1) We don't know that the Rockets can't win the championship this year without a big trade. They won 55 games last year, with Yao missing a bunch of games. Any plan we're going to have must assume that both Yao and Tracy are healthy for the playoffs; we're not going to have a Plan B that gives us a realistic shot at winning it all. Also, the Rockets should be better: Brooks, Landry, and Scola have another year under their belts, plus we have Dorsey; Green might contribute something, and we have $2-3.5 million MLE to give another guard. Hey, we have a decent shot as is. 2) VC's contract will be killing us 3, 4, 5 years out. He would cause us to have no chance at winning during those years. I'd take that if I knew we'd win one championship in the next 2-3 years, but that's a big risk. As somebody pointed out, Kidd didn't help Dallas, and Shaq didn't help Phoenix. VC might very well take us backwards, too. Before Toronto traded him, he was sitting on the bench. This guy is not a sure thing. If VC's contract were for 3 more years, it might make sense. It does not make sense as is.
For those of you that think we have no chance of winning the championship this year, remember, the odds of winning 22 in a row are much higher than the odds of winning a championship. Only one other team in history won 22 in a row, yet there's a championship team every year.
I hate his contract but if VC would attack the basket and be more like the old vince carter than I would do this.
I believe a change of scenery with the right coach and mix is all he needs to be honest mixed with a free style system and with a team with add on chemistry could be a very dangerous team.
Who thinks Morey is gonna risk his GM career over an over-the-hill 13 million financial dead weight in the next three to four years for a non guarenteed shot at title? or Les is gonna empty his piggy bank for that luxury tax penalty every year? Good player, very bad contract. Getting VC is like a company signing up an over the hill movie star at a massive price. You'll be locked up with no other choices, taking all this risks and obligations in the hope that she can win an oscar award in the next four years. Not worth it. If we are gonna pay somebody 13 millions a year or near that range, hypothetically, it should be a beast like Ron Artest for two years in a sign and trade. Pass.
Based off the comments in this thread the vast majority of y'all haven't seen Carter play since his last year in TDot. (which is assured based on the amount of people in this thread who think Jefferson was superior to him last season) Myth: He is injury prone. Fact: He has played over 73 games over the past 5 seasons (77+ in the past 4) Myth: He has no heart. Fact: He decided to play through an ankle injury (that required surgery this offseason) on a losing team when he could have shut it down. Myth: He puts up empty stats Fact: He had a +12 +/- this season (the Nets were actually outplaying the other team when he was on the court - the problem was they'd fall to a huge deficit when he sat). He had a RR matching that of Lebron/Kobe/the other superstar swings - he still impacts games. Myth: Carter is a ballhog. Fact: He has developed into a playmaker of T-Mac's caliber. Despite the fact that Carter was among the elite as far as efficiency at the 2 is concerned he only took 16 shots a game (lowest amount since his rookie year). He isn't concerned about his numbers.... Myth: Carter jacks up bad shots Fact: His career FG% (44.7%) rivals Kobe's (45.3%) and his career 3 point % (37.5%) rivals Ray Allen's (39.7%). People erroneously label him as a jacker when he has consistently been among the league leaders in inside shots at his position. Over the past 3 years he has drove to the hole more than Kobe/T-Mac/Pierce. Myth: Carter doesn't play defense Fact: His career DRTG is 105 (same as Kobe) despite the fact that he never has played with a dominant presence in the paint (Young T-Mac or Sean Williams were the best shot blockers he had ever stepped on the court with). Fact: A lot of the negative stigma associated with him is due to a misconstrued interview and successive injuries which were the result of him rushing back to get on the court. Most of the people who hate Carter have no substantial reason to hate him - it's irrational. Most of the negative comments here have no subjective backing whatsoever. Myth: Carter is over the hill. Fact: He still sees nightly double teams and can take over games at will. Every conceivable stat out there supports that claim. I don't see how anyone wouldn't risk picking up Carter. If the Rockets don't succeed they still will have cap space in '10 due to T-Mac's expiring. It's a win-win situation... As far as the new big (finally) 3 in Houston is concerned.... let's stack it up against what most consider to be the premiere trio in the league: T-Mac/Carter>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pierce/Allen Yao=Garnett
The career of most GMs are pretty unstable. Much like any other lucrative career that makes important decisions (i.e. Managing Directors in Investment Banks or Hedge Fund Managers), they make important decisions. Sometimes they take risk to see if it pans out...it's a double edged sword for Morey... if he doesn't take any risks and continues to just draft new talent, he will most likely be fired for not taking any steps in acquiring veterans that would help us win the title...and of course, vice versa with getting fired for acquiring bad veteran talent. Personally, I'm nots ure how VC would do on this team or any team for that matter at this point. Last season, his lackadaisical performance at times leaves little to the imagination. At the same time, he also showed the same flashes of brilliance he has had throughout his career. If we could get him without losing too much, I would still be interested. Even at 20-25 mpg, he would be a valuable contributor on any team.
