Houston's getting too busy to send us Lee

[Gainesville Celtic]

I think wdleehi is on the right track. I don't think this hurts us in our pursuit of Lee... rather that a S&T will either be part of the deal for Howard or affected by it. I could see these scenarios:

1. HOU trades for Howard (wdleehi quoted the Chad Ford article with the particulars) and then HOU decides to try and resign Lee --- I'll be honest that I'm not sure if they'd have to renounce him without looking at the numbers (if they do this is obvs. moot).

2. HOU trades for Howard and b/c of all the guys they'd ship out (7) and waive (7) they'd really just need more bodies so the 3-for-1 of Lee for Dooling/Moore/Williams becomes potentially more appealing

2A. If they need the space to take back the 3-4 guys Lee to Boston would be PART of the Howard trade.

[Gainesville Celtic]

This is actually very good for us.  Dwight going to Houston instead of LA (and of course the Nets) is very good for us.

If I am correct, Lee is a UFA.  Houston has no influence on who he signs with, unless a sign-and-trade is necessary.

You'd think Houston would take JJJ and a first with whatever else is necessary because that would just sweeten the deal for the Magic.

What if Dwight plays there for a year and then bails..Wouldn't the Rockets worry he could just walk? Or even worse, Dwight would realise he can't be sign+traded to NJ and then demand to be sent to the Lakers for Bynum?
What a nightmare.

Keep in mind, I think HOU is trying to deal for Howard with the following in mind:

-- There arent' gonna be a whole lotta teams that DH12 will want to go to with cap room next year, so...

-- HOU will take a chance to convince him to stay (learning from one of the greatest offensive post players ever in McHale) or....

-- if they can't convince him (with a 5 yr deal worth more than anyone else can pay) then they still will have his Bird rights (and therefore the leverage in a S&T) and will try and get back as much or more than they gave up to ORL to get Howard.

I think this is a fairly brilliant move by Morey. And well worth the gamble.

The last 2 points are also why I think ORL would be wise to maybe just wait ---- though I think the advantage HOU has is they don't face as big a PR backlash if Howard leaves for nothing but picks --- since that's largely all HOU will be giving up.

[droopdog7]

I think wdleehi is on the right track. I don't think this hurts us in our pursuit of Lee... rather that a S&T will either be part of the deal for Howard or affected by it. I could see these scenarios:

1. HOU trades for Howard (wdleehi quoted the Chad Ford article with the particulars) and then HOU decides to try and resign Lee --- I'll be honest that I'm not sure if they'd have to renounce him without looking at the numbers (if they do this is obvs. moot).

2. HOU trades for Howard and b/c of all the guys they'd ship out (7) and waive (7) they'd really just need more bodies so the 3-for-1 of Lee for Dooling/Moore/Williams becomes potentially more appealing

2A. If they need the space to take back the 3-4 guys Lee to Boston would be PART of the Howard trade.

Since Lee wasn't mentioned at all, I am not sure the Celts really need to be part of the trade at all.  If they want to cler his space, then they simply renounce Lee.  If they renounce Lee, then forget about a sign and trade and mostly like forget about Lee to the Celts.

On the other hand, is they don't have to renounce Lee, then it would make sense for the Rockets to try and resign him, since they wouldn't have any other real options to improve their team around Howard.

Either way, I am not seeing a very good possibility of Lee becoming a Celt.  Indeed, the ONLY thing we have going for us is the fact that McHale is over there.  Could he do us another favor?  Who knows.

[Smokeeye123]

Why would we even want Lee? Should we be focusing on getting Bigs? Idk, but our G position is pretty sured up as is our SF position.

[kozlodoev]

Why would we even want Lee? Should we be focusing on getting Bigs? Idk, but our G position is pretty sured up as is our SF position.

Um, no, it isn't. As a matter of fact, we have no starting SG for the first two months of the season right now.

[Smokeeye123]

Why would we even want Lee? Should we be focusing on getting Bigs? Idk, but our G position is pretty sured up as is our SF position.

Um, no, it isn't. As a matter of fact, we have no starting SG for the first two months of the season right now.

How do you know it's 2 months? I've heard Bradley could come back anywhere from the first few weeks of the season to December. No one really knows. JET can't start at Guard? Pietrus wouldn't love to be back for the minimum? I'm just saying G shouldn't be a priority over C, which it apparently is.

[kozlodoev]

Why would we even want Lee? Should we be focusing on getting Bigs? Idk, but our G position is pretty sured up as is our SF position.

Um, no, it isn't. As a matter of fact, we have no starting SG for the first two months of the season right now.

How do you know it's 2 months? I've heard Bradley could come back anywhere from the first few weeks of the season to December. No one really knows. JET can't start at Guard? Pietrus wouldn't love to be back for the minimum? I'm just saying G shouldn't be a priority over C, which it apparently is.

Yes, let's assume that he'll be ready for the start of season, because "no-one really knows". Certainly a sign of good management. (for the record, the team actually appears to know, given that they've said they're expecting him not to be ready for the start of season).

Yeah, you can move Terry to the starting lineup, but then you've got not backups at either starter position. In contrast, we have 3 big men that can contribute adequately adequately: Garnett, Bass, and Sullinger.

Signing anothe big man is necessary, but you just need a serviceable backup for 15 games per minute, who's never going to start. There is no way that finding another guard shouldn't be a top priority for the team right now.

[Tai]

Why would we even want Lee? Should we be focusing on getting Bigs? Idk, but our G position is pretty sured up as is our SF position.

If Ray stayed, I'd agree with you. Since he didn't, we need someone to replace him.

There are lot more options out there for bigs (as in on our roster, believe it or not) than there are guards for us.

Besides, who is out there in FA at this point? Camby's already with the Knicks, Kaman's probably too expensive, same for Illyasova. The only guy I can think of is Wilcox, who probably doesn't take priority over getting Mayo or Lee (and IMO, rightfully so).

[kozlodoev]

Why would we even want Lee? Should we be focusing on getting Bigs? Idk, but our G position is pretty sured up as is our SF position.

If Ray stayed, I'd agree with you. Since he didn't, we need someone to replace him.

There are lot more options out there for bigs (as in on our roster, believe it or not) than there are guards for us.

Besides, who is out there in FA at this point? Camby's already with the Knicks, Kaman's probably too expensive, same for Illyasova. The only guy I can think of is Wilcox, who probably doesn't take priority over getting Mayo or Lee (and IMO, rightfully so).

Kaman is signing with the Maverics for $8 million, 1-year.