I"m opposed to Joe Smith as our "answer" but I suspect that Team "RocketBall" is focused on stop gap measures and working hard to "out think" everyone else in the NBA to find someone nobody has every heard of but will cost very little to come in and surprise us all. As though everyone who's ever picked up a ball in a league game somewhere hasn't been scouted by somebody connected to the NBA.... Morey may be waiting and God I hope he is, but for now, I'm with Solid, and Yetti, and DD, and everyone else who questions whether the Rockets have the Cajones to pull off a deal that will put us back into the top 5 seeds in the Western Conf. again. Right now, my gut says no. Joe Smith is a headfake by ROX Mgmt, they do it EVERY year. Remember Snyder? And Bonzi came out of nowhere as well (though in truth, he pretty much stayed there.... ). We'll sign someone off our Summer League team and then we'll spend part of our MLE on someone with few choices on where to play, and with Adelman at the helm, Morey and Les will go to Church/Temple a whole lot more this coming season than they did last year (except for the stretch without Yao).
Now that's funny. I'm inclined to believe you since Morey headfaked all of us to the ground on draft night. It's got to be one of three possibilities. 1) Morey is a clown who never should have come within an inch of basketball operations 2) Morey is a think tank who can minimalize risk without sacrificing the team's growth, or 3) Morey should play in the NBA if he's that good at faking the shots.
He isn't much more of a PF than Deke is. And we can bring back Deke for a lot less. Our PF really needs some range and mobility to compliment Yao. It is fine if the guy can double as a backup center or 3rd center, but their primary position should be the 4.
Youth with potential is way overrated, and could be better acquired through the draft. Look at San Antonio. Would they overpay for a unproven player? We should be looking at players like Smith, because the younger guys are overpriced. How many young forward free-agents, in that price range can you remember that has made significant impact on the court in the following season? Stromile Swift?
Rasha, Butler, Elson, Bonner, Malik Rose? Not like the Spurs haven't taken some risks and have taken on some bad contracts. Same with Phx and Det, two of the other model franchises. But those teams have hit more and missed fewer than the Rockets the last decade, I give you that. In truth SA in particularly hasn't been very good in FA. They lucked/tanked into Duncan and did a great early recruit job in Europe to land Parker and Manu. Nothing else they have done had been particualrly schrewed (sp?) or impressive, they just basically haven't had to totally screw up having their roster around those big 3.
It will be interesting the season after next, when Yao has an option to opt out of his contract with the Rockets.... They really haven't done anything to provide him backup support or a strong PF to soften the defense. Joe Smith is just another example of a player that we were after for years....but now that he is aging and his skills are diminishing...we will be able to finally get....not much left in the tank. Rox have great history of that...
If Boston, Philly and Houston are the only teams who have interest, it would seem Houston would be a no-brainer choice. Smith would be nice and solid as a starter, capable of giving 25 efficient minutes, get 8-10 points, and 7-9 boards. Has a nice shot, and then, depending on matchups, have either Hayes or (God willing, hopefully) Scola come for some energy and hustle off the bench.
