We still haven't had any major signings this summer, and with the glaring need for a true backup to Cat, I think Micheal Redd would be an excellent addition to our team. He truely has potential and would be great insurance incase the injury bug landed on Mobes. Depth at the 2 is essential if we plan on making the playoffs, and with players like Q. Richardson and Bonzi out of our grasp, Redd would fit in just as nicely, if not better. I was hoping we'd take Grizzard in the 2nd round, but Redd seems to play more under control and is a significantly better shooter. He looks like he could be a very good player in a few years and could be signed relatively cheap, much like we did with Cat a few years ago. With his addition to the team, we'd be set with a good nucleus of players for a good length of time. Then our only concerns would be advancing in the playoffs. I'd much rather have Redd use our MCE than Lewis. Com'on CD, make this happen.
Ahh... drpepper, My arch nemesis! JK I don't know much about Redd, but his stats do look pretty good. He could bring a spark off the bench. Problems I could see with it is he may not want to be backup, and he is restricte FA, according to ESPN. He may also want more that the MCE. As far as getting him instead of Lewis, I don't know... BTW, we don't always have to spend out money.
Thats true but Redd would be great for a backup SG. Unfortunately he is a restricted FA and the Bucks will probably match anything under or near the MCE. And we'd have to promise him more 5mins a game since Mobes played 43 a games during the second half of the season. If we can do it though, I'm all for it.
I am too. I mainly added that because some think we should spend it if we have it, even for a not so good player. Anybody know some possible backup SG free agents for next year? I guess I could go look.... but I'm too lazy. Good point about the minutes. He got 21.1 mpg last year. edit: just skimmed over the FA's on RealGM. There are some ok guys. MJ is a free agent, think we could get him? jk. Matt Bullard is also a FA. Think we should give him another shot? GO BULL!
Something that I forgot to mention in my previous post (which some people havn't figured out just yet) is that the Bucks are way over the Tax Threshold and couldn't sign him if we offered him most or all the MCE. That means that they would have to pay double of what ever we offered. I don't think they would do that. Some of the deals they've made in the past (Mason, T.Thomas, Cassell, R. Allen, Kukoc) are catching up to them which is going to cause them to pay the luxury tax for the next few years. They may not to even be able to keep Darvin Ham. The acquisition of Kukoc might make them a little more willing to let Redd walk. here's the link. think it seems a little more feasable now?
And by the way, there is no reason Cat should play 43 minutes a game. We need fresh legs on the court, not to mention his career will be over alot sooner.
I think Redd makes a fine backup, but not for our team. We have plenty of offensive weapons off the bench...Moochie, Nachbar (or Rice), 2 out of Taylor/Thomas/EG, but really lack defense, especially on the perimeter. I can't see us offering "most of the MCE" for a guy to be our 4th guard. From what we've heard, the Rockets haven't even offered the MCE to a guy who plays our weakest position, is 23 years old, and put up 16-7 last year. We've got Francis to pay and others as well, we're not going to drop a big load on a guy to be our 4th guard. Mobley playing 43 MPG was a bit extreme no doubt, but he has great endurance, and will play no less than 35, probably closer to 40. Where would Redd's minutes come? Francis and Mobley will likely play near 40 MPG, and Moochie usually gets close to 20. That's not figuring in a guy like Tito Maddox or Tierre Brown. We could resign OT, or a similar guy for next to the minimum to fill that role for a much lower price.
Redd is a good player, but he should be starting somewhere or he'd be better suited remaining in Milwaukee backing up Ray Allen. As for the Bucks and the luxury tax - they made the Glenn Robinson deal in part to clear future salary in order to keep someone like Redd. They know no one will/can offer him more than the MCE - if he signs an offer sheet with another team, they'll match it...even if they have to pay the tax for a year. That said...he'll re-sign with the Bucks soon enough. There are other cheaper options out there that would be better suited for the Rockets at backup SG...even if that happens to be Tito Maddox.
Doesn't Dr. Pepper own RC Cola? You two should be good buddies! Or he should be your daddy...or something like that.
I don't know. I wouldn't think so. Even if it was true, were still battling soft drinks. If people order him instead of me, I'm mad! Actually, I should to change my name to Spring Water, or something like that. I stopped drinking RC like a week after I started posting. But I keep it because of a reminder. HAVEN'T YOU READ MY SIG! just kidding.
What happened to Oscar? Is he still under contract with the Rocks? Sure his play slipped considerably towards the end of the season but he he more than held his own for the better part of the season, and for a position we only need/have 8-10 minutes for barring injury, the inexpensive Torres fits good. I think shelling out any substantial money for a guy who will play minimal minutes is regressive. Why waste a talent such as Redd when he can start for a handful of teams out there? Even without Oscar, players can play out of position to back CUttino, ie. Tito, Moochie, Bostjan etc. Azim da Dream
I guess that if I took that approach I should be upset that someone mentioned Chevy Chase's character in Fletch instead of the Three Amigos. What's up with that?!?! Sure Fletch had some b-ball involved but come on! Three Amigos is a CLASSIC!!! What other movie makes use of the words PLETHORA and INFAMOUS in such comedic ways? Answer me! So you should work on that whole water thing. Maybe you can tie in a Rocket icon with a spring water company name. I'm trying to think of a good one......RC's pretty tasty stuff by the way. Too bad you can only get it at Arby's. ICH.
