I was thinking that . . but when I thought of Antonio Davis. . I see the SF/SG from San An [or was that Antonio Daniels] Rocket River
I think PP moves more like Dale Davis, but has a better touch, which means better offensive game/shot. Antonio Davis had more mobility, maybe like a Mike Harris.
don't forget all those 1st round picks we aquired. if we keep our own picks in 11' & 13' we can still include Three 1st round picks in any deal: Orlando's, NY's, and Memphis when a Melo/D-Will oppertunity arise again, let's say CP3 gives up on N.O. and not signing the extension next year, and we choose to go "All In"..... Lowry + Patterson + T-Will + Habeeb + Three 1st round picks for CP3 i think that's as good as any other offer New Orleans can expect (and approves by CP3 of course) another decision to make is what to do with C-Bud/Lee and that'll also decides what to do with K-Mart. I like Martin, but I don't get people saying "because it's impossible to upgrade Martin w/ D-Wade so we need to keep Martin..." can't we trade K-Martin for same value player at other position? imo, Lee is more capable of starting for a contender than C-Bud, therefor, I really hope we trade K-Mart for Granger and start Lee at 2. I think that helps both Rockets & Pacers to balance their roster. now, assume we re-sign Yao & Chuck on cheap... and we still have the M.L.E., LLE., $7 millions T.E., #14 pick, #38 pick. Hill & C-Bud can be throw in any deal, Miller will be attractive trade bait next year because the last year of his contract is only $1 million guranteed. it all depends if Les willing to spend $$. If we use that $7 millions TE for a defensive minded center like Chandler or Dalembert we should keep Scola for low post scoring. if we don't use the money on an elite defensive center then trade Scola for a denfensive minded PF like Josh Smith and Pray Yao'll stay healthy. we could be a contender after next year's trade deadline: Dalembert, Yao, Miller Scola, Hayes, Hill Granger, C-Bud Lee, #14 pick CP3, Dragic, #38 pick
The other Davis was Antonio, nice combo actually. I too agree with the Horace Grant comparison, probably more athletic though. RD, if TWill became Rodney McCray I'd be stoked. TW may have the upside to get to that level, but I'm thinking he doesn't reach it unless his attitude changes dramatically.
Trade whatever for Howard when he comes available. If he leaves we will suck and get lottery picks. If he stays, we build around him.
Why would DH want to play here? He reportedly wants to play for a glamor franchise in a glamor city, neither of which come to mind when you think of the Houston Rockets.
In my mind, the only way the rox can get out this rut is to have enough money for williams and howard. The only way to do that is to get rid of fan favorites like scola or hayes or both. The rockets must move salary while also maitaining flexibility and developng player. Here is what I would attempt to do. Scola and miller to the Bucks Maggette to the Clipper Kaman to the Rockets Skiles gets a gritty,skilled pf to play with Bogut and a backup in miller. Del Negro get a scoring 2/3 who played there before in Maggette. Morey gets a skilled, oft injured 7 fter in the last yr of his deal. Try to sign W. Chandler or Thad Young for 7m per. I like chase, but the rockets need guys who can not only score and rebound at the 3 spot, but defend his position. No options for Williams,Hill,or Williams. They cant afford the extra money of those deals. If they strike out on Williams and Howard, they can still get those guys back at a smaller price. Saying goodbye to Hayes. Probabl the toughest choice,but he's worth 4-5m and that would work against the rockets money. Trading scola and letting hayes go gives patterson,hill, and thabeet the playing time they need. At the start of next season,lowry,martin,young or chandler,patterson, and kaman is a pretty good 5. They would instantly be a better defensive team,but the real beauty is the payroll. The payroll would be right at 30m. They could offer Howard and Williams the lebron james type of contract starting at 14m per. Howard and Williams can not only play alongside each other, but join a guy like Martin,Young or chandler, and Patterson. They could then also trade lowry for either depth or picks. Dragis is a cheap, young backup, so are lee and chase. Again, thats what I would do.
