Not sure how reliable this, but if you scroll downm there's a reference to Houston & a sign & trade for Swift. Link: http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr...lRUV5eTY3MjMzOTQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2 Brown still up in the air Friday, July 15, 2005 By STEVE ADAMEK STAFF WRITER The Knicks heard from a coach in Detroit on Thursday who told them he's not interested in their head-coaching job. But not Larry Brown. Bill Laimbeer, coach of the WNBA's Detroit Shock, who interviewed twice for the Knicks job, called team president Isiah Thomas on Thursday to take himself out of the running, although as one league official said, "I don't know how much he was in the running, anyhow." As for Brown, the door to New York remained open a crack as nothing was resolved Thursday after a second day of talks about his future with the Pistons. This time, after a face-to-face meeting Brown attended Wednesday with Pistons president Joe Dumars and team owner Bill Davidson, Dumars and Brown's agent, Joe Glass, merely spoke by telephone, with Glass declaring the status was quo. Glass, who didn't return phone messages Thursday, told The Associated Press that Brown's situation would be resolved "in a short period of time," but wasn't specific about that time. Among the issues on the table besides Brown simply returning to the Pistons are contingencies in case his health problems prevent him from coaching next season that include a leave of absence or hiring an assistant to coach in his stead. Reportedly, a buyout of the three years and $18 million left on his contract was also discussed. Thus, the status of the Knicks' coaching search also remained unchanged Thursday, with Laimbeer's chances slim to begin with. If Brown is available, the Knicks will pursue him. If not, Herb Williams almost certainly keeps the job. Meanwhile, after agreeing to bring Seattle free agent center Jerome James on board next season, the Knicks are all but resigned to committing their entire $5.1 million salary-cap exception to him in a five-year deal worth approximately $29 million. That's because they believe the chances of Seattle accepting either Jerome Williams (and the two years worth $12.5 million left on his contract) or Malik Rose (three years, $19.6 million left) in a sign-and-trade deal are less than slim. So they plan to turn their sign-and-trade sights elsewhere, focusing primarily on Memphis free agent forward Stromile Swift, whom they hoped to lure with the exception. Instead, Houston is reportedly offering Swift more than that in its own sign-and-trade scenario, upping the ante for the athletic but underachieving 6-foot-10 forward, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2000 behind Kenyon Martin. So the Knicks will try to foist Rose or Williams on the Griz, who would prefer Michael Sweetney. In that case, a sign-and-trade deal would have to involve more players for salary-cap purposes
Only reason they Memphis would do a sign and trade would be for cap relief. They would probley force the Rockets to take Jason Williams.
I doubt that try and dump Jason Williams on the Rockets. They know that they could lose Swift for nothing, no players, no draft picks and no cap relief, if the Rockets don't do a sign-and-trade.
I'd almost rather lose a player like Swift for nothing then take on Sura or Wesley (the only players Rockets are likey to offer).
Honestly, if the Rockets had to take on Jason Williams or Bonzi Wells in order to get Swift, I'd welcome that. Both of those players COULD be a huge help to the Rockets if they come with the right attitude, though I do understand that that, particularly in the case of Wells, is a big if.
I think the only way to get a good PF this offseason is going to be through Sign and trade. I am just waiting for the PF price tags to go up. If we do a sign and trade for a PF i will be so happy because we can use our MLE to solidify our bench. Please make it happen CD!!!
The Rockets are in a great position to either nab SAR or Swift. With the Knicks out of the Picture, it leaves Nets and Sonic as our leading Opposing Candidates for Swift's Services. Nets seem to be after a high Scoring PF like SAR or even Walker, leaving Swit seemingly out of there picture. that leaves a Sonics team, with no head coach or sense of direction at this point. if I were Swift, i'll say to myself, houston is a team, with great startin block, great coach, and probaly the Best allround player in the game. Opposing to a sonics team tht has no head coach an a ageing Superstar who probaly has 2 good yers left in him. Houston in my opinion, is a way, WAYYY mor Attractive Option....
I agree. In particular I would take Bonzi Wells. He would shore up our SG spot. Then go after Damon Stoudamire. I actually think Bonzi wells, attitude wise, would fit in perfect with the Rocks, he would get the full-time starting spot like he wants and a prominent offensive role on a winning team.
You're forgetting, the reason Memphis would consider taking on these players is because their contracts are expiring (I don't think Sura's is, but Wesley and James are). Memphis is trying to clear up some money.
If I am the Rockets and I have to take on Jason Williams with Swift in a deal, I immediately turn around around and try to move Williams to Minnesota for Sam Cassell (who only has 1 year remaining on his deal).
No Sam Cassell! The guy is a cancer when it comes to contracts, and with Cassell being in a contract year all you're going to hear is him whining and complaining that he deserves a contract extension and disrupting the team chemistry just like he did in Minnesota and Milwaukee.
I would rather have Cassell coming off our cap than JWill on the cap for 3 more years. That's the reasoning. So it is purely monetary from my standpoint. But, I think Cassell coming back to Houston actually might be a good thing for him. In genreal, I would rather have Cassell than JWill. And the "contract years" taken into account makes it a no brainer to me. The idea is to gets Swift and if we have to take Jwill to do it...I want to be able to dump Jwill's ass somewhere else.
