With Lindsey promising a major move in free agency, the team acknowledging over and over and over that they want to get younger, longer and (above all) more athletic, they must be going after Swift, right? From the list of free agents Clutch reviews, who else meets the criteria? Marshall has the skill-set, but is on the wrong side of 30. Simmons isn't a power-forward, and Lindsey specfically said they didn't want to go with someone undersized in the draft. Walker and Abdur-Rahim are, perhaps, young enough and are certainly skilled, but they don't defend, and don't pass. I can't imagine them making it on a JVG team. Chris Andersen hardly qualifies as "major", and so that leaves Swift and Brown. I'd love to get either—I believe Brown can still be a tremendous player—but considering the questions about Brown, and just the idea of "major" indicating someone who has been effective in the league thus far, it must be Swift, right? Thoughts? Am I missing other possibilities?
The original listing of prospective FAs that we could use has been made incomplete with the news of the new waiving option in the CBA.. so it is hard to say just who is gonna be the top option without knowing who is going to be waived. It wouldnt surprise me inthe least if one of our key pickups is a waived player.
I hope the Rockets score some FAs in the offseason, get rid of some of the garbage (Baker, Mooch, Ward, etc.), and finally solidify a young team w/ veterans that the young guys can learn from.
Who will be cut? Apparently Finley, Houston, and Grant. Anderson or Patterson from Portland? (I don't see Rat cut.) Raef and C-Webb maybe. No one else appears in lux cap fear. That will also make Dallas/LAL/NY/Portland all likely to offer full MLE after their targets. I believe there is a plan. I hope they can execute it.
I know I've heard JVG say the Rockets have to rebound the ball better. And getting Swift certainly want improve that area as he is one of the leagues poorest rebounder.
I think the talk is pointing to Swift and afterward Abdur Rahim. But, Swift is going to be hard to get. Abdur Rahim looks more acquirable, and might be the target. Swift has the speed and athleticism at the 4 that the Rockets say they want. But, SAR has the rebounding, and the "complementary skills" they say they want, without being terrible on athleticism.
It's good to hear they at least have some sort of plan. Now let's see if they can execute it. Whatever the Rockets decide to do the rest of the summer, I just hope they keep in mind that championship teams need versatility. Detroit and San Antonio are both extremely versatile teams. They have all types of different players with all types of different skill sets (shotblockers/rebounders, defensive specialists, slashers/penetrators, spot up shooters, post players, floor generals). As of right now, the Rockets are one of the least versatile playoff teams in the West. This backcourt is so redundant with all of the combo guards. We still don't really have a floor leader type that can be trusted to run the offense for long stretches in the playoffs. Our guards are all jump shooters that lack playmaking ability. The only thing that could make this roster any more homogeneous is if we go after Juwan Howard clones like SAR or Marshall. No more redundancy. Whoever the Rockets go after at PF should be someone that is the complete opposite of Howard and Yao. A pitbull that will rebound, block shots, defend, play with fire. A Reggie Evans or even a Chris Anderson would be more preferable to me than SAR or Marshall.
Call me crazy, but I have had a weird feeling that Chandler will be a Rocket at one point. He would look really good in Rockets red. Just call it an instinct
obviously we are after somebody... and its probably swift or sar. hell maybe even webber. but who i would like to see us get is reggie evans. swift is not the best rebounder to say the least...and sar is ok at it... not great, but ok. im not a fan of having webber on the team b/c he will cry about not touching the ball. reggie evans would be perfect... hes a great rebounder that can block shots. are we seriously thinking about evans? i doubt it. i have a good feeling we are going to be doing a trade with memphis to deal couple of our guys and expring contracts for swift and wells. as i see it, the griz would love to do this trade b/c since they are gonna lose swift anyways and would use him as trade bait to us so they can unload wells too since they dont want him around anymore. and on top of that they will get couple no nonsense players and cap relief. we SHOULD do this as it would give us more atheltic players at much needed positions. wells would be another scoring threat for us. his height and atheletic ability will make us a better defending team as well. although swift isnt the best rebounder right now... im sure the presence of yao with him will make it a lot more easier for him to run down to grab rebounds. he will be a better defensive presence than howard while not being a liability to the offensive end. he wont be a "go-to" guy all the time...but will get some easy points down low. now add the idea that we still have a full mle to spend, and we are looking nice for next season. good ideas for pgs would be AD, watson, jaric, jay williams, or duhon. AD would obviously be the best fit however. i have a good feeling badiane and span will both be playing for this team next year but with limited minutes. It seems as though rox managment are high on both players. Since i dont think they will get much better in their respective leagues... might as well bring them here now to develop an NBA game and mentality. i wouldnt be surprised if span starts playing more by the end of the year along with badiane too. and by the time of next year they will both be playing more. all i know 2 of these 3 guys are gone: wesley, sura, or james. Probably wesley and james. sura isnt the most attractive player after his back problems, and james performance at the end of the year increased his trade value. AD/Head/Span Wells/Sura/Head T-Mac/Barry/Bowen Swift/Howard/Badiane Yao/Deke/Badiane this team would just be killer... just killer. I love this game!
I get the feeling that Swift and Antonio Daniels are the Rockets' prime targets through free agency. I would prefer SAR, but any of these players would be an upgrade.
I don't see us signing Daniels because he wants money, and we now have two good pg prospects that we've got to develop. I see us sticking with Sura, The Greek, and Head at the 1, with Ward as hazard insurance. I see us making a play for a 2/3, and a 4. I would be really surprised if we went after a pg this off-season.
The gist of the rumors going around last week was that SAR wants a lot of money and Cleveland wants to give him a lot of money...a match made in heaven. How much can we pay Swift? Just the MLE? (probably won't get it) Sign and trade with exceptions? (don't we have to have that done by the 31st?) What is the stategy to get Daniels and Swift money and contract wise?
the way I see it is that the Rockets have earmarked Udonis Haslem as theirs. The Heat know they are probably going to lose him do to their free agent status and that is why they drafted Simien. Haslem fits the mold and is a perfect Gundy player.
