[Chron] Lewis' Deal has Rockets Looking in Other Directions

The Pistons fans are very high on him and the management loves his positive attitude,high energy and say he is an intelligent,hard working guy. Dumars does not want to give him up. The owners may or may not want to match an offer sheet because of luxury tax reasons.

 

This just makes the outcome of the draft that much worse.

 

Athletic - yes. Apathetic - no. Ignoramus I can't comment on, but perhaps someone can?

 

Doesn't sound good at all

 

And it looks like Artest is going to New york. so that leaves us with a couple of vets like Webber and Pj brown. i wouldnt mind signing PJ, but he provides no offense, so that makes our powerforward stocks very low on offense. high defense, but no offense. i wanna get someone who can score. someone like Joe Smith would be ideal. even Marvin ely wouldnt be to bad.

 

I want to add that he is raw and not starter material but he is better than Hayes,Landry.

 

makes sense

 

Why don't they at least Try and make a effort to sign a free agent with the full MLE,I mean they knew rashard was not a possibility at all, so why not try and persuade one of these free agents. Why all of sudden the negativity and doubtful attitude

 

Thanks saleem, the kid sounds good to me, but do we need the whole MLE?

 

after our draft, i don't trust anything that is coming out of moreys mouth. i think he loves the mind games and sleight of hand stuff.

 

Maybe so. I like this kid a lot, too. In fact, I think he should be the Rockets' primary free agent target. It all depends on how much Billups is going to sign for, if he does at all, with the Pistons. If Billups signs in the 12 million dollar range per year with the Pistons, any tender in the 3.5-4 million dollar range signed by Amir Johnson will make it tough for the Pistons to match because of Luxury Tax implications. The Pistons owner has reportedly stressed Joe Dumars to avoid the luxury tax.

Personally, I would offer Amir Johnson the full MLE for 2 reasons:

1. He has to WANT to sign with Houston before anything. Offering him the full MLE shows that the Rockets believe in him...and rightfully so because Amir's numbers and growth (both on the court and literally) are enough reason to take this risk. Morey is a numbers kind of guy...just look at Amir's production in the limited playing time he's been given.

2. Offering the FULL MLE will take out the gray area in regards to the Pistons matching or not. 3.5-4 million dollars might get matched or might not get matched...it's more of a 50/50. But giving Amir the FULL MLE is enough reason in the Pistons' eyes to let him walk.

Amir could end up a Chris Wilcox with a bad contract. Or he could end up the Rockets version of a Josh Howard contract....in that the Rockets signed him as he is developing and will peak with a contract in management's favor. The difference between Amir and Stromile is that Stro was UNTAPPED potential...Amir has shown productive promise, and it shows in his stats.

MOREY...SIGN THIS KID, NOW! Who else are you going to give the MLE to?

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2004-07-01-dupree-free-analysis_x.htm

 

i hope that we do not go after mikki moore.. he is another scrub that had one decent regular season (along side jason kidd who made kenyon martin look like an all star).. we need to go young at the 4 position.. getting a dinosaur like pj brown isn't gonna help us move past the 1st round..

 

Based on this I highly doubt we will see anything happen until the start of training camp. I hate this approach we need to get better not just coast into another disappointing season.

 

None of the D-League players worth the full MLE. He did nothing in the NBA. Why do you think he's way better than Chuck?!

 

I never said he was better than Chuck. The reasons for offering the full MLE are stated in my last post.

He's producing at the age of 20. He's a 6'11 athletic power forward who has shown that he has decent big man range, can rebound, and can block shots. And the numbers I'm talking about are not from the D-league. He has produced in limited minutes as an NBA player. All I'm saying is that Amir Johnson has the potential to be a great player. Amir is not untapped potential...he's potential that is showing signs of producing.

Playing an average of around 16 minutes per game this passed season, Amir is averaging 5.9 pointse, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, while shooting 54.5% from the field.

Just like Chuck Hayes, he's a beast on the offensive glass. His best game was against Boston, he had 20 points, 12 rebounds (half were offensive rebounds), 4 blocks, and 3 steals in 37 minutes.

He can block shots as well...he averaged nearly 2 blocks in 16 minutes of play this passed season. Amir had 6 blocks one night against the 76ers...and all of that was when he was 6'9...he's grown to 6'11!

What do the Rockets want next to Yao in the front court?:

-Rebounding
-Weak side defense and blocking
-A mid-range game
-A finisher around the basket

Amir has shown he can do all of that...and he's only 20. I think the risk of giving him the MLE is a good one. Besides, who else are the Rockets going to give the MLE to? Joe Smith?...They're better off giving to a younger player with potential and get their veteran big man with the LLE or through trade.

 

I don't know if you have seen him play in the NBA.Even in his limited minutes he has looked very good.His skill level on offense is far better than Chuck,he can block shots,he is a good rebounder and a hard working kid.
I honestly feel that he isn't worth the entire MLE because he is inexperienced but he is at Stro's skill level,maybe even slightly better at the age of 20. He has real upside. Darko is more skilled than him right now but he is asking for around 10M. The Magic wanted to keep him but they felt he didn't give a full effort every night.
The Rockets have limited trading assets that's why they are having so much trouble getting anyone.
They might have no choice but to offer Amir the full MLE otherwise Detroit will match it. The only other options are to get disgruntled players like Kenny Thomas back in a trade or veterans like Webber or Joe Smith who haven't got much left.

 

I understand but Oden has potential too and he'll earn 5.5M per. So if you give Amir 20+ mill contract (4yrs) he'll be an overpaid player. And if he became a bust (out of rotation or 10-min player) you'll own a very bad contract (like Swift).

Anyway we need a starter-caliber PF (not a young guy with potential). So let's go for Nocioni, Gooden, Webber or McDyess.

 

Giving Amir a contract starting at 4M over 4/5 yrs wouldn't be as bad. He's 20yrs now and at that age if he doesn't work out after one or two seasons teams will still take that gamble on him and trade for him because of his age.

 

Not suprised Rockets are not going hard at free agency now...

Darko is looking for more than the MLE, Varejao reportedly got $8 mil a year, I even heard Joe Smith got an full MLE offer.

That's the market for bigs at the moment.. would you want Joe Smith for full MLE?