Are we in discussion of possible trade? James, Francis and Snyder becomes trade bait on this team. I wonder if we can get another center to back up Yao. I think Mutombo is on the reserve for his veteran experience if we are going to the playoff.
he's more than a shooter. luther and novak are shooters. miller is a legit scorer. since they want to cut salary...bonzi, snyder, and steve should be attractive. add a future pick in '09 (to compliement the laker package or '08, '10). however, our owner needs to decide if winning means more than making money. getting under the LT might be more important to him.
Nobody will take James. He still has multiple years left on his bloated contract. Francis....maybe. If he says he will retire after this year and not pick up his option. Teams will take Luther. But he is one of our few legit 3 point shooters and we better get a shooter back. The market for a defensive specialist such as Chuck Hayes will be too small. Who else can we trade? Battier, AB, CL, LS? Personally I'd like to get an NBA caliber pg (Rafer is playing better, but still cant shoot or drive). Make a move for Mike Miller or Artest.
I think there is already a trade thread but I say we go for Sam Cassell. Sure, I'd love to get Kidd but his contract is huge. Cassell's contract is reasonable and he is still an impact player at his age.
The Pau Gasol trade made me depressed. The Lakers stole him for almost nothing (peanuts and lose change). With Lakers' recent surge and Bynum's improved play, Gasol is basically the icing on the cake. In a 7 game series, we're NOT going to beat teams like Phoenix, Golden State, NO, Utah, and now the Lakers. The only team currently that we see us matching up well against is the Spurs...and that's not necessarily a good thing either. They are experienced and resilient. In a 7 game battle, I'd take the Spurs any day. Morey better go out and get somebody that can upgrade us into the upper echelons fast. We can't count on the 3 rookies to carry us that far into the playoffs. At this moment, we'll probably end up being a very good regular season team...but we're not playoff ready.
you're right about james having negative trade value, and hayes is next to nothing. if we want to put a respectable offer together for a player like miller or artest, we have to start with endings like bonzi and snyder...like you said, possibly steve. our young guys have great value right now. brooks and landry got props on espn for being key players in our run right now. novak and luther are shooters (a premium in the league right now). the rockets CAN put a good offer on the table. it comes down to a cost benifit analysis. les can get his team under the LT by moving steve or snyder for a TE and still win in the high 40's, possibly even make the playoffs. now is moving all of those ending contract and young cheap guys worth bringing back a long term contact in order to win a few more games and still be out in the first round? probably not. and unfortunately, that's why i believe than nothing will happen this deadline except snyder to seattle for a TE...or something along those lines.
keep Yao and Rookies trade everyone else if needed, I lost my faith a bit...the laker deal upset me...
I don't think the Rockets are going to trade any1 and if they are, nothing serious. Personally i would love the following players which i think we can get: - Sam Cassell to start at PG, with Rafer / Brooks fighting for backup PG - Wally Szczerbiak to come off the bench or start at SG, this only when T-mac won't adapt and will only hurt us - Ron Artest to start at SF and Battier can come off the bench to give them some defence and three point shots Rocket players i wouldn't mind to be traded: - Bonzi Wells - Mike James - Kirk Snyder - Chuck Hayes - Steve Novak Rockets players i would mind to be traded but maybe necessary in order to get where we want to go: - Rafer Alston - Steve Francis - Tracy McGrady This leaves Yao, Brooks, Landry, Scola, Deke, Head & Battier as definite keepers.
I 'd rather keep Scola, dude! He and Landry are THE guys at the 4 spot. I think Hayes is the PF we don 't need at this moment .. package him with James, Snyder and Head! I would like to see the result of that trade ...
There is a way (however unlikely) that the Rockets could get Mike Miller AND get below the luxury tax threshhold. TRADE #1: Kirk Snyder, a second round pick and cash to Seattle for the remaining portion of its Trade Exception from the Ray Allen deal. The Rockets throw in plenty of cash (perhaps covering Snyder's full salary, maybe more, since rules allow up to $3M in cash to be added to trades), plus the second rounder to entice the Sonics, who should be below the luxury tax line after the trade. Seattle gets a pick and cash. The Rockets get under the luxury tax (and save much more money than they spend on this deal). Everybody wins. TRADE #2: Bonzi Wells, Mike James and a 2008 first round pick to Memphis for Mike Miller. Memphis shaves payroll, both short-term (the combined 2008 salaries for Bonzi and James are less than Miller's salary but close enough to make a trade work) and long-term (Bonzi comes off the books at the end of the season, and James has one year fewer on his deal than Miller). The first round pick would be the sweetener to get the deal done. Depending on the level of protection (lottery protected this season, maybe not next year) could determine whether Memphis would do that deal. Frankly, the Rockets have enough late first/early second round youngsters on the team (Novak, Brooks, Landry). There is not much need for another marginal young player next year. I have looked at the draft charts. Even if the Rockets miss the playoffs, they likely would end up with no better than the 13th or 14th pick. The top center prospects (a backup C being, in my opinion, the area of need for the Rockets this off-season) will be gone by #13. For whatever reason, first round picks seem to have so much more value during the season than they end up having in the actual draft. All that being said, I imagine that Memphis could get a better offer for Miller. If Les doesn't mind getting hit with some serious luxury tax, the Rockets could put together an offer of Bonzi, Snyder, Francis and a first rounder that would probably entice Memphis enough to pull the trigger. The blood is in the water in Memphis. The Rockets should join the other sharks circling the Grizzlies' ship.
If the Grizz really are trying to dump salary for expiring contracts, how about this for a trade?: Short Version -- Houston sends Battier and Snyder to New Jersey and a future first to Memphis; New Jersey sends the expiring contracts of Antoine Wright, Bostjan Nachbar and Jamaal Magloire to Memphis; and Memphis sends us Mike Miller. Antoine Wright (to Memphis) 6-6 SG / SF from Texas A&M 7.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.6 apg in 26.9 minutes Bostjan Nachbar (to Memphis) 6-9 PF from Slovenia (Foreign) 9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.0 apg in 21.3 minutes Jamaal Magloire (to Memphis) 6-11 C from Kentucky 1.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.3 apg in 10.8 minutes Mike Miller (to Houston) 6-8 SG from Florida 16.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.8 apg in 37.6 minutes Kirk Snyder (to New Jersey) 6-6 SG from Nevada-Reno 3.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.9 apg in 9.0 minutes Shane Battier (to New Jersey) 6-8 SF from Duke 8.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.9 apg in 35.7 minutes
Yeah, the Rockets are turning down the chance to get rid of three redundant players for Mike freaking Miller just because Alexander is cheap. Whatever.
Scola is multi-dimensional on offense,more so than Landry.I feel that having both of them plus Hayes is the only way to handle the number and quality of 4's in the league. Secondly, Landry is a rookie. If he were a 3rd year player close to let us say David West,I would say yes to your proposed trade.
Why? They reduce their salary somewhat, gain a solid rotation player and give up nothing they weren't going to lose anyway. When Memphis cuts Magloire, Nachbar and/or Wright, the Nets can get them back if they desire to do so.
