Hey guys! This is from my ESPN Insider Acct. Chad Ford's Summer Grades.... Houston Rockets Cash remaining: $1.6 million exception Players added: Reece Gaines, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, Tracy McGrady, Bob Sura, Charlie Ward Players lost: Kelvin Cato, Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley Skinny: The Rockets made the second-biggest trade of the summer when they swapped Francis, Mobley and Cato for McGrady, Howard, Lue and Gaines. Francis couldn't see eye-to-eye with coach Jeff Van Gundy and the team saw a once-and-a-lifetime opportunity to add a superstar like McGrady while giving up very little in return. McGrady paired with Yao Ming should be dominant next season. Howard is always good when he's the third option on a team. The team filled its point guard hole by signing Sura and Ward. Sura, if he can stay healthy, might be a great fit in Houston. He averaged 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists over his last 27 games for the Hawks. Ward spent a number of years with Van Gundy in New York. The Rockets still need depth at center. Right now they have no one to back up Yao. Considering that Van Gundy doesn't really like to play him more than 35 minutes a game, that could be a problem. Grade: B+
It says we got McGrady while giving up very little in return. That is such crap. We gave up our whole freakin team for him. Chad Ford is dumbass.
So what was our grade before we acquired the veteran guards? Did we improve significantly? Where's our friggin backup center?
I'm not really sure, but I think we had a B before the recent trade then Ford bumped us up to a B+ He must have been rushing a deadline--didn't even see that typo
maybe it's because Yao CAN'T play for more than 35 minutes per game. I like Yao as much as the next guy, but don't make him look better than how he really is...stamina-wise
It's hilarious that an NBA "insider" like Chad Ford would say Houston gave up nothing for T-Mac. Francis might challenge for the scoring title next year, and Mobley has a great shot at being an All-Star. I think it was a brilliant trade by the Rockets, but they paid a fair price for one of the top 2-3 young players in the game.
This would have been THE biggest trade if Shaq had not landed in Miami. So I'm supposing that's why the Rockets were demoted from an A to a B+? I hate subjective grading systems.
??? Francis might challenge for a scoring title...and TMac has actually won the last two. (Besides the fact Francis would need to up his career average probably more than 10 to do so- if he's averaging 30 a game, my guess will be Orlando isn't winning; see TMac, 03-04). Why does Mobley have a great shot at being an all-star? The East has more guards ahead of him than the West- Pierce, Kidd, Carter, Marbury, Redd, Iverson, not to mention his own teammate, Francis. There's 7 guards right there not to mention guys like Arenas, Rip Hamilton, Billups, Wade, Allan Houston, Eddie Jones, and maybe even LeBron James classified as a guard. Francis and Mobley are good players, but they're not THAT good. It's all relative- for getting a 26 year old two time scoring champ, 2 time first team all-NBA, 2 time 2nd team All-NBA player, along with a 17-7 PF a decent prospect, and a decent PG, we didn't give up all that much. I'm more upset Ford doesn't even mention we have a sizable trade exception at our disposal.
That's because nobody knows where it's from and how much it is, least of all Mr. Village Idiot Chad Ford.
Everyone thinks that the rockets gave up too much, but if you think about it, we made out like bandits. If you look at Steve and TMAC head to head by the numbers, that's a steal in our favor. Juwan Howard puts up Mobley type scoring numbers but from a position where we need it more....the PF. He was really good in Dallas as a 3rd or 4th option. He'll be more relaxed and his game will come to him. Lue had his best year as a pro last season and can gives opposing guards fits on defense. Cato was great for us last year, but for 7 ppg,7rpg, and 2 bpg from the starting PF/ back up center isnt gonna cut it...atleast not for what he makes. All of the fans that talk about us not having any draft picks the past couple years, we get one in Reece Gaines. He's a 2nd year 6,6 combo guard that has something to prove this season. The only problem I see is a logjam with guys like Piatkowski and Adrian Griffin. Other than that, Chad Ford is an idiot and the rockets are a back up center away from being a legit team in the west.
The biggest obstacle for Francis and Mobley as individual player, is that they keep playing on the same team. I think they would both be able to get the most out of their skills if they were on different teams.
TMac for KG= even trade TMac for Kobe= even trade Tmac for Duncan= slight advantage Duncan TMac for Francis= STEAL/ LOPSIDED for TMac
False-Would never cross Kevin McHale's mind... False-Would never cross Kupchak's mind, he can't be THAT dumb... False-Would never cross Pop's mined... ?????-It wasn't Tracy for Francis anyway...
oh you are right on the money there. A "big" superstar for a "small" superstar, no freaking **** they would choose the Powerforward superstar. Kupchak is dumb, the whole lakers org is dumb for thinking Kobe is the next Jordan. Oh yeah and it wasn't Tracy for Francis, it was Tracy for Cato no wait Tracy for Mobely
Simmer down warrior. They don't think Kobe is the next Jordan, they think he's the best player in the NBA, nothing wrong with that as long as he's not the best player in prison. No it was Francis, Mobley, Cato, for Tracy, Howard, and Lue. Tracy > Francis, Howard < Mobley, Lue < Cato...