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Jermaine Every: The Rockets lost. So now what?
May 29, 2018, 6:21 am
Daryl Morey will have to take another run at it. Rockets.com
I was filling in on SB Nation 94.1 yesterday doing the national broadcast in the morning from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. My co-host, and podcast partner, Craig Koshkin and I went over the potential machinations of the impending matchup. Most Rockets fans were very optimistic, especially since the Rockets were at home. Lots of media members weren’t. However you felt going into Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, it captivated the audience.
In the end, I chose the Warriors because they have more firepower, and Chris Paul was out. Craig chose the Rockets because of home court advantage and intangibles. If you know us, you’d know how weird that is. Upon leaving the station, we were asked to do a post game show, to which we happily obliged. I knew it hinged on the Rockets winning, and never had a good feeling about it.
I grabbed some food, went home, took a nap in between watching the Star Wars marathon on TNT and laughing at my crazy kids. I was excited, but felt leery about the Rockets’ chances. I knew the Warriors were going to come in waves and wasn’t confident the Rockets could handle it.
As the first half unfolded, the Rockets were in firm control. They weren’t playing their best, but were up by 11 going into halftime. I left the house and headed to the station. There was a sense of “they may actually pull this off” mixed with “the Warriors are about to make their normal third quarter move.”
Low and behold, it happened. The Rockets missed 27 straight 3-point shots, including 0/14 in the third quarter while the Warriors took the lead and never relinquished it. There would be no need for a post game show. That realization sunk in during the third quarter. I almost left then, but stayed to watch the ending, all the while hoping things would change, knowing there was extremely slim chance of it happening.
Now what? The offseason is here abruptly. Fans are disappointed. I consider this season a failure. General Manager Daryl Morey stated that they were obsessed with the Warriors and had constructed a team to beat them. That didn’t happen. There are several key free agents on this team. Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza are both unrestricted, while Clint Capela is restricted. Losing them could be disastrous. Or could it?
The No. 1 free agent out there will be LeBron James. He’s all but guaranteed to opt out of his player option for next year and test the market. Getting a player of his caliber automatically boosts a team's chances at winning a title. The only way I see him coming to the Rockets is if he loses in the Finals to the Warrior. There is truth to the rumored beef between he and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, and he’s not impressed with the offseason the Cavs produced. However, there is a high probability he stays in Cleveland, or stays in the East. The path to the Finals goes through whatever team he’s on in the East.
Paul George also has a player option he’s all but guaranteed to opt out of this offseason. Playing in Oklahoma City with Russell Westbrook can be taxing. He wanted out of Indiana, but couldn’t find his way back to his hometown of Los Angeles. This may be his chance. The Lakers will be attractive because they have cap space and young talent to build around. But if he thinks joining the Lakers will topple the Warriors, he’s crazy. George is a juiced up version of Ariza. He’s a good defender, and more potent offensive threat that can create for himself or others. He’s already proven he can play with another star.
Should Capela leave by the Rockets not matching whatever offer sheet he signs, he needs to be replaced. DeAndre Jordan is the first name that comes to mind. He has experience with the pick and roll offense. He also is a better rebounder and rim protector. He’s not versatile enough to switch and cover guards like Capela, but his size and jumping ability guards the rim while changing shots. The Pearland native has made it known he wants to come home, and almost signed with the Mavs a few years ago. Another potentially cheaper option to replace Capela would be Nerlens Noel. He’s only 24, still very skinny, and hasn’t lived up to his potential.
Bringing back Chris Paul is a necessary evil. Sure he’s on the wrong side of 30, but his not being able to go in Games 6 and 7 made a huge difference. He’s made a ton of money in his career and seems as if he’s more concerned about winning, hence him turning down the max extension from the Clippers. The questions remaining about Paul are his age/health, and is he willing to take less in order to build around himself and James Harden?
There are several other guys out there for the Rockets to look at. I’ll dig deeper into potential free agents later on in the offseason. None of these moves are possible unless Morey can unload Ryan Anderson’s albatross of a deal. That deal has stood in the way of a ton of potential moves the team could make. Thank God it prevented them from getting Carmelo Anthony. Morey has turned chicken sh-- into chicken salad before. He’s managed to field a competitive team while rebuilding on the fly. This offseason will be a true test of his skills. For Rockets’ fans, here’s to hoping he can Jedi mind trick the league into giving him the pieces he needs to finally take down the Warriors.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.