The trade for Posey is addition by subtration. I know we have another thread but I wanted to discuss the Rocks new rotation and the possibility that Posey isn't slated to get many minutes here. Posey is a FA after this season. If he can't come in and instantly contribute, I don't see Rudy putting much stock in him. Afterall, I haven't seen any quotes from Rudy yet. Our core is set w/ Yao, Steve, Cat and Griff. We will win a lot of games with this crew. Now it is about developing team chemistry. If Rudy even suspects Posey is going to walk after this season or demand a large contract, then why would he give minutes to him over TMo, Hawk or even Boki. KT was hurting chemistry by taking minutes from Griff and MoT. KT was assuredly going to leave 1st chance he got because you knew somebody would pay him more than we were willing to match. So lets cut our losses with him and develop EG and MoT. So we pick up Posey who is in a conract year. An easy dump after the season is over. Rice will have one more season after that where we can start to get Boki minutes and get him ready for the year after that. By then, maybe TMo will be more consistent too. If not, we've got time to adjust as Cato might be overpaid for his contribution by then when Yao is dominating. So Cato could be trade bait to pick up a legit 3 after 1-2 seasons. I think this is a brilliant move. If Posey immediately contributes then cool but I doubt that'll happen because Rudy won't give Posey enought PT. Rudy is looking ahead now that playoffs are attainable this season. Posey does add insurance in the playoffs with added depth but he's nothing more than that. Open up PT and clean capspace in one swoop while developing team chemistry (w/ a guy the team already knows). The Rocks are brilliant to pull this off.
Posey is a legitimate player and is better all around than any SF on our current roster. Rice is too old and a defensive liability to play 40 minutes a game. T Morris is incredibly inconsistent. Nachbar has potential but he's not ready. James Posey is the 5th best player on this team - better than Cato, Mo Taylor, Hawkins, Morris, Rice, Collier, Tito Maddux, etc. This guy can play. In Denver he was forced to be a primary scorer- which he's not. In Houston, he can concentrate on defense (which our team often lacks), rebounding, and hitting the open jumper. This is not addition by subtraction. This is addition by addition. There is no reason T. Morris should be playing ahead of James Posey.
The reason TMo might be playing ahead of Posey is because Posey probably won't be here next season. If we can make it to the playoffs while developing our young guns, then we will be stronger in the end. I'm betting that this is Rudy's vision. If Posey comes in and catches fire on offense, then he'll get PT. If he continues to shoot <40%, then he rides the pine. TMo can do that.
This is not addition by subtraction. Posey can play and finally gives us an athletic small forward with length that can make some of the great big guards and small forwards work a little harder to get their shots. He also gives us a back up two guard so that we can rest Cat and Steve a little more and maybe it will keep stinkin Moochie off the floor a little more.
Why wouldnt Posey be here next here. He's not going to get a max contract. If He plays well on a winning team, he'll be paid adequately. Most players do care about winning and they also prefer stability - especially if the money is about the same. My belief is that they want a more polished player that is about the same age as our budding superstars. Of course if he stinks the Rockets arent obligated.
Posey cannot shoot in a system that requires the SF to have a 3 point shot. That spells p-r-o-b-l-e-m and bars him from being a long-term starter for Houston. I could see him as a great defensive sub. He might compliment Nachbar really well in the future. Let Nachbar start and rain down the 3's... but if the shot's not falling, or we're getting used on defense, send in Posey. Of course, we won't know if this will work until we see how Nachbar develops.
Rudy loves Moochie despite what we say around here. I'm making a prediction about Posey. I could be wrong but I see this move as posturizing by the Rocks for the future that just might payoff in the short term. If Posey doesn't contribute immediately, the team is still stronger than it was before. That's my point. I'm sure Posey is good but I don't think he is part of the Rocks future.
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!! This was a brilliant trade but not just because of what Posey can bring to this team. It's because we got rid of KT without hurting team chemistry while clearing cap space. Anybody wonder why we haven't heard any Rudy quotes yet on the trade? CD commented but not Rudy. Rudy already knows Posey won't get much PT so he doesn't want to hype him up too much and setup false expectations.
If this is the case wouldn't the the Rockets be better off just trading with Philly for Bryant, Long, and a 1st round pick. Bryant and Long have expiring contracts after this season too and at least we would get a 1st round pick out of the deal.
