Well, as much as I loved seeing the Grizzles and Shane Battier beat the Spurs yesterday, the news seems to be getting better. ESPN is reporting that Zach Randolph has agreed to a new deal worth $71 million with $66 million guaranteed. This deal along with Rudy Gay's monster contract last summer ($80 million over 5 years) and Conley's large contract extension just before the season started ($45 million over 5 years) make it less likely that Marc Gasol sticks around in Memphis.

Gasol will be a restricted free agent, but I imagine there will be teams willing to pay more for his services than Memphis will be able to offer. His availability also probably depends on how the new CBA looks. Memphis will probably do what they can to keep Gasol since they have such a thin front court, but with so much money locked up in other places, I would bet that he has become much more available than before Randolph's contract.  

Last year Gasol averaged 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds along with 1.6 blocks in 35+ minutes a night. His production has dropped a tad this year, but Gasol continues to be a solid contributor for the Grizzles and his presence down low has a lot to do with the Grizzles recent success (not to downplay other Grizzles elevated performances, but Gasol's play has also been crucial). He also has been fairly reliable, which has to be a top priority when looking at FA prospects for the Rockets given their awful recent history with injuries. He has played three season and has played in 82, 69, and 81 games respectively. I would love to snatch up Gasol and solidify our frontline. I haven't seen him play enough to know how great he is defensively or how he would fit in Adelman's offense handling the ball in the high post, but if his skills are anything close to his older brother's, I think he could fit that role nicely.

What do you guys think? Would Gasol be worth it or would he be considered settling and more of a short term answer that won't make us that much better? Let me know what you think in the poll and explain your answers below. Go Rockets
 

Among all the FA talk, it seemed as if the Rockets were constantly left out as being in the mix for big name guys, especially Bosh, and it always seems to be that the Rockets are an afterthought in the crowded Western Conference. We don't have a flashy star, no attention-getting coach, and we aren't in one of the top couple sports markets that gain attention no matter how bad their teams suck. BUT, I just ran accross this on ESPN...

3. Rank the NBA's top five teams going into the 2010-11 season.
Abbott: 1. Lakers; 2. Magic; 3. Heat; 4. Spurs; 5. Celtics
Adande: 1. Lakers; 2. Celtics; 3. Magic; 4. Heat; 5. Thunder
Arnovitz: 1. Heat; 2. Lakers; 3. Magic; 4. Celtics; 5. Rockets
Ford: 1. Lakers; 2. Heat; 3. Magic; 4. Mavericks; 5. Celtics
Hollinger: 1. Lakers; 2. Magic; 3. Heat; 4. Thunder; 5. Celtics
Sheridan: 1. Lakers; 2. Heat; 3. Celtics; 4. Thunder; 5. Rockets
Stein: 1. Lakers; 2. Heat; 3. Celtics; 4. Magic; 5. Thunder/Bulls

Two analysts, Arnovitz & Sheridan, think the Rockets will be the 5th best team in the league, not just the West, the NBA. With all the excitement and disappointment around the Rockets aquiring someone in FA, I haven't seen too much on how the Rockets will fare this upcoming season. I'm personally extremely excited to see what the Rockets will do this year. This is one of the deepest and most talented teams the Rockets have had in years, however, and unfortunately, the main question surrounding this team will concern the health of the players. Yao's past is well known and when Lowry and Battier went down last year the Rockets struggled down the stretch. BUT..

If this team can somehow manage to stay healthy, (and Morey remains confident Yao will come back stronger than ever when comparing his surgery to big Z in Cleveland) this current roster has the pieces in place to do some damage in the West. Yao will improve this defense greatly that already includes Ariza and Battier coming off the bench, most likely. Along with Scola, Hill, Hayes, Patterson and Andersen, the front line has the skills to match up with the Lakers and other teams in the West. Granted, the Lakers may and probably still have an advantage, but much less of one than last year. The Rockets size also increases because of the departures of Boozer and Amare to the East.

The backcourt also could be better this year than what we saw last year. Martin will have an offseason and full season to work with the Rockets players and coaches and Buddinger could be an even better player than he was last year. Paired with probably the best pointguard tandem in the NBA, the Rockets should continually be in the bonus next season and should live at the FT line. Yao, Lowry and Martin always look for contact as we all know and Yao will definitely benefit from being in the bonus more often.

I think the current state of the West will also help the Rockets this season. The off-season isn't finished, but with the departures of Amare and Boozer, and the fact that there is a significant drop off after the Lakers, a top spot in the West is certainly possible.

If the Rockets go into the season with the roster that's currently in place and the assets currently available, how do you think we will fare? What's our position in the Division? Conference? And League?

Here's the link for anyone that wants to see:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Heat-100709

I'm sure everyone is going to just be torn to pieces by the awful news. Jonathan Feigen via twitter...

http://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen

"Rockets to complete Brian Cook buyout tomorrow. Will bring back Garrett Temple for a second 10-day to play backup point, source said. "

He had some pretty productive garbage time his last few outings. I think my last memory of him will be the dunk he had at the end of the Memphis Grizzles game... so much potential!!

