I hope you didn't pick today to get this thread going 'cause he had a 30-20 night on a team that didn't start LeBron or Big Z. Boozer HAD to put up career numbers just to compete. He's good, but he ain't THAT good.
You are forgetting several things...the Sonics wanted Taylor before he signed with us, they have two almost identical players in Rashard and Radmanovic of whom Rashard is by far the more expensive one, they have absolutely nothing at PF, and Rashard's contract is bigger and runs longer than Taylor's. Considering all that, plus giving them a draft pick, plus some cash, might put the trade within reach. However, you might be right and we might have to put something else in a deal and take on one of their bad contracts. But I think it is not completely out of the question to work something out. Moreover, we have the trade exception so that we could do a sign and trade deal, so that it is not only about the mid-level-exception. The MLE would be for Barry, the exception for Boozer.
Yeah, they beat Seattle. Boozer put up 30+ points and 20+ boards. Of course, with LeBron out (ankle) and Z out (suspension), someone had to score. It's great that Boozer stepped up for his team, but he's not gonna have that many looks on a normal day.
He is averaging more than 10 rebounds and his fg % is clearly above .500. We would not need him to score 20 points. We would need him to defend well, get 10+ rebounds and shoot over .500 (his ft % is not horrible either).
Chris is one of my good friends and I would like to see him here as well. He is from houston and he can block and rebound like all hell all he needs is some more playing time. It is hard for him to get minutes behind nene and camby.
I wonder if they would do a sign and trade to get something, after watching Golden State get nothing when Arenas left. Cato for Boozer? Cato is more the runner they want at 5. That lets them move Z.
- Sonics wanted Mo for 2.5M, not 9M. - Radomanovic is not identical to Rashard. He shoots a horriffic percentage frmo inside the arc, his jumper isn't as good. - Rashard, so far, is worth every penny of his contract, and Rado will soon be eligible for extension. Meaning, Rado is more likely to be traded since Rashard plays SF. - MoT isn't half the player Rashard is currently. - Would you rather pay Mo Taylor his contract or Rashard Lewis his contract? - They have Evans and Radomanovic at PF, with their draft pick, Nick Collison, out for the year. I think they'd much rather wait since MoT is unlikely to propel them to homecourt or anything. - We can't trade our pick (if we even have one). - Why would the Cavs do us a favour and sign-n.trade Boozer to us? There must be compensation in such deals. - Your Brent Barry idea is plausible, however, Denver is going to go after him as well, and they're a winning team (Same % as us) and can offer more money. Only way your scenario happens is if Rashard sulks and demands to be traded to the Rockets. We'd still probably have to do something like Cato and MoT for Rashard and their choice of 2 out of 3 of their C's (Booth, James, Potapenko). Then we'd probably have to fork over Clarence Weatherspoon (expiring contract) and the TE for Boozer and a bad contract (Olllie, Williams, Battie or some combination). After that, Denver would have to take a nosedive in the standings so that the tiny bit of extra money that Denver WOULD offer him wouldn't be significant enough for him to go to a losing team. Also, assume that the Spurs and Clippers (both in need of backcourt help) don't offer him the same or more. THEN, we end up with Ming/James/Potapenko Boozer/Potapenko/Battie Lewis/JJ/Boki Mobley/Barry/Pike Francis/Barry That's actually pretty DAMN good. Possible? I'm not so sure.
Link to support this? Either way, they were interested in him as a player. Check out the article that was posted in the NBA Dish. It does not support at all what you are saying, and it was written by someone from Seattle who is much closer to that team than we are. I prefer Rashard, but your statement is not quite correct. Mo has a higher FG %, and he plays less minutes, so if you bring him up to the minutes Rashard is playing for the Sonics, which is what Mo played when he was with the Clippers, his numbers are not THAT far off. Plus, Mo is a real PF, something the Sonics are missing, see above. Rashard, which is why I would want to make the trade. However, the Sonics might look at it differently, as Mo's contract is smaller, does not run as long and they have no PF, while they have a player very similar to Rashard for a much lower price. You might be right or wrong, but we would never find out if we never tried to pursue it. Let's not put ourselves in the opposing team's GM shoes MUCH more than in our own GM's... Evans is nothing and Radmanovich is not a PF, so, again, they have no PF. Why not? Yes, we do have one, it is the second-round pick from the Rice trade, and show me where it is written that we cannot trade it. Cap space would be the compensation, or we would have to look at taking on one of their bad contracts at the same time. They could always use cap space, since they must be in permanent rebuilding mode around Lebron. As I said, I think this one is really unlikely, but stranger things have happened, and as a fan of the HOUSTON ROCKETS, I will try to think of scenarios that will potentially HELP THE HOUSTON ROCKETS. Again, if we do not go for it, we will never find out. By thinking like a person that already gives up before going for the goal, one does not get anywhere. That all sounds good to me. As I said, I would expect us to have to make some more sacrifice to get something done, but I think Lewis, Boozer and Barry - without giving up Francis or Yao, and, if possible, while keeping Mobley, would really help our team. So all I am saying is why not dream a little.
The guy can't even crack the Bulls starting lineup on a consistent basis. Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather have Jerome Williams.
Whoa gotta disagree with you there. I agree with most of DaDakota's points in this thread. Except Fizer, in which you are right he plays small, dominant in College (as all big 12 fans know), but too small in the pros. In the right eastern conference team he'd be okay, but he's like a poor poor man's KMart, and even KMart would't be that good in the west. But I digress, my point is that Boozer plays huge. Rebounds like crazy and he's really not that small, he is wide, unlike Jamison and Fizer. I mean he doesn't block shots but Karl Malone didn't either, it doesn't take blocked shots to be a good defensive 4. I think Boozer could still be good. He has more offensive power than Cato, and is tougher than MoT or Padgett. Meanwhile, I think that MoT really has been playing great. Depending on matchups I think he should start sometimes or at least get more minutes. He's a scoring machine, and you know being on the bench I guess has really made him hustle on defense. He's not going to be able to handle the big and mobile 4's like Gasol, but not every team has one. MoT also impresses me as a passer, he and Yao have a great repoire. When they're both out there scoring goes up. I think Van Gundy has to have noticed this and MoT will get more minutes. Padgett is better than I thought too. I know I was a big fan of Cato starting at the four, but I think they should mix and match a bit, depending on matchups.
I did a roughly calculation right after the Ricky Davis-trade. The Cavs would have around 6 to 7 millions in cap space, mainly come from the expiring contract of Eric Williams. If the salary cap goes up a million or two, they could definitely resign Boozer.