If the Rockets didn't need an athletic 3 who plays defense and hustles then why did they sign Hawkins? Posey is a similar type player except much better. Rice is doing okay, but he is too old and inconsistent to get 30+ minutes a game. Terrence Morris hasn't done anything. This is a perfect sigining for the Rockets. Remember when people were saying that the Rockets needed a Brent Barry type player? That's what he is, minues the shooting, but more athletic. There are plenty of minutes, he will get all the minutes Morris was getting against Indiana and he might cut into Rice's time.
I predict that early on Posey might only play 15-18 minutes. By the All Star break, he should average about 30 minutes a night splitting time with Rice and backing up Cuttino Mobley.
I predict Posey won't be here next season. That is a very real possibility. If that is the case, do you really want to give him 30 minutes a game? Rocks didn't take Bryant or Long because that does nothing to ease our PF position. We get a guy who MIGHT earn some minutes this season. Bryant and Long wouldn't get any minutes...period. Posey adds needed depth at 3. Again, unless Posey catches fire on this team...he won't get enough PT and will bolt this summer. Since we know RT often gives PT based on team seniority, I expect TMo to get his minutes. That doesn't leave Posey with much time to prove himself. Don't get me wrong. I don't wish Posey's failure. If he does well, it will benefit the team tremendously and I'll be happy. I just doubt that he'll be given the opportunity since we have guaranteed contracts that also need PT to prove themselves.
I keep hearing people say we cleared up cap space in this trade. How? Kenny Thomas was a unrestricted free agent after this season too. We didn't have to resign him just like we don't have to resign Posey. No cap space freed up and we lost a 2nd round pick to boot. If Posey cannot help this team and if he doesn't have a future with this team, it was a HORRIBLE trade. You'd think for a solid player like KT we could at least get a 1st round pick or a couple 2nd round picks. Something. Rudy must expect Posey will fit this team and he must expect there is a good chance he has a future with this team, otherwise it just doesn't make sense.
I don't see why Posey wouldn't want to be here next season. He works out in Houston, and it looks like he's going to have a new house here soon. The only question would be if the Rockets didn't want him back, and that'll depend on his performance. I see no reason why he couldn't be a long term player on this roster, off the bench anyway. Long term players: Yao, Steve, Cat, Eddie, Nachbar<i>(potentially)</i>, Cato <i>(contract, and play as of late)</i>, Posey <i>Temporary players:</i> Morris, Hawkins, Rice <i>Undecided:</i> Moochie, Mo Taylor Obviously, Moochie and Mo's contracts will keep them here for a while anyway. If Posey is re-signed, we can basically kiss Morris and J-Hawk goodbye. Rice is old. I honestly do think Cato is going to be here and be a spark off the bench for the championship years .
We sure didn't clear any cap space. I think that Posey and KT are both restricted free agents. I'm not positive on that but I think that's the case. If Posey is restricted we could match any offer he gets.
Kenny would have shopped the FA market and somebody would have offered. Then we're faced with matching or getting nothing. With Posey, we clear up our jam at PF with somebody who can potentially contribute immediately thereby maximizing our existing PF's. So we aren't forced to resign KT at a higher cost or get nothing. We need Posey short-term while TMo and Boki develop. They both are on rookie contracts. So if they can deliver next season, they are cheap role players. Posey and KT will both earn more next season than TMo or Boki. So maybe clear cap space isn't the right word...but keeps team salaries low.
The only way Posey won't be here is if 1) Hawkins or Tmo show they are better players, or 2) Posey plays so darn well he gets offers well above the league mid-cap exemption level. Don't count on either happening. Posey is a good player (poentially a very, very good role player) who adds a lot of dimension to our team, his shooting average is artifically low of recent because of how bad his team has become, but he shot decent from the field (43%) and 3 land (37%)--both on quite a few shots--his first 1.5 years or so when Denver had him as the 4th or 5th option (certainly after McDyess, NVE, Lafrenz) like he will be with us. In fact there is no sure thing Boki will beat Posey out of the starting 3 a few years down the line. Unless Boki can play decent defense, Posey may start in the long term with Boki playing a Kucok/Hedo-like offensive cavalry off the bench. That would not be so bad.
TMo was a second round pick and his contract is done after this season so he won't be developing here unless he wakes up and starts playing well. If Boki can't get a sniff of playing time right now then he's probably not going to be ready to play starters minutes next season. I think there's a good chance we resign Posey as long as someone doesn't offer him something outrageous.
KT was the starting power forward. It doesn't make sense for Rudy to trade the best PF on the team just to avoid the logjam. He obvioulsy think Posey is going to provide something. Any why does anyone think Morris will get more time than Posey? That's crazy.
