I dont think the Clippers would do the deal simply because they can get more for Maggette. If he opts out he will be a UFA and the Rox cant afford him. If he pick up the option, the Clippers can probly get more for him than our guys since he is a solid wing and and expiring contract. Lastly I dont think the Rockets should give up on Aaron Brooks just yet. The reason I think they would part with Mobley is because he still has 2 yrs left at around 9 mil a year. Bobby and Luther are both expiring so what they lose in talent they make up for in payroll/cap flexibility. Thoughts?
Luther is a beast!..No way!!! <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AKUmW-zQiyU&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AKUmW-zQiyU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
3 possibilities - two of which involve trading Yao (and thus will not happen because Yao is a cash cow) Trade Idea A Bobby Jackson and Luther Head for Cuttino Mobley (and a future first round pick, if Morey can get it). Rockets get a backup 2/3 that can defend, hit the three, and create for himself, while Sterling gets to save about eight million dollars. Trade Idea B Yao and Battier to the Bobcats for Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor (sign and trade), Raymond Felton, and their #1. Bobcats with Yao and Bats immediately become Eastern Conference contenders while the Rockets weaken their center spot (though that is the weakest spot throughout the league) but put out an incredible lineup: Felton/Alston McGrady/Head <- hopefully could be packaged with Jackson and maybe the #8 pick for a good guard) Wallace/(FA, maybe Barnes) Scola/Landry Okafor/Mutombo/Hayes Trade Idea C Yao, Battier, Jackson, and Head to the Clippers for resigned Brand, Maggette, Kaman, and Thornton. Yao is like an ATM machine that doesn't debit your account and Donald Sterling cares more about making money than winning. If you can replace Battier with the contracts of Loren Woods, Jackie Butler, and Justin Reed, even better. This only works if Brand is back to his pre-injury form. Alston/Brooks McGrady Maggette/Thornton Brand/Landry/Hayes Kaman/Scola
wow. sorry but only idea A is good. B and C would make us worst. and thats why we need to stick to the core group of Yao and Tmac and limit there minutes and hope they are heatly.
You must be a Warriors fan and you have logged onto the wrong fans site. This is a Houston Rockets site, not your Golden State Warriors. Seriously, are you on crack? You want to trade Yao for 4 scrubs? The only non-scrub on the Warriors team is Baron Davis and we already have Tmac who plays the same position and is a better player. Trying to deal Yao to the Warriors is just dumb.
This is wrong. They dont play the same postition and TMac isnt the better player. I would trade TMac for Davis in a heart beat.
lol, what would we do with Camby? Play him and Yao at the same time? We should skip the 4 and just play 2 5's Who needs a power forward anyways.
I do not love to see what happens if this trade happens. Baron is a good player, but if you guys didn't know, McGrady is the most underrated passer in NBA, because results have showed that he is possibly the best passing swinger in NBA, could even be better than Lebron. Trades that will NOT go are Yao and McGrady. Adelman as a first year coach already see how underrated McGrady is as a passer. Passing is Adelman's game, if Adelman can work with McGrady a bit in the off season, he can develop McGrady's passing potential even more. I want Mike Miller though. But I do not want to give up Battier. He is too valuable an asset to the rockets. In fact, the rockets defense will complete break down if Battier leaves. Battier is holding the defensive foundation after JVG.
I don't really think we can get equal or great value in return for battier even if we want to trade him. He's only got a 6 mil contract, so thats really good contract for us, and other mid level players around the same salary aren't as good as battier, certainly nowhere as good in defence. by the way I don't want any of the golden state warriors players in our team except ellis and maybe pietrus. we'll very likely to go after pietrus with MLE and Pietrus wants out. and adelman said we "need that swingman to play behind tracy and shane with size and athleticsm". so pietrus is a good fit. the rest of the warriors are just crappy and I dont wanna touch them
I expect our biggest upgrade this off-season to be in trade, not FA or the draft. Jackson, Head, Novak, Hayes, Woods, perhaps even Alston will be trading chits, along with this year's draft pick, maybe even a future pick. I don't see us trading away any of our core, and Battier is clearly an essential part of that, although evidently, Morey had talked to Portland before the last trading deadline about a Battier/Outlaw swap. If for some reason that was still in the equation, which I doubt, after the 22 game winning streak, and seeing how Battier influenced a majority of the team to become "team," then I'd want Rudy Fernandez in the package somehow. If Golden State would let go of Ellis or Bellini, they would be good targets too, and if Deke retires, O'Bryant might be someone realistic to trade for. But, I think our most realistic trading partner is going to be Memphis, for Mike Miller and Juan Carlos Navarro. I think this was the primary reason for the Bobby Jackson trade. So, it would probably take including Jackson and either Head or Hayes, and our pick in this year's draft. Navarro is better than anyone we could get in this year's draft, and Memphis is way too deep in PGs. Miller could be our sixth man, ala Ginobbli, and allow Tracy to rest, or be another scoring option for Tracy to pass to. Hopefully, Deke signs for another year, and Landry takes the LLE right off the bat, so we