And besides Swift, the Rockets are happy to announce the acquistion of NOBODY??!! Are we in a deadzone or what. This is the eve of the big day, and nada. Not a whisper, not a hint, nothing. I am surprised that the board isn't cooking with speculation. Apparently, the Rockets are going to sign......Swift, and that's it. To bad they couldn't upgrade the guard position. Oh well, we can at least dream of the second round. Without an upgraded backcourt, a serious run at the ring is, IMO, unlikely.
Find me the teams doing better...maybe New Jersey with Abdur-Rahim, but it sure seems we didn't want him. Cleveland and Milwaukee made use of cap space. Phoenix is going to sign....Raja Bell and trade Joe Johnson for Boris Diaw? Orlando is going to sign....Keyon Dooling? LA is going to trade Butler and Atkins for....Kwame Brown? We're taking a 51 win team, adding two superb athletes with game, and assuming Deke sticks around, keeping the rest of the team together, save Scott Padgett. And we still have a smaller exception at our disposal. Just sit back and enjoy- when we needed a point guard midseason, did CD not make the move?
Greed may be a good thing, but impatience is not! We still have over 2 months before the preseason schedule starts & then 4 months before the trading deadline. Plenty of time left to tweek the guards. Besides, our current guard core helped us to 51 wins.
I agree. Hyperbole in hard to resist on a site like this. I wouldn't want the Rockets to do something stupid just to relieve my boredom with the offseason.
We have a MUCH better front court: Swift added + JH returning + Baxter (maybe) - Padget - Spoon (maybe lux tax cut) We have a better court court: drafted Head + Glover (fall back) + fresher/healthier vets (Sura/DW/James/JB) - Ward (maybe cut) We are already looking excellent, odds on #2 team in the West (assuming Deke also comes back, totally within our control and should happen shortly). Now we are just being greedy looking for that extra 1-2-3. Yes I am greedy too, I'd love to land Finley, Stoud, Houston, Kittles, Spree, Bucker, Wallace, Demar, etc. But even without another major splash, we have still had an outstanding offseason. Adding a bigger swingman like Glover or Hansen for the vet min could be a fine way to round out the roster.
I agree........with one drawback. It looks like quality, young swingmen are in demand and there isn't too much supply. If we can get a good, young 2/3 we gotta make a move. Otherwise wait. We shouldn't overpay for role players. I would be okay with going into the season with what we got. It would be a dream to go into the season with upgraded starters at both backcourt positions and Sura, Barry, and James coming off the bench for us along with Deke and Baxter/Howard.
I saw Swift do something last season I've never seen anyone do -- block a turnaround jump shot by Kevin Garnett. I was shocked. He'll provide the weakside shotblocking and defensive reboudning that we've sorely been missing... and I expect Yao to have a great season... Yao will have less pressure on defense because he'll have Swift behind him to get rebounds and provide help. This will conserve more of his energy for offense where I hope he can dominate like we all expect. I also remember Swift putting up double doubles every night when Gasol or Wright were out late a couple seasons ago. The guy is an awesome talent, he just needs some motivation... what better coach to have than Van Gundy?
I think he also made a smart choice to come to Houston. He's going to look good next Yao and Tmac. We can use his strength and not over load him. Case in point, Deke.
