http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=2805129 Oct. 4, 2005 Houston traded Mike James to Toronto for Rafer Alston. Winner: Rockets. James spent one season with the Raptors before leaving as a free agent. Alston has been a fixture at the point for nearly two full seasons for the Rockets. Feb. 9, 2006 Houston traded Lonny Baxter to Charlotte for Keith Bogans. Winner: None. An entirely inconsequential trade. Feb. 13, 2006 Houston traded Moochie Norris to New Orleans for Maciej Lampe. Winner: Rockets. Both teams benefited financially, and the deal gave the Rockets a trade exception they used to acquire Jake Tsakalidis. Feb. 23, 2006 Houston traded Derek Anderson to Miami for Gerald Fitch. Winner: Heat. The Rockets accommodated Anderson's desire to move on, and he won a ring with Miami -- although he did little to earn it, scoring 24 points in eight playoff appearances. June 28, 2006 Orlando traded the rights to Lior Eliyahu to Houston for $275,000. Winner: Rockets. Eliyahu had a team-high 19 points for Maccabi Tel Aviv in a recent Euroleague loss to Tau Ceramica in which Argentinian Luis Scola (NBA rights owned by San Antonio) became the Euroleague's all-time leading scorer. July 12, 2006 Memphis traded Shane Battier to Houston for Stromile Swift and the rights to Rudy Gay. Winner: Rockets. Gay, the rookie from UConn, has been as impressive as any first-year player anywhere over the past month, but Battier has been one of the few steady factors for the Rockets throughout their injury-plagued season. July 14, 2006 New Orleans traded Kirk Snyder to Houston for $1.5 million and the right to swap second-round picks in '08. Winner: Rockets. Snyder complained earlier this month about his playing time, and coach Jeff Van Gundy responded by placing him on the inactive list. Still, they got him for practically nothing because the Hornets needed money to re-sign Rasual Butler. Feb. 13, 2007 Houston traded Scott Padgett to Memphis for Jake Tsakalidis. Winner: Rockets. The Rockets had no one taller than 6-foot-5 behind Dikembe Mutombo, so they added a second Greek player to their roster. Who says JVG can't coach Europeans?
The "fixture" punch line aside, I'd say that was a good deal for Toronto if for nothing more than to get Rafer off their books. Given Rafer's disaster season there, they were fortunate to unload that contract for an expiring (who happened to shoot 47% from the field and 44% from long range in his one season there). Bostjan Nachbar, Maceij Lampe and Vassilis Spanoulis I think.
Wow, I have forgotten about Lior. Has anyone seen him play this year? I see that he is averaging 11.4 ppg 5.2 rpg 1.5 ast 1.2 stl on 56.9 shooting in 22 minutes for the season. And for the playoffs he has boosted it up to 13.2 ppg and 6.2 rbg and 1.4 apg on 67.6 shooting in almost the same amount of minutes.
Clutch, name me some PGs who are better than Rafe and who are attainable? To prevent the dead horse beating, let's not include Mike James on your list =P
Um, what does that have to do with what I said? The Raptors are winning much more now than they did with Rafer Alston... only if they don't make the trade, Rafer is still on their team for 3+ more years. Walked right in to that one.
They were talking about Chuck Hayes, who measures 6'5"(w/o shoes), and was playing behind Mutombo until Yao came back. McGrady and Shane don't play behind Mutombo.
I'm not implying it, I'm saying it straight out: Rafer very much had negative value at the time he was dealt. Last I checked, Sam Mitchell was still coaching there. If the Raptors could have bought out Rafer for $2 million and taken a zero cap hit, they would have done it in a nanosecond... and that's basically what ended up being the case.
The Rafer and MJames was a winner to us because we got something in the end. We knew MJames would opt out of his contract and become a free agent. And even after offering him a decent deal, he still went somewhere else. If there was one person who wished Rafer to fail with us, it's MJames. And I am proud to say, we got the better deal.
This is true. I suppose in a sense it was a very good trade for Toronto in the sense that he was a complete misfit there (spare the 'no, you mean everywhere' jokes please). On the other hand...aside from the 'addition by subtraction' aspect, I don't know that they got much out of it except a year of ballhogging mediocrity. They had to trade a talented young forward (Villanueva) for their starting PG the very next year, and then what? The cap space they had they used for re-upping Bosh.
You don't judge trades solely based on the players value at the time of the trade. That was what people who supported the Battier trade were told last summer, right?
I don't know why someone dislikes Rafer Alston so much. I think rafer is now the best pg that we have on this team or, maybe, we can possibly get. He shoots 3 decently. He handles the ball well. He has quickness and size. On some nights, he can burn his opponents badly. I am actually worried about his backup. Luther is not a pg althought he was often forced to, lucas is too under-sized, then who else
This is the one I love...so Snyder b****es about his PT, thinking VG will consider his demands and play him more. Instead he gets b****slapped to the inactive list. I love it!! THis is an unselfish team on the rise with 2 superstars that are all for sharing the ball and putting team first, and this little scrub thinks he gonna shake things up? I'm proud of VG for reminding Snyder that he's one bad season away from the NBDL.
IMO the better thing is that Snyder realized the error of his ways, and subsequently returned to action, in fact within the next 2 games.
