receipt of the offer sheet to match the proposal. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey did not comment about the offer or the Rockets' plans.

Oh, and there's more: Morey's trying to avoid going over the salary cap. He also would like to sign second-rounder Joey Dorsey, who definitely has poor man's Ben Wallace, or replacement Carl Landry, potential. To match Charlotte's offer to Landry and ink Dorsey, though, he'd now have to venture into that dangerous territory—something he'd hoped to skate through the summer without doing while getting both his men. Oh well. Sometimes you can be a little too smart.

It seems unthinkable that Houston would let Landry go, considering his run in 2007-08 and Yao Ming's predilection for getting injured. They really do need all the size they can get. But with Artest coming to town, that team's going to radically retool, and a player in Landry's position just might not warrant that much paper. Hence the appeal of Dorsey. Still, if the Rockets want to make that long-awaited McGrady/Yao run -- I mean, escape from the first-round -- they might as well go for broke. Insofar as merely straying into salary tax territory even counts for that.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.