Once I heard about the Rockets' opportunity to potentially land Iggy and Dalembert, I was pretty excited. With Iggy and Yao and all the other Rockets' emerging pieces and with Dalembert's expiring contract next season, I thought our Rockets would be in a great position to make a deep run for the next few years. Well, after learning that Iggy's deal was bloated with five years left on it, I was a little skeptical and soon began to look to a different deal to salivate over.

The Butler and Haywood deal that everyone is craving right now seems like the best combination of talent and money spent. It doesn't lock up the Rockets for too long and gives them flexibility for Morey to work his magic and bring a 2nd tier player to the Rockets in the next couple years. I've been hoping and praying this deal gets done just as much as anyone. I don't care if it's a two team trade or a three team trade involving the knickerbockers as long as we give up TMac for Butler and Haywood. However, after hearing about what the new Collectibe Bargaining Agreement may bring, I think I've changed my tune on what the Rockets should do.

 http://bit.ly/afeIJh

The above link is an audio between Jason Friedman and Jonathan Feigen concerning the Rockets' situation and the new CBA. Jonathan explains how the new CBA could lower player's salaries substantially to where max deals would be brought down, and I can't remember to what range, but it was definitely below $20M, and a 2nd tier player would be making around $7-10M. That's substantially different from the current CBA and if the Rockets acquired either Iggy or Butler, they would be paying top money for either player and it would be hard to argue that either of those players are the final piece that would put the Rockets in championship contention immediately. Many people have already speculated that the glamorous 'Summer of 2010' might be a little disappointing because of the trepidation GMs will feel based on what the new CBA would be for the start of the 2011-12 season. No GM wants to pay between $10M and $15M for a 2nd tier player this upcoming summer if that can get the same caliber player the following year for $8M. If we are all clamoring about how awful Iggy's deal is NOW, and assuming the claims here made are true concerning the new CBA, then his deal would look exponentially worse in the last 3 years of his contract.

The new CBA could completely change the landscape of the NBA and GMs know this. I'm sure Morey in all of his infinite wisdom is taking this into consideration, but it's important to remember when considering what YOU feel the Rockets should do either at the trade deadline this week or during the infamous Summer of 2010. Morey has been determined to work his magic and acquire a player or two to put the Rockets in contention in the West, but I would imagine before he committs to shell out a lot of money for a player who will represent the Rockets into the new CBA. Money will be a huge factor in any trade Morey makes. Let's all hope whoever we acquire will bring us back to the glory days of The Dream and The Glyde!!! 

When the season started, not too many people picked the Rockets to make the playoffs, and rightfully so. With so many questions around this team, there were a lot of questions to be answered. So, after about 2 weeks the Rockets have disspelled any notion that it will take weeks or even months to discover their identity and to figure out where the offense will come from. I was wondering what everyone thought now about where the Rockets will end up at the end of the season and what yalls thoughts were on the beginning of the season??

Personally, it seems like we will make the playoffs and I'm thinking somewhere between 47-52 wins. The Lakers, Spurs and Nuggets seem to be a solid 1, 2, & 3 (in no real particular order). Then I see the Blazers, Mavs, and Suns battling for the last first round home court advantage position. That leaves two 2 playoff spots. The Jazz haven't looked too impressive and neither have the Hornets. I think the Rockets can finish somewhere in the 6-8 range in the west and sneak into the playoffs in a year when everyone thought otherwise.

I'm really pumped about the season!! What do ya'll think?  

With all the doomsday talk around the Rockets the last few days, Houston has been pretty down. However I just got done reading an ESPN article that sheds a lot of light on how well Houston in managed by Morey and how our future still seems pretty bright. Even though nothing seems to be going the Rockets' way this offseason, I have complete confidence in where Morey & Co. will lead our franchise once there is a more definitive answer on Yao's status. Anyways here's the link and GO ROCKETS!!!!!

  http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=Yao-090630

Ok, so now that the finals are over and the lakers have won, I have a question about Andrew Bynum. Last year when the Lakers faced the Celtics everyone made a big deal about the Lakers not having Andrew Bynum. Of course he has a lot of talent and potential and most tv analysts drool over this guy and said that because he wasn't a part of the Lakers squad last year in the playoffs, that the Lakers wouldn't beat the Celtics. Well this year they had a healthy Bynum and were supposed to tear through the Western Conference. I feel as if there are a lot of people who believed that the Lakers had to have Bynum and that without him they were nothing and couldn't compete. Well after seeing the way the playoffs went, and seeing how Bynum seemed just like another body out on the floor. Never did anything special, was always in foul trouble, and now has been out-played by both Odom and Ariza, what does everyone think of Andrew Bynum?

I guess I just have never understood the oohing and awwing that has come with Bynum. The entire playoffs it never really seemed as if Bynum was an integral part of this squad. In fact, out of all the centers he played against in the playoffs, I'd probably pick him last to anchor the middle of my team. Dwight, Nene, Yao, and Okur (if he was healthy).

JW what everyone's thoughts on Bynum were