Francis 37 Mobley 37 Moochie 16 Redd 17 I believe Rockets will still play some three guard. When the Rockets won 45 games two years ago, the Rockets had 4 guards who could be kept fresh. Until Nachbar and Rice demonstrate they deserve all 48 minutes, Mobley should slide over occassionally to get a matchup problem. As far as the Rockets playing a much better defense, the only way I see it is for the Rockets to dare teams to drive into Ming, Cato, Griffin, Morris, and KT, and hope they can save the day. I don't think a Shannon type could help the rocks defensively too much since he only guards one player.
Problem 1-Redd got 21 minutes last year. Why would he go for decreased minutes? In your scenario, the Rockets are playing 11 MPG of 3-guard. That's practically an entire quarter. Even if you limit Rice, a veteran, and Nachbar, who is supposedly one of the most ready rookies to 20 minutes apiece, there's 40/48 minutes right there. That's assuming the Rockets don't use Thomas at the 3 at all (and thus have 5 players-Ming, Griffin, MoT, KT, Cato with either contracts or skills to demand minutes at the 4/5), and doesn't factor in Morris or a 3rd PG (Maddox/Brown) for any minutes. The Rockets have spent 2 first round picks and 8 million dollars on Rice on "true SFs" over the past 2 years. We have the personnel where Redd would make only a minimal impact. We don't have the long term flexibility to sign him to a deal that would cost most of the MCE, nor do we have the situation that would attract him.
This is not a "glaring" need. Francis is a better backup 2 anyway. Torres can get the job done for 5-10 minutes a night easily. Dusty Bottoms: Heard from Ned Nederlander lately? How 'bout Lucky Day?
The Rockets played almost 16 minutes (9161 minutes for the season) a game of 3-guard last year with Francis missing a lot of games, Mobley not being a hundred percent, two rookies, and not having Redd. I assume the addition of Nachbar and Rice would cut down this time, but not eliminate it. I expect competition for the minutes at the three. I'm confident Mobley and Redd could pry 11 minutes from the three. The reason the Rockets need Redd is that if Mobley or Francis miss any amount of time, they are toast. Also if Mobley or Francis miss any time, Redd's PT would jump to 40 mpg instantly. I would be more concerned with being able to attract him and paying him than finding him minutes. He only played 19.6 minutes as a backup last year. He got 19.6 Minutes with Cassel, Robinson, and Allen starting. I think the Rockets could beat that playing time with him averaging 17-18 minutes when the Rockets are 100% and 40+ in the games in which one of the other 3 guards with PT catches a cold. On the 4/5....I think Griffin will get half (10-15) his time (20-30) at the 5 mostly at Cato's expense leaving Cato to challenge any shot without fear of foul trouble. Mo T and KT will fight over the remaining minutes at the 4. My bet would be that Mo T gets more than KT if healthy and on team. I don't see them playing the three except for mismatches. Third Point guard only gets injury time/garbage time. Redd would probably get garbage time too. Morris will fight with Rice, Nachbar, Redd for time, but most likely lose.
I can't believe some of you are arguing with me, especially since we promised MarK Jackson our MCE and we shouldn't offer Redd. Redd would be much more productive and actually serve a purpose. I would much rather have Redd shooting a last minute 3 than Mooch's sorry shooting ass./ Mooch has the ugliest shot from any PG.
A few points... First, the Rockets offered Marc Jackson their injury exception last season because he was coming off of a decent rookie campaign and had the size in the middle the Rockets were looking for. After all, I believe Mo had already gone done for the year due to injury and there was no decent backup to Kelvin Cato...signing Jackson then made sense. Second, I don't believe anyone is really arguing that Redd isn't a talented player. The point of contention is that the Rockets can't sign him and he's not the type of shooting guard they should sign. Milwaukee will match any offer at or under the MCE for him, making it a pointless endeavour to really even try. Michael Redd is also the type of player who is either looking to stay in his good situation in Milwaukee or find a starting job somewhere. The Rockets aren't in Milwaukee, nor can they offer him a starting job. Instead of spending a lot of money on a player who would see about 15 mins/gm backing up Mobley, it's better to save that money to offer to Francis and KT in their upcoming contracts. Fiscal responsibility is a big part of today's NBA, and that precludes signing backups to huge contracts. With Torres still out there and other, cheap options existing to play backup shooting guard, it doesn't make much sense to try to go after Redd. Considering the top three guards in the rotation, the 4th player doesn't have to be a star - just someone who can come in, eat minutes, play a little D, and occasionally score.
