Forgive me for being so cavalier in this thread with regards to salaries. But who cares? We are in "win now" mode. The course was set as soon as we valued present gains over potential future windfalls in the Battier/Gay deal (of which we got no tradable assets in return #24 pick, Warrick etc.) Why should we care about salaries as stumbling blocks if we are making trades where we are "one player" away from going to the championship, winning now....this season? Why not trade Juwan Howard for Stephen Jackson? Jackson sometimes is a nut case but he also is a 6'8" SG with length that has championship experience. Problem solved, length at the 2/3. Jackson has worn out his welcome in Indiana. Who cares his contract runs for forever? I am sure we could get in on the Troy Murphy trade rumors. He makes a ton with tons of years, but who cares? He is a good rebounder and a good outside shooter that would be a good compliment to Yao. Why not trade our 2007 1st round pick + player/salary for another veteran? Ya know, Sura(salary)+ 2007 first round pick for Jared Jeffries or Josh Childress. If it takes 5year on full MLE to get Mike James? Get it done! 4.2 TE, move it for Keyon Dooling or someone like that. Backup PG and speed. I could go on and on. Anyone else want to chime in? Have fun, be cavalier about "years" and "salary". Because right now we are one player away from going all the way. Why should we care about salary/years down the road and the future when management is on "win now" mode. They didnt care about the future when moving Rudy Gay. You shouldn't either. Post away!
This same attitude suites Mark Cuban well ! Well kind of, he tends to give assets and then get some in return. I like the win now mode, the roster will be completely different in 4 or 5 years, and I could care less about luxury tax, it ain't my money. I just want the best team on the court possible, every single year. Not in 3 years, but NOW....especially now that we have 2 superstar players in their prime....we can build for the future when they start declining. WIN NOW BABY !! Damn the torpedos full speed ahead. DD
You know that you are touching on a very much needed frame of mind. What I am afraid of is that the Rockets Management JVG, CD, DL and big M do not have the capacity to think big, because if they don't we won't be even a championship contender, never mind a Champion!
Pass Deuce, I will just wait and see what the Rockets team does. But, I would not hesitate even a second to take on a bad contract if I thought the player could help....not one second. DD
the problem with the Rockets is they have ADD A person they try gets what . .20 ~ 30 games and BOOM they in the dog house D.Anderson was on the outs in less than a 1/3rd of the year Stro was pretty much given up on by the 1st half of the season Battier has 10 games . .he is a yes man and JVG likes yes men Rocket River
I'd probably go for that at this point. Juwan + Rybo for Murphy would work capwise. It's pretty much a salary dump, but Golden State would save a lot of money in the long run. You could also swap Rybo for Luther, but I'm hoping we wouldn't need to do that. And speaking of our 2007 pick, I would not trade it away now. We could potentially get mid round talent (like Brewer and Carney) all the way down at 20+. I like the idea of being in "damn the torpedos" mode right now, but lets not go overboard.
I agree with Duece. The management has set the tone with their WIN NOW bravado so go for it. Let them be aggresive as hell this off season and put it all on the table to win now! Trade next years pick if need be. Take on contracts that other teams might not want. Go over the luxery tax threshold and surround Yao, TMac and Battier with the best players on the market. The management started this course of action with their win now trade Gay approach. Management started this now lets see if they are willing to finish it.
I would trade anyone other than our big 3 for Troy Murphy....a big PF that can shoot the 3 ball....wow ! DD
kmart, muphy, boozer, and k9 are all PF's who could help us and who are available for some cap relief. Jho's deal doesn't look so bad next to these guys. they might be willing to take him on (maybe with a future pick involved), if we take these contracts off thier hands.
I am in step with this mindset.We need proven pro talent as pieces to our title teams.Guys that for the most part have already developed and know their role.With a healthy Yao and TMac,the Rockets just need to fill in the blanks.Our window is open NOW. My next move would be signing Sam I Am for a couple of years. ...and if there is a way I would procure a rebounding/interior defense guy at the 4.We have added shooting(and defense in Battier's case) with the last two acquisitions....but at the very least we need an enforcer type at the 4.
I hope that management does not confuse “win now” with the notion that the only way to win now is to have a team full of established veterans. Despite the trade, I still strongly believe that all the talk from Van Gundy last season about wanting to get younger and more athletic was not total BS (maybe mostly, but not totally). If/when the Rockets sign Mike James, I expect every following move the Rockets make to be for a young athletic player. If there’s one silver lining to all of this it’s that it forces Rockets management to finally get off their butts and actually go out and FIND talent. Acquiring proven talent just isn’t an option anymore. They have no assets to trade and hardly any money to give. The only way to significantly improve the talent of the team next season is to go out and find that next great CBA/NBDL player, or that diamond in the rough sitting at the end of some team’s bench. The Rockets are going to have to be a lot more creative with the moves they make this summer.
OMT....If we can rid ourselves of Sunglass's soft game and big contract while acquiring pieces,CD will have done a masterful job. Even if this albatross was not going bye bye,Howard can function intandem with a PF that compliment's his..ahh..game.As scary as it sounds though,JH is just the kind of guy that can function as rotation player.And as much of a value guy as he is,I don't believe Hayes has enough game to make up the slack.I guess CD keeps hiom until the right deal comes down the pike.
Deuce, Crash and New Jack are all spot on. Once the Win-Now Battier deal went down, only Yao, TMac and Battier (and possibly not even Battier for the right deal) are the only safe players. IMHO, it all starts with getting TOR to SnT James so that we still have the full MLE. Do whatever it takes...talk them into a 1 year which includes David Wesley and possibly Bogans...hell...send Luther Head instead of Bogans...tell TOR we'll pick up Wesley's tab with "cash considerations" so they can waive him...and throw in 2nd rounders. If Battier was brought here for his "moneyball" plus side, take the highest ranked FA SG/SF on that list and throw insane money at them....join Juwan Howard and next years' 1st rounder at the hip... IMHO, the goal order should be Mike James SnT...full MLE tall athletic wing player who is great in transition (Rodney Carney makes John Salmons redundant at PHI...Salmons is a high IQ'd, athletic freak with a qualifying offer of $2.5M)...screw it, make PHI match cause they are in the LTax stratosphere...and lastly a PF with range...Troy Murphy makes insane money and his contract is 2 years longer than Juwan's...Juwan and next years' 1st... Win-now...no excuses!!!
I couldnt agree more. The Gay/Battier trade only has ONE excuse-WIN NOW. So please show the fans you are doing the same about every move this offseason. 55M is not enough to win the championship.(It includes 5M for 2 players cant play-Sura and Ward) Miami has 63M next season.(Payton/Mourning is FA and Wade is still in his rookie contract.) Dallas has 75M next season and expect to add 8-10M of resigning Terry. San Antonio has 60M next season and expect them to use MLE to sign Nazr Mohammed or Joel Przybilla. Phoenix has 60M next season and they will use MLE to resign Tim Thomas.
Yes, finally you guys are coming around.....welcome on board !! I have been saying that it doesn't matter how much the payroll is....WHO CARES !!! Just make the team better...... Of course it is not my money. Oh, one more thing, this course was set the day we acquired TMac, always has been that way, at least in my eyes. DD
TOR S&T James to HOU for Juwan Send Rafer to Atlanta fir Zaza Use MLE on Matt Harpring and Qyntel Woods Trade 1.6 TE for Travis Diener*/Steve Blake *Diener & Novak will be useful in future plan: Rocket D-Wade It's going to be very hard to get full value/pick up a bargain player with the 4.2 TE.