I completely agree about Vince. Not to mention if Yao goes out for a stretch again T-Mac and Vince can run the show in a different up tempo form giving Brooks a reason to play without skipping a beat. Also he wants to win just as bad as the rest of the crew, and most likely wants out and vice versa of a situation that keeps getting worse. He does everything this team needs and complains about not having. The mid range shot and more importantly he can also take over on those night where T-Mac seems to settle for missing jumpers and isn't going to the hole for points. Plus he can be the closer that we've been wondering who was. He wants the ball with 2 ticks left on the clock. His salary is of no concern to me for what he brings. He's not a 1 dimensional Jason Kidd or a washed up Shaq who completely altered the Suns winning chemistry. Plus since he was resigned the other year and the Nets are now rebuilding, we can probably get him for less than anyone else close to his caliber. They're gonna want young guys and picks. Nobody that would break our back. He's not a step back like other Western trades made in desperation at the deadline, he's more like 2 steps forward with time to think. On a 3 man team the Boston Big 3 would be bench players behind Yao, Vince, and T-Mac. I don't know what you'd call that trio.
Yes. Big Three in Boston pays 23, 16, and 16 for their stars. Our hypothetical Big Three would pay 18, 13, and 13 for our stars. Vince is enough of a star to be able to take over a game when Yao and McGrady are off. Battier is not. Artest is not. Maggette is not. That's what makes a big three, not how affordable one's contract is. If we want to win, get another star. PG: I think Rafer/Brooks/SF3 > Cassell/Rondo SG: Carter > or = Allen SF: McGrady > or = Pierce PF: Scolandry < Garnett C: Yao > Perkins That's the squad that won a championship. If we someone manage to keep Battier in the deal...wow. McGrady is interchangeable with Carter and you could possibly have him play the point for a lineup of McGrady | Carter | Battier | Scolandry | Yao Starpower, hustle & toughness, inside game, outside game, defense. Do it.
All you guys talk about how much money Houston would waste on someone like Carter, I ask you this, how much would a championship cost? How much would you spend to win a championship? Listen to the commentary about Tracy and Vince if they stayed together: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zyHPalVt3eY&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zyHPalVt3eY&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
both of the cousins cost too much, and too injury prone. seriously, maybe trading mac or vince + future 1st rounder might not be a bad idea, or maybe vince + lopez for mac.
Cavs recently tried to get Vince: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19813535&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46370&rfi=6 http://mvn.com/nba-cavaliers/2008/06/28/pick-up-the-phone-rod-thorn-its-wally-for-wince-straight-up/ http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8288360/Nets-making-way-for-LBJ,-Class-of-2010
LOL, I guess not much ppl pay attention to New Jersey Nets basketball lately. Hoping Vince Carter to get you over the hump? Crazy people.
Carter would add to this team the one thing we dont have. A consistent 3rd scorer. Even if his scoring average fell into the 15-20 points per game, as a 3rd option he would be absolutely devastating I agree on his own VC is no savior, but on a team that is already very good he would be very effective.
where did the idea of carter being injury plague came from? He played 76 games last season, the entire season the year before and 79 games at year 05-06. and his 30, his not over the hill, check his stats, his numbers are almost the same the past 3 years. He have cut down on his 3pa to just 3.6per game, compare to head-3.1, bjax-3.1, tmac-4.5, Battier-4.6, Alston-5.5. His no longer 3p trigger happy. His the leader of the team after the kidd trade. And i found this blog who might interest a few. http://str8hoops.com/2008/02/28/everyone-hates-vince-carter/
At the same time, though, the odds of that team winning 22 in a row and not at least making the Finals was something like 0%...as all the top 5 winning streak teams in history either won the championship or made it to the Finals. So that's odds for you. Adding Vince Carter would be a no brainer. We'd be dominant with him. Without him, regardless of who's healthy or not, we aren't anywhere close to dominant.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Its painfully obvious that many here dont pay attention to rest of the league.
