Considering we only have a MLE to acquire free agents and we do not know if we will be pulling any trades to use our TE I made a list of notable free agents that we could try to fill holes in our lineup. Guards Jacques Vaughn Mike James Jamal Crawford Marcus Fizer Trenton Hassell Travis Best Jon Barry Lindsey Hunter Bob Sura Rafer Alston Damon Jones Charlie Ward Brevin Knight Brent Barry Jason Hart Carlos Arroyo Forwards/Centers Chris Andersen Marcus Fizer Mehmet Okur Zeljko Rebracca Brian Cardinal Adonal Foyle Stanislav Medvedenko Stromile Swift Antonio McDyess Keon Clark Eric Williams Jake Tsakalidis Jason Collier Tony Massenburg Currently holes in our lineup are a Starting four and Backup Point guard. Preferably I would like to have Brent Barry come in and be our starting point guard since he has the complete package, shooting and playmaking and he can be insurance if we trade away steve. If not Brent Barry and in the event we trade away steve possible starting pgs we can get are mike james, raefaer alston, charlie ward and Bob Sura. If we cant trade steve for a power forward I would like to make a run at Stromile Swift since he showed he can play this year and he also has developed a decent jumper, but surely Memphis will match any offers unless someone overpays, Same with Okur. If that is the case then we could take a chance on Antonio McDyess, but he could take the whole MLE and that would leave us with minumum contracts. At the least I would like to have Slava Medvedenko who can rebound and is a good jumpshooter but has mental lapses on defense.
If we can get them cheap, I would mind having Damon Jones, Trenton Hassell, Travis Best, or Rafer Alston fo guards As for centers/forwards my wish list is, I would not pick anybody of that list. Probably only Foyal, but we have had bad luck with picking up GS talent.
I'd add Mihm, Rodney White and Etan Thomas to that list. You know, if we could get him on the cheap, I'd love to have Chris Anderson coming off the bench a few minutes a night. He's such a high energy guy and he blocks shots like mad. It will also be interesting to see what kind of money Eric Williams ends up getting. I wouldn't be surprised if he went cheap, but I also could see somebody overpaying for him. I agree on Brent Barry and Bob Sura. I can't picture Alston playing for JVG. Agree on McDyess, but of course it all depends on what the doctors think about his knee and if he'd sign for a reasonable amount. You're dead on about Okur and Swift, it will most likely take more than the MLE to get them. Medvedenko shoots way too much for me.
Agreed. Mihm is a decent big man, White could be a nice role player, but Etan Thomas is the guy I'd like to see the Rocks make a run at. He practices hard and plays hard every day. He can rebound and score around the basket. I don't know much about his defense, but I don't recall seeing or hearing anything negative. At the point there aren't as many options IMO. Jamal Crawford is the one guy I do not want on the Rockets squad. We've got enough shot hungry players. Mike James would be a nice addition because he can board, dish and score when needed.
The following could all help our team for the right price Guards Jamal Crawford Trenton Hassell Jon Barry Bob Sura Damon Jones Brent Barry Carlos Arroyo Forwards/Centers Marcus Fizer Chris Andersen Marcus Fizer Mehmet Okur Zeljko Rebracca Adonal Foyle Stanislav Medvedenko Stromile Swift Antonio McDyess Keon Clark Eric Williams
wow! i was just thinking about those players on the rocks the other day. this reminds me of an espN commerical. on the other thread somebody said mark blount. i was like, if anyone then Chris Mihm, brings a journeyman's effort every day. but for added emphasis i said no one on the celtics would help us. Etan Thomas would be great. he his such energy, a real banger.
Not that I necessarily want the Rockets to sign him, but why not? He's playing his best ball in a Rileyesque system for SVG right now.
If we could get Anderson cheap, he would be the perfect backup to Ming in Van Gundy's system. That would afford us the luxury of dealing away Cato and the TE for a high quality PF and then sign Thomas or Mcdyess cheap. I would also love to see Barry, Sura, or Jones on this team. Sura is such a consumate pro. He would be great off the bench. If we could dump Pike somewhere and pick up Sura that would be a big plus. He is the exact kind of hard nosed scrappy team player that Van Gundy loves. He's a ton of fun to watch too.
Ok, if we're at the grocery store for free agent players, I want: _Guards_ Brent Barry (as always) Charlie Ward _Forwards_ Marcus Fizer Who I want (realistically) in a trade: PJ Brown - Has size, decent scoring capability, great FT%, good rebounder, but mediocre shot-blocking.
Damon Jones is a local guy and is great at taking care of the ball. He is exactly the type of PG we need to spell SF3 (assuming he's still here). Either of the Barry's would be good, but neither of them (Brent included) shoudl be our PG. Swift is an intriguing prospect with great athleticism but I think Memphis will resign him (even if only to trade him later). Etan Thomas is also a possible good fit. Rebraca could be useful (due to his excellent shot - much smarter shooter than Medvendenko, who often keeps shooting when he's missing everything).
rebraca is too slow for pf and would be nice as a backup center in the case that we ship off cato. Our main problem that we have to deal with immediatly is our power forward position. Hopefully we can get a discount on McDyess since he lives in houston in the offseason(heard that somewhere). As uncertain as it is McDyess is our best option through free agency to get a complete starting power forward. Mihm and Anderson are just cheaper and downgraded versions of Cato, they just hustle and get rebounds. We need offense to come from the four to give yao space.
Mike James was tearing it up as a starter for Boston, before he got traded to Detroit. He'd be a great pickup at backup point.
I kind of like the idea of bringing Mihm back to the great state of Texas. He could be a nice backup center who maybe spells a little at the 4 if/when necessary.
I'd love to split the MLE between Etan Thomas and either Mike James, Rafer Alston, Damon Jones or Charlie Ward. That would solidify our back up 1 and 4 spots. Then we still have the trade exception and a package of Mobley and Mo to try an make our starting 5 better.
I agree. If we are talking strictly backup, I like James. JVG would love his defense. Dumars will have to decide between James and Hunter this summer. Right now, Hunter is getting the minutes, but James is younger so might be seen as more of a long-term solution. Who knows how viable he is as an option. Etan would be a great pickup, but he is not quite starter-quality at this point (although he would be better than Cato at the 4). Barry would be a perfect piece to backup both guard spots. I don't really think he should be brought in to be our starting PG (if Francs is traded). Unless, JVG moved to a more Sacto-like "Yao-initiating-the-offense" system.
