Morey Looking For Star, Owner Prefers Status Quo

[htown11]

Houston general manager Daryl Morey pursued a trade for Carmelo Anthony, but now that the team has played so well without a big star, owner Leslie Alexander is less willing to make that type of move.

 

"Definitely, the way our players are playing," Alexander said. "Daryl and I always fight about this. It's all give and take. I think our guys have shown they are capable of winning a championship if we add a couple pieces to them. I don't want to give them away for some other player.

 

"We are young. (Patrick) Patterson. (Kyle) Lowry's just 24. Chase (Budinger), Courtney (Lee) and Jordan Hill. You can go on and on and on. Chuck Hayes (28) is not that old. Yao (Ming) is only 31. There is no reason he can't have five or six more years."

 

The Rockets are 12-4 since the break.

 

"I had dinner with Chuck Hayes," Alexander said. "He mentioned, 'We all know what we're doing now. We all know what to do; we're doing the right thing at every part of the game, which makes us a very tough team to beat.'

 

"I definitely think we have a bright future. If we gain a couple of pieces, I think we can be a very good team."

 

Wow kinda sounds like Les is getting a bit to comfortable with this team. I honestly was not surprised when he said Yao still has "five or six more years." Les is a huge fan of Yao from the basketball and business standpoint, Yao is still making road trips with the team, and from that comment it seems like the Rockets will make a small offer to keep him?

 

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/212659/Morey_Looking_For_Star_Owner_Prefers_Status_Quo#ixzz1I0gEPYiN

Edited March 29, 2011 by htown11

[Dash]

I can see the fascination with the team with young guns like Courtney Lee, Patrick Patterson and company, our play since the trade deadline has been spectacular but he shouldn't let a portion of the season influence his decisions so much. Fact of the matter is that we're still a mediocre-average team and we won't get past that until we pick a direction whether its to rebuild or compete. Rebuilding would kinder to Les' pockets for the time being though.

 

That said, while we do have the assets to land us a star I think another team is going beat us to punch again. 2011-2012 will be all Chris Paul in terms of news and rumors and drama go. I'd be content with a Danny Granger.

[Dr. Feelgood]

It's gonna be a lot of fun to see the Rockets and Grizzlies going all out for that last playoff spot, both teams missing their star players. Imagine where both teams would be right now if they had their star players. Obviously the Rockets would be better if they had a healthy Yao Ming good to go but the Grizz would still give them a damn good run for their money.

[htownborn]

I like the team we have too but to say we don't need a star or at least a center is absurd. We definitley need a star to help out during crunch time situations in the games. In the final minutes of games we don't have a true closer. Martin and Scola can score but they never show up when ever its close down to the wire, Lowry is still developing his offensive game and there's really no need to even discuss Budinger and Hayes. Im not saying we need to go after Dwight Howard or Chris Paul but if we could pull of getting a Iguodala or Granger that would be just fine. And if the Rockets are serious about signing back Yao then were going to need to get a better back up center because Chuck Hayes just isn't going to cut it at center to much longer, Brad Miller is aging, and Thabeet is still developing his game. A guy I think the Rockets should look at is Samuel Dalembert. His contract expires this year with Sacrtamento and he would be a great back up for Yao and a good center to step into the starting lineup when Yao is hurt.

Edited March 29, 2011 by htownborn