. I believe both the backloaded contracts they gave Lin and Asik actually count on their cap as an even split over the 3-year terms of both their contracts.

I used to think so, as well, but no, they count the same for the Rockets as they would for the Knicks (so they’re both $5 million this year and next and then $15 million each in year three).

Juany8: And I will concede that point, partly because the Lakers don’t look like they’re getting 50 wins. Don’t count out a big trade by the Rockets however, they have a lot of space and some nice pieces.

No question on the Rockets.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm

They have a ton of cap space and long-term flexibility. I believe both the backloaded contracts they gave Lin and Asik actually count on their cap as an even split over the 3-year terms of both their contracts. So as they both signed for 3-years, 25 mill it averages out to 8.33 mill against the cap each year. I wouldn’t be surprised though if they do nothing in order to preserve cap space to make a Howard run this summer.

jon abbey: are you ready to concede on the minor back and forth we had a little while ago on teams in the West needing 50 wins to get into the playoffs? the way that Houston and Portland have been sliding is keeping the Lakers and Dallas alive.

And I will concede that point, partly because the Lakers don’t look like they’re getting 50 wins. Don’t count out a big trade by the Rockets however, they have a lot of space and some nice pieces.

jon abbey:
actually, I think that we’d be best off if Brewer is a rotation player by playoff time, so I would keep trying to fix him and keep giving him consistent albeit minor minutes, assuming he is healthy (which might be dead wrong, since he looks awful).

I’ve been wondering about this too, it looks like something is totally off about him. It’s understandable that the 3 point shooting fell off, but this has been something more…

massive: Except the 3 he was on court with was Ronnie Brewer (who has been a 2 historically). You want to space the floor for Melo to create those favorable off-balance looks we were feeding off of early in the year. Brewer doesn’t space the floor any more than Amar’e would, and Melo thrived in spite of Brewer’s being a non-factor on offense. And Amar’e is just as much a threat to put in the floor and attack an opposing team’s 4 as anyone else who would be starting at the forward spot in place of him.

You don’t need a 3 next to Carmelo Anthony to create a mismatch if Amar’e is on the floor. And I don’t want Melo taking a beating from 4s on a nightly basis anymore; it will wear him down over the course of the season. We’ve already seen what happened against Boston and Memphis, and I don’t want that happening anymore.

guys, you are creating a straw man argument here. i have never said (nor has anyone on this board to my knowledge) that brewer should be at the 3 in this scenario. the offense looks awful with brewer and boils down to the iso melo show. that is obvious. brewer was hot early in the season, and the formula worked. we need cope. or shump, or whoever is hot (even novak) at the 3 in this scenario. ruru, i know you like amare. i dont really, but im rooting for him. but IMO, if he can be dominant, his dominance will be worth more as a 25 minute a night guy abolutely killing it as the centerpience of our second unit (with some time with melo as well) as ooposed to being a secondary scorer with the first unit. but yet, WE ALL AGREE….NO BREWER

ruruland: right, but Amar’e, for example, is going to be a much bigger match-up problem against traditional power forwards than Brewer is. Same thing happened last year. It wasn’t as though Fields was taking advantage of getting matched up with power forwards.

Copeland is the one guy who can play the outside-in mismatch game against 4s, but doesn’t share much time with Melo.

There has been very little advantage pairing Brewer with Melo.

as i have said repeatedly, brewer should not be at the 3 in this scenario, unless he finds his stroke again. it should be copeland or shump. i say copeland

Juany8: Don’t remind me, or point out the fact that Jeremy Lin got benched for Patrick Beverly in the second half, a player the rockets picked out of the scrap heap a few weeks ago. It looks like something is wrong with Harden specifically, he looks so much slower out there than a few weeks ago, which might have something to do with the Rockets ridiculous schedule in the past few weeks (today was their 4th game in 5th nights, they have 23 back to backs this season compared to Dallas’ 9)

are you ready to concede on the minor back and forth we had a little while ago on teams in the West needing 50 wins to get into the playoffs? the way that Houston and Portland have been sliding is keeping the Lakers and Dallas alive.

Juany8: Don’t remind me, or point out the fact that Jeremy Lin got benched for Patrick Beverly in the second half, a player the rockets picked out of the scrap heap a few weeks ago. It looks like something is wrong with Harden specifically, he looks so much slower out there than a few weeks ago, which might have something to do with the Rockets ridiculous schedule in the past few weeks (today was their 4th game in 5th nights, they have 23 back to backs this season compared to Dallas’ 9)

He’s been playing 38.5 minutes a game, too.

ruruland:
Lou Williams out for year.

Harden 15-60 with 13 turnovers last three games.

Don’t remind me, or point out the fact that Jeremy Lin got benched for Patrick Beverly in the second half, a player the rockets picked out of the scrap heap a few weeks ago. It looks like something is wrong with Harden specifically, he looks so much slower out there than a few weeks ago, which might have something to do with the Rockets ridiculous schedule in the past few weeks (today was their 4th game in 5th nights, they have 23 back to backs this season compared to Dallas’ 9)