Finally. So now in this offseason, I think we have only one thing to be done -- trade. Right? Looking forward to any kind of information about backup PF/C or starting SG or whatever.
This is great news, now let’s see the club use that TE and get some front court beef. Settling at limbo low, how about Mark Jackson from the N.O. Hornets. Mark has become expendable with the Hornets newly acquired frontcourt additions. Mark is in the final year of his contract (one year rental) and his salary matches very well with the TE. Jackson could be a good backup to Howard and his ability to hit a jump shot would make him a nice compliment to Yao. http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/new_orleans.htm
No doubt the best in the league. Some of these fans just like to be pesimist or they actually believed the world was coming to an end on june 6.
Hoopsworld article about the signing....... John Lucas III Back in Rockets Red -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Bill Ingram for *************** Jul 28, 2006, 20:49 John Lucas III, son of former Rocket John Lucas and Bellaire High School alum, was officially inked to a multi-year contract by the Rockets on Friday. The Rockets, who were formerly talking to Mike James in their efforts to shore up the point guard position, can now be said to be set in the back court, an area where they were desperately shorthanded just a couple of weeks ago. But the signing of Lucas does raise a few other questions that must be explored. First of all, for those who haven't been following the summer's events, why is the player who averaged 2.3 points and 0.9 assists in 13 games with the Rockets in 2005-06 now being given a multi-year deal and the reigns of the second unit? Quite simply, because he earned the confidence of GM Carroll Dawson and Daryl Morey with his incredible play in Las Vegas earlier this month. Playing in front of an impressive crowd in Cox Pavilion, Lucas finished second among all players in scoring average (23.4) and lead the league in assists per game (7.6). The 5-foot-11 guard shot .511 (47-92 FG) from the field and .429 (6-14 3FG) from 3-point range over the five games. His performance earned him First-Team All-TVSL honors. In the opening game vs. Portland (7/6/06), Lucas recorded a double-double with 26 points and 10 assists. He followed that outing with 25 points and nine helpers in a 93-90 win over Denver (7/7/06). What stood out most about Lucas in Vegas was his incredible quickness. He was able to get to the rim any time he wanted, at which point he would either score or find one of his sharp-shooting teammates (Steve Novak and Pat Carroll) on the perimeter. While Novak, Carroll, and Chuck Hayes all played well in Vegas, the reason the Rockets finished 5-0 had everything to do with the leadership and court vision of Lucas. It is clearly the hope of Carroll Dawson that Lucas will be able to help push the tempo and create easy baskets for his team when starter Rafer Alston gets a breather. If Vegas was any indication, the Rockets will be in good hands. Second question: Will Jeff Van Gundy play him? You can have all of the young talent in the world, but if you have a head coach who won't play young players it doesn't do much good. For the answer to that question, tune in to The Texas Triangle tomorrow morning. Finally, does this signing mean the Rockets are finished dealing? One would have to think so. They were chasing Mike James and Jared Jeffries, but they are both going to land elsewhere. In their places we've seen the Rockets add Lucas, Kirk Snyder, Vassilis Spanoulis, and perhaps even Bob Sura. They now have 14 players under contract, meaning one more player could earn a spot during training camp. Could that person be Pat Carroll? We'll have to wait to find out. But for now the Rockets appear to have a solid roster that's ready to begin training camp . . .67 days from now! Bill Ingram is Executive Editor for Basketball News Services, powering ***************, SWISH Magazine, and The Five Star Basketball Report. Gotta Response? E-mail It Here
Dude how do you figure Yao is as good as Brand, Tmac is so much better than maggette it makes you want to go crazy, and Kaman is about the same caliber as Kaman. The overall talent level is so ridicolous i have no idea how you came to that conclusion. Either way you look at it i do not know how you would say that our frontcourt is bad.
Dude you have been a member long enough to know that you never post hoopsworld articles even if they do not involve trade rumors. That post confirming it by hoopsworld makes me doubt if it really happend.
I don't like Battier at the four, because he is undersized against most of who he will be playing. We've already seen him get owned by Dallas. I don't like him at three, because that puts T-Mac at the two. That wouldn't be an issue for me two years ago, but we already know of his healthissues. I've been past Rudy Gay for what feels like months now... if dreams could come true, I'd have Hayes being at starter capability or the Rockets signing Chris Wilcox. That, imo, would make us better. But looking more realistically... I like Howard, but I don't expect him to be much of a boost off the bench. Same for Mutombo. A four/five would be very beneficial.
SPLASH!!! Now our offseason is complete! __________________ well i would'nt say complete but its a gooood move with our starting team i say we're preet close to suns we just need one more good shooter
Not sure what to think about this signing. This offseason the Rockets took the 'safe road' with trading for Battier and then turned around and totally rolled the dice on some young players in Lucas, Snyder, Vspan. Clearly this team will rise and fall with the health of Yao and Tmac. But secondary to that, I think it will rise and fall with the play of their new young guards. "IF" Lucas turns into a poormans Damon Stoudamire.... "IF" Vspan turns into some hybrid of Manu Ginobili/Andres Nocioni.... "IF" Snyder turns into that tough, athletic 2 guard we were looking for.... There are some question marks there. It's a gamble. The good part is that they are all on very modest contracts and they are all young which means they are less likely to break down. It's going to be interesting to see how these young guys do on JVG's team. VG is going to have to loosen the reigns a bit with these young guys.
The new rules make it easier for smallish PGs to succeed, see Chris Paul. JL3 was/is on his level as a player in college, and could be in the pros too. Deuce, You are correct there are a lot of "ifs" there, but playing with Yao and Tmac alleviates a LOT of pressure and they can progress at their own rates, and not try to do too much. DD
I love the Hoopsworld articles, and links to any other articles on the NBA. Keep bringing them to us.
There are a lot of "if"'s but you can say this about any team when they bring in new talent. Even if it is older veteran players... The key here is Yao and T-Mac being the leaders and helping everyone find their niche on the team.
I finally get to watch JLIII's Summer League games on TV. I hope he could bring the same confidence to NBA the coming season. Enough guards, now the PF I guess??
