linkola An off-season that's delivered an assortment of new names and faces to the Rockets roster could take another step toward bringing back an old one when general manager Daryl Morey meets with Dikembe Mutombo in Atlanta on Monday. It's not likely that there will be final agreement on a deal for the upcoming season at the meeting, but Morey is feeling confident in taking the next step and that the 41-year-old veteran will be in the fold when training camp opens in October. After expressing frustration in the immediate aftermath of the Rockets first-round playoff loss to Utah and saying he was leaning toward retirement, Mutombo is now committed to playing one more season. A brief flirtation with the Boston Celtics seems to have waned. Morey says that if he can get Mutombo under contract, the Rockets will likely be done adding to their roster. The team is still trying to trade John Lucas III and will trade away Bob Sura's contract or buy it out. The rest of the bodies — 17 others when you eventually add second-round pick Carl Landry — will likely be in training camp for new head coach Rick Adelman to check out before the paring process begins.
Deke is wanting to be paid more than the veteran's minimum, and I can't say I blame him. But the Rockets are over the luxury tax and can't sign him to more money until they trade Rafer and the other junk to dump salaries.
Just JL3 and Sura?? what about Rafer? I was expecting a Allston + Sura + JL3 + Reed for ??? deal since 8/14.
Unless a good deal comes around, it makes a lot more sense to hold onto rafer until the trade deadline. That gives us time to find out where everybody fits, and for other teams to find out that they need a PG.
We finally know the answer to the old, philosophical question of... Q. WHO WANTS TO SEX MUTOMBO??!! A. THE ROCKETS DO!!!!
Teams within the decade have won with Avery Johnson, Derek Fisher, Ron Harper, young Tony Parker (at which time he was often benched for guys like Claxton and Kerr in the playoffs), and a broken down Jason Williams/ancient Payton combination at PG. Not saying Rafer is better than these guys, but his is not far off their caliber at times they have won rings. You can win a championship with Rafer as the starting PG. But that probably should be your weakest spot and you better have a lot of greatness in the rest of the roster. Mia, Boston, Denver and LAL are three teams who think they might be in the title mix Rafer would share major PG duties if on those teams if not start.
I have some questions about how Deke and Adelman will mesh... maybe it's just me, but recently a couple of solid defensive role players who are lacking in offense didn't get many minutes for Adelman-- Brian Skinner and Jason Hart. Also, Deke's career was looking near death even 3 years ago, before he got revived in these Van Gundy teams where vets and defensive specialists seem to thrive. But given the market for big guys, Deke is probably better than anyone else out there to spend the minimum or even the $1.83 million exception on. What are the alternatives? Malik Allen and Adonal Foyle?
Adelman just needs to be creative when deke is in the game, i mean he does have plenty of offensive weapons on the team, but he still needs a defensive player and rebounder like deke.
You made my point for me, i would take any of those players you listed to run the rockets instead of rafer. maybe if he never shot the ball and just was a floor general i would feel different about him, but those 3 pt bricks and that stupid shot put/tear drop of his makes me want to strangle the guy.
I've been reading the "sexing Mutombo" jokes for years....can any veterans here explain when and how it started? Of course, we need Mutombo even under Adelman. Someone's got to block some shots!
I keep coming up with 18: TMac Yao Bonzi Battier Scola James Francis Hayes Mutombo Snyder Head Alston Novak Reed Butler Brooks Landry & Harris (nonguaranteed) Thats 18. I guess they are not counting Harris. At this point though, he seems more likely to stick than Landry whom they still have not signed.
What happend in the unlikely event of Deke not Re-singing?. i mean butler alone is'nt enough for a whole season as yao's backup. If moutombo opts to retier, i hope we give Big Jake a contract. He was pretty good i thought in the limited minutes he played. it's not easy to look ok in like getting 5 minutes every month. i thought he looked ok. he was a pretty solid rebounder and a solid interior defender.