can use our full MLE on a FA that gets caught up in the buyers market glut. I have no idea who that might be, but I assume he'd be a slasher to the basket. Pietrus might be someone who could fall to us. I hope for Stevie's sake, that he does the work necessary to rehab from a difficult surgery. It will really require huge conditioning to come back in NBA shape. If he does, he can resurrect his career. But, with all that money he got so easily, its going to be hard for him to be motivated. If he doesn't, we should trade his expiring contract. Head has got to go, or else the Rockets have got to get some kind of specialty coach to give him confidence and direction in his game. In college, he often went up against Dwayne Wade and won the match, so he's got the talent. In his rookie year, he had that clutch boldness, but now it's gone. It's not that he doesn't have the talent, he's just lost his confidence and drive to get better. It actually sounds like a drug issue .... He would have value in Memphis or in Chicago, as a hometown hero, but not sure what we could get for him now. He might have to be a third player in the Memphis trade, or even better, a pick in next year's draft. I expect us to invite Gerald Green to camp this summer. Once again, he has the talent, but not the work ethic. I'd LOVE for him to stick, but this team is all about hard work and team now. Perhaps getting cut is the best thing that happened, and is a wakeup call for him. If it is, we would have a unique advantage to see that. But, if its not, he won't make the team. Loren Woods is someone else I wonder about, but haven't seen enough of him to understand whether he'll stick around or not. He seems like insurance to me. As the summer progresses, and we find out more of what the team has planned, my guesses will continue change, but this is my first projection of what our team will look like next year. Yao/Deke/Woods Scola/Landry/FA or Green Battier/(Miller)/Novak/Harris TMac/Miller/Francis Navarro/Alston/Brooks I know we probably all wish to have bigger changes, but it might be this simple this year. But, getting Miller and Navarro would be a significant upgrade, and fix our 2 biggest weakspots. Of course, part of me wishes that Francis would do what it takes to get in shape, and hire Oscar Robertson to teach him the right way to play PG over the summer, then become our starting PG ... but that is just fantasy, I think.
BSx2. First, you might not get Miller even WITH Battier. Secondly, Battier's D is an over rated commodity. The teams to beat right now are the Hornets and Lakers. Who are their lock down perimeter defenders? And in case you haven't noticed? Bruce Bowen was on Chris Paul for the two blow out NO wins. Your best shot and upgrading the team is putting everybody but Yao and McGrady on the table for the best PG available.
I like Dunleavy a lot, think he would fit in here great, but see no way of acquiring him. Here's a trade for comment: Toronto sends: T.J. Ford Anthony Parker Houston sends: BJax Luther Brooks Woods Toronto gets a salary dump and Brooks as a cheap backup to Calderon. We get T.J. to go along with Rafer and Parker as our third swingman. Parker is a great shooter, would fill the 3rd big swingman role. We would always have, barring injury, one of either Rafer/Ford to put on the floor. Then the rest of the trade is: Toronto signs and trades Primo Brezec to Houston for our trade exception and a future 2nd round draft choice.
I agree with this, but who's available? That's good? TJ Ford, maybe...but that's not a huge upgrade considering how often he's hurt. Earl Watson? Kirk Hinrich?
I was playing around with the ESPN trade machine and got this, it works under the cap and what not so hear me out Houston: -trades: Bobby Jackson, S.Francis, future lottery protected first round pick(To Memphis) Luther Head, Shane Battier, 25th pick (ToPortland) -Receives: M.Miller, H.Warrick, K.Lowry ( Memphis) C.Frye, T.Outlaw (Portland) -Reason: Gains a true 3rd scoring option in Mike Miller A fairly talented young player in Lowry Youth, size and athleticism in Warrick, Outlaw, and Fry Also a great back up for Yao (or starter if he gets hurt again...knock on wood). Basically adding depth overall to cut down on Yao and TMAC's minutes and prolonging their careers. Memphis: -Trades: M.Miller, Warrick, K.Lowry (to Houston) 2008-2009 2nd round pick (to Portland) -Receives: B.Jackson, S.Francis, future lottery protected 1st rounder (Houston) J.Jack (Portland) -Reason: Not only does Memphis save around $2 million straight up, all the players are in the last year of their contract, Francis signed for the vet minimum and will be brought out, and possibly returns to Houston. Pretty much what the Grizzlies have been trying to do, cutting salary to try to sell the team. Portland: -Trades: C.Fry, T.Outlaw, (To Houston) J.Jack (To Memphis) -Receives: S.Battier, L.Head, 25th pick of the 2008-2009 NBA draft (Houston) 2008-2009 2nd round pick (Memphis) -Reason: Now heres where things might get a little iffy. from the rumors we heard there was talk of Portland offering T.Outlaw and J.Jack for Battier at the beginning of this season. With this trade they gain veteran leadership and defense with S.Battier on a young Portland team. A nice talented journey man in Luther Head who is a very good shooter. 25th and a 2nd rounder to further add to their talented team. Also with Oden coming back from surgery with L.Aldridge and Pryzbilla forming a very nice front court, C.Frye would not be getting a lot minutes anyways.
B and C only make us worse if Yao is healthy and plays like he does against non-fronting defenses. If Yao continues to have problems with his feet, then he will not be much help. To be fair to me, I had previously posted it in another thread and was reposting it here.
