to me thats the problem...james is really an SG (think of an upgraded version of "Butter" Lu Head. actually, hes a middle class version of a G that is not quite chauncey b but not quite SF/starbury. bottom line, hes a scoring G, i certainly dont think of him as a PG), so if we get him were getting a scoring SG. only problem is his size (and age. and the fact that his contract may limit our other roster options) still leaves us with holes to fill. thats probably what gets me the most about the "trade" from last night; were still down a quality PF and we still need a big SG. unless they pull a whopper on us and memphis gave us $10 million in cash, weve picked up a very good player and....a very good player. trust me, i dont have monogrammed mike james knee-pads but i would really, really like us to go after him because of his speed and scoring. i just wonder that if we do get him weve basically finished off our movement on the FA market.
I don't know if you're aware of it, but like someone posted on another thread, prior to acquiring Eddie Jones last summer, out of Battier/Miller/Wells/Posey quartet it was Battier who spent the most time guarding opposing 2's.
Actually, hell about SGs. We'll go this way: Yao, Battier, T-Mac, James, Alston. There! Play SMALL!!! Uh... Actually I ain't too excited... But I WANT Mike James. Hell I want him, even if there's a hole bigger than the one in the ozone layer at PF.
If we acquired Mike James, I wouldn't want him to start over Rafer. If his short stint in Houston taught me anything, it's that Mike James would be a prime candidate for 6th man/instant offense off the bench/change the tempo guy. If that's the case, I'm all for him returning.
my thoughts exactly...he was great off the bench, i could see butter lu as the bench PG and MJ as the bench SG...but then weve paid the MLE for a bench player. i know its been mentioned somewhere else here on the board lately, but what are the chances/costs involved w/trying to get jared jeffries? i know hes no scoring dynamo but he would definitely solve our "who guards 2/3/4" issue and i wouldnt imagine hed be as much as james, right? (and yes, ive just opened myself to attack)
I’m more lost now than ever on what the hell the Rockets plan to do with the MLE. They’re obviously in “win now” mode and they desperately need scorers that can be the 3rd option and occasionally 2nd option on the floor. I guess Mike James would be the only option available that can fill that role. But spending the whole MLE on him leaves us with no true shooting guard on the roster, and a very weak bench. If we split the MLE to get a shooting guard and add some depth to our bench, it’s unlikely we’ll get a legitimate 3rd option. The Rockets blowing their load on Battier has left the roster with so many holes to fill and so few assets to use.
1. Tmac and James seem to be friends or at least friendly. I don't know if there is a clash between them. But there should be. James isn't a team player. 2. I don't see James affecting Alston's status. James is a PG only in height. If he came, it'd have to be as a backup. The real clash is James vs. Head. If we were to get James, would we trade Head for a different commodity? The team isn't big enough for two undersized shooting guards. 3. Will he sign for the MLE is the real question. He wants more than that, but I think he will ultimately have to settle for the MLE. If so, it may as well be with us, right? 4. The big problem with signing James though is our new need at PF. The FA big man market isn't looking too good, but if we use the MLE on James, we've only got the TE and Head to get one that's under contract, so I don't know if we have better options like that.
FYI, Mike James is not going to sign with Houston unless he is coming here to start. And he probably is going to want to be the primary ball handler at PG. I am sure he will see a fair amount of time at the 2, but I think if he comes here he will want the starting PG position. Just my take.
I want to hope you're joking, but I know you aren't. Mike James was a huge reason why we even made it a 7 game series.
no, its something ive thought of but never explicity said (though i hinted in a previous post); essentially were paying a fairly high price for a bench player. a very good bench player, but a bench player. because anyone who thinks a line up of: james battier tmac howard yao will work is clearly playing nba live and set to "easy". again, i like mike james and what he can bring to his team (off the bench), im just afraid signing him gives us a good, scoring SG but one that is older and undersized. and severely limits our other FA activity
hahaha thought taht was funny.. I would rather get Mike James through a sign and trade than rather us use our MLE on him.. I think we could trade Jho and Rybo for him.. give em veteran leadership and depth.. and everyone needs a RYBO.
to me, Wilcox would be a slightly better fit than Mike James. I can't stand another season going to war with Juwan Howard in my front line. The lineup w/ Wilcox looks like this: Yao Wilcox Battier McGrady Alston
i mentioned in another post that is it feasible to think we could go after jared jeffries? hes not a traditional 4 (more of a 2-4 kinda guy) but he would definitely give us options and flexibility. and we could also try to find a serviceable PF on the cheap. that would give us Alston McGrady Battier Jeffries Yao
I think Tim Thomas wants to stay in Phx. Wilcox is a stretch b/c he probably wants to stay in Seattle. but who knows? Vlad would be alright as well
Not a fan of Mike James. Seems to me like the arrogant/selfish type of player. Ballhog. With Yao and Tmac, we don't need another ballhog, especially one with an attitude. Oh not to mention the fact that it's his contract year, and he'll want to get paid. That being said, he might not show us what he showed in Toronto this season.
wilcox/ely/evans/jefferies for the 4 spot james/rush/fill in the blank for added depth at the 1 and 2