I truely believe that Dwight Howard will go wherever he has a chance to compete for multimple championships. I'm not sure if they would and even if they did what they be willing to give up for him? The most the Rockets would get would be Ibaka, who's a very good player, but he doesn't exactly fill a need, since he's not a center. To me, if you trade Scola, you do it to free up playing time for Patterson and you ideally would want to get a center or small forward in return (e.g. a trade centered around Scola and Gallinari). I highly doubt both Howard and Williams or Paul would join the Rockets in free agency if not one of them is already on the team prior to free agency. Trading Scola for Kaman is just bad (value). Sorry. There may not be a great trade market out there for Scola, but Kaman has nowhere near that kind value. Neither does Maggette, who I'd argue has actually negative value due his contract. I also don't see the appeal in trading for Kaman. He'd get us nowhere and you'll be able to trade Scola for capspace any time you want. I also don't think you just let valuable roleplayers like Chuck go to create capspace. You absolutely try to keep him. If somebody overpays for him, then yeah, you let him go, but you offer him anything that you feel like fits into a championship team. (Hard to put a number on that, not knowing the CBA. Under the current CBA I'd probably pay him as much as 4mil/year, maybe even a little more) Finally, I think if you use this year's capspace to sign a player, you use it on a center. Wilson Chandler and Thaddeus Young are decent players, but they aren't game changers and the SF spot is one of the easier position to fill. You may not like T-Will, but I'd take my odds and give him at least half a season before giving up on him.
IF Washington gets, say, the #2 or #3 pick (I don't know if they're allowed the #1 pick two years in a row), would you trade Kevin Martin, Luis Scola for Rashard Lewis and that pick? I'm sure the flamethrowers are already cooking to blast a post like this, but Morey nearly traded for Elton Brand('s contract) and the #2 last year, with Brand not showing such promise at that time. I.e., the team was willing to eat a contract, getting whatever minutes from the veteran, just to get that high pick. Don't know Washington's mindset. Washington needs firepower and veterans. Of course, they can just continue sucking and drawing high draft picks. Not unheard of. Sort of a Clippers East.
Maybe not, but in the absence of any other deal to bring us a real center, Scola for Kaman would make the team better. Sure, there are other options. Will Morey take one of them? I'm not sure that having too many PFs bothers him in the least.
Well, with all this uncertainty and the awesome Isolation game that the squid will provide, we can rest assure that a top five pick will be coming our way by july of 2012. So maybe we throw in our lotto pick sometime in Feb to help us get Dwight. To the lottery and beyond!
The OP has it right now as i think about our situation, i really do understand why RA wasnt brought back - he is not a rebuilding coach. I think developing squid and thabeet is a great idea, because we're not winning championships anytime soon. who knows, maybe there will be a twill explosion and the kraken will be released LMB
HMMMM- Unless ur a blind rockets fan, Kaman when healthy is a better player than scola. I dont even think thats even up for debate. In regards to 2 superstars not coming to houston, why not. Thats the trend and the only way you can even get in the conversation is to have free agent money and a competitve rosters already in place. You're right about chandler and young being game changers, but they're both 2 way players and young. On a team with howard and williams, why would they need to be gamechangers? In simplest terms, this is a big picture scenerio I'm painting.Maybe you and the others are content with this current route which will lead nowhere. They have just enough talent right now to win just what they won. I'm trying to elevate the rockets past that and sometimes you have to make tough choices on players. I would take a roster I outlined for a year to get a real shot at howard and williams. I'm not talking about the made up,trumped up, push at bosh which wasnt even serious.I'm not talking about the false reports of getting amare for shane and scola either. The only way you get these type of players is by having the firepower money wise or player wise. I fully believe if Howard isnt traded before the season starts the rockets can offer a real shot at him. Of course La can trump most deals with the allure of bynum, but we have seen orlando take back expirirings and picks after losing a star player. Thabeet,Kaman, picks and players can be used to get howard if a kaman deal is done early enough. In the offseason, the rockets could still offer williams a max type contract and then trade Lowry.
