..... The Best of all Worlds In a perfect world the best is always laid at your feet. If any 3 of the following 10 things happened I would count my blessings. I would be extremely ecstatic if 5 of the 10 happened (we would be whistling all the way to a 2002 playoff berth.) 1. Cato and The Wiz are traded in either a lopsided (85%) return or a package that would either involve us adding one of our draft choices to one of the above ex-Rockets and moving up a couple of spots in the exchange. 2. I will appease the gods and not ask the nearly impossible ..... the number one draft pick. But, I will pray daily to them for a favorable fifth to eighth place. I (we) deserve that. 3. Keep the best one of the draft picks (three?) and hand off the rest to accommodate trades or previous commitments. Visions of wasting this opportunity to truly use the picks to settle accounts keep swimming in my head. 4. When Shandon goes, he allows us to do a sign and trade. 5. Again I will apease the gods once again and ask for the nearly impossible (and I think it is highly unlikely we get him) but if Webber decides he wants to or does not want to come to Houston, he lets us know the day of first legal opportunity. 6. Chicago falls in love with someone (Shandon?) and agrees to compensate us with one of their handful of picks. ( I still hear tell that New Jersey is a better bet for us… more on this at another time…) 7. If Dream decides to go “a-wandering”, he allows us to do a sign and trade. 8. If Dream decides to go “a-wandering”, he goes to the East (Miami or New York ???). 9. I hope every mother son who was ever touted as a “top five” 2001 draft pick by everyone from Adelaide to Vecsey decides to enter the draft (hear that Brown, Ming, etc ?) and clogs the top spots with so much talent that despite every failed effort to move up, the Rockets will still end up with a pretty good pick in the double digits. 10. We draft someone who can start and consistently perform next season in any position. (SF? PF? C?) I don't care which. ------------------
Hell, I would be happy if we could somehow manage #1, even if none of the others panned out. ------------------ Give me ambiguity or give me something else.
Oeilpere, don't tease us. What do you know? New Jersey needs a 2. Needs a 5. Needs depth. Cato/Shandon for KVH? Our picks for the #6? Well, if you stay or go, thanks for posting. ------------------ [This message has been edited by ROXTXIA (edited May 09, 2001).]
Sheesh I'll take #10 alone gladly ------------------ "Sir Cumference is not a horse ,Its what the TNT crew calls Charles Barkley" - Bud Geracie , San Jose Mercury
Trading up is possible, not too far-fetched. Getting Webber would be nice, and doesn't sem so far-fetched to me. I agree about Hakeem. Hope he stays. If he goes, let it be to Miami. ------------------
What's up with New Jersey? Come on, give us names. Could the Rockets be in the hunt for Van horn? That'd be cool with me. ------------------
You know, Shandon and Cato for Van Horn, Van Horn for Webber would make sense. I know I've posted it before and nobody takes me seriously, but it helps all teams. Cato and Kenyon Martin on the front line. California boy who won't leave the team. Re-sign Mo as backup center/power forward/small forward (if he doesn't mind sixth man role). Or re-sign Dream and Mooch with the $$$ we'll have. ------------------
woo hooo my home town got mentioned in an Oeilere post, but really Pops there isn't that much on offer from Adelaide this year. Although in 3 years there could be a pretty good 7fter, Luke Schenscher, who is 19, been named in an Aussie side, is starting US college this year and already has 3 years at the Institute of Sport under his belt. ------------------ Pollution is Killing the Earth..... and the main rockets forum!
My biggest worry is that he'll use us as leverage until he gets what he wants else where & just leave us twisting in the wind, thereby causing us to miss out on other FA's that could help us. Hopefully, he hasn't made up his mind to go East just yet. Oeilpere, do you know if the Rockets have set a time limit for Webber to let them know his intentions, before they start exploring other FA options? ------------------
Of course no one knows Webber's true intentions, maybe not even the man himself. Oeilpere posted once before that the Rockets are not high on Webber's priority list, and the news I posted afterward---how a Western Conference player told my brother-in-law that Webber wanted to go to New York---backed that up. But I think that's all a matter of the Maloofs asking Webber about teams in the East where he might like to play, so that they can get something in return while moving him out of the West. There is NO WAY that Webber should want to play on an old, no-depth, no-power-forward-needing team like Miami or even New York (except for the beach or Sprewell, respectively). As Oeilpere states on his list, whatever Webber wants, I hope he chooses quickly. He and Steve are reasonably tight, but these things aren't always so simple...unless Chris decided in secret long ago to keep his current team twisting in the wind with the belief that he will leave but be replaced in a trade by someone decent enough to keep the Kings in contention. Was that a run-on sentence or what? ------------------
Guess I'll start checking the Main Forum more often, now that pops is back Why not trade Cato and Wiz to the Nets? Keep Shandon as he is the only one who plays any defense. ------------------ "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."- (Aldous Huxley)
Oeilpere, Do you know if Theo Ratlif's a possiblity that the Rockets are looking into. OR Jamison from Golden State. ------------------
Rockets wish starting lineup next year: C-LaFrentz or Dream, with both here PF-Ratliff SF-BAttier SG-Mobley PG-Francis oh, it's also my wish lineup as well ------------------
Ahh... A decent thread. If we can dump Shandon, Walt, and Cato , that would make me happy. Anything else would be pure gravy. We've got two, maybe three draft picks, and some decent cap room. The problem I see is that we are going to somehow have to decide on Webber fast. If we make even the slighest indication that we want him over Mo, then Mo will leave us in the dust. All of this talk of resigning Mo as a backup is insane. His agent is David Falk and I can promise that he won't be signing as a backup PF or Center playing for backup dollars. I'm just happy that I've been able to take this thread back to the top. It was getting ugly up there. ------------------
I must be missing something. Why would NJ do this...? At least, why would they take on Cato...? I'm assuming that's to make the cap figures work--- it sure as hell isn't because the Nets have fallen in love with Cato's work ethic.
... if we had Paul Allen's money, we would've done a much greater job than being swept in the 1st round. OUT! ------------------ They couldn't stop him in the early 90s; now they can't stop him in the 21st century -- Bill Worell on Phoenix defense on Hakeem
Kagy, I won't make like Cato/Shandon for Van Horn is some great deal, but like Cato, Van Horn is also overpriced, and NJ would like to lose him. NJ needs a center even more than we do (well, assuming Dream's still around). Cato would be an improvement over what they have presently, unless McIlvaine gets better. I don't know if they'd do it, but I could see how a Cato/Shandon for Van Horn might benefit NJ. ------------------
I agree, despite popular belief(mainly Cato's belief), we desperately need defense, but who do the Nets have that could provide that? Van Horn is a mediocre defender. ------------------ burp
