Malone

Now, this is gonna sound funky because I absolutely despise this guy, but would Houston consider trading for him?

Alright, take deep breathes for a little while. Punch a pillow a few times so you don't break anything important and think about it like this. If you could get a guy that was a 20 ppg and 9 rpg PF for the year who adds some much needed toughness and his name WASN'T Karl Malone would you do it? It would be awkward having him in Houston, but we need some scrappiness and some dirty guys in the paint. The Pistons had Laimbeer who was hated along with Rodman but they needed those guys to win. Now, with Malone we would be a contender next year (as long as we don't have to give up TOO much) plus he might be able to teach some of our young guys how to play with some old school toughness (namely Griffin).

So, if we could get Malone while dumping a few salaries (maybe Mo and Rice) without having to give up Francis, Mobley, Griffin, or our first pick would y'all do it? He would just be here for a year and we could get rid of at least 2 big salaries to make up for his $19.5 million contract. I was thinking Mo, Rice, our #15 and Kenny T. We give up some value (Kenny and the #15), get to dump some salary, and we get a 1 year rental for a guy that's looking to make one more run. I don't think anyone doubts that Malone, Mobley, and Francis would make a lethal 3-some that could be great if they gelled quickly enough. Not to mention what he could teach some of our young big guys (Cato, EG...maybe our first pick). What do y'all think? Should I change my user name so I don't get ragged on every time I want to post or maybe, just maybe am I on to something?

 

Sorry, double post kind of deal.

 

Mo and the 15th can't work because Malone makes $19.5 million next year. That's why we have to give up 2 big contracts to get near his salary.

Also, he won't demand to be the first option because he already has every individual award and accomplisment he could want. The ring is all he needs and he'll do whatever's necessary to get it (including letting the young guys have a little ego inflation). Rice and Mo are salary dumps. Rice has little to no future here and Mo has talent but realistically EG will get his job within 2 years anyways. We have to give up talent in Kenny T and the #15, but we will fill Kenny's hole with our #5 pick. Realistically we didn't have Mo or Rice last year, so we lose Kenny and will add Malone and our #5 pick. I think that makes a pretty good team. We have Malone, EG, and Cato as our 4/5 rotation, still have our 1/2 rotation with Francis, Mobley and Mooch, and we'll have our pick to start at the 3 (which will decide how far we go.....how ready that pick is for the NBA) and T-Mo to back up. We also have the midlevel exception which could be used to fill a hole left by Kenny and to pick up a veteran 3/4 that can play if our pick isn't ready to start.

Its definitely risky, but so was the Drexler trade. We knew we had the talent it was just a matter of whether or not they would gel in time for the playoffs. With this team we'll have the talent, but they'll have to gel as a team before the playoffs in order to have a championship caliber impact.

 

Utah's definitely not going to be getting tons of talent in return, but how much is a 1 year rental worth? It would all come down to how much they respect Malone. They were willing to take on Juwan Howard to give Malone a chance in Dallas, so how is the deal we're offering worse? Howard is easily the most overpaid player in the NBA. They would get a gimpy SF who is a FA in 2 years, a PF that is coming off an injury but still has decent talent, another pretty good roleplaying SF/PF, and a #15 pick in a pretty good draft.

This would basically only get done if Malone wanted it to and the Jazz respected that. The salary cap argument is valid, but its also overrated. Afterall the Bulls have had cap room forever and couldn't get anyone and no one is going to tell me that a FA would rather play in Utah than Chicago. Utah will have an EXTREMELY difficult time getting FA's to go there. The draft is where they will have to build and I doubt they'll get higher than a #15 for a PF that gets $19.5 million and probably only has 1 more good year left. Besides, most teams that are competitive and would want him have worse picks than us. Phoenix, New York, Miami, and Washington are the only other teams that have the talent to win next year and can offer a better pick. Washington would hinge on MJ coming back and Phoenix can't offer a more attractive package (Googs isn't any better than Taylor and Taylor is at least young). NY possibly could and Miami could with Brian Grant. So, its possible if the Jazz respect Malone's desire to get a ring.

 

I'm just an idea man guys. I'm not the GM and nothing I say is going to make any difference. I do think, however, that after this horrid year we really need to think about what direction to take. We could use a veteran presence if only for a year to help some of the young guys. Malone would give us that. We need someone in the post that isn't a big girl. Malone would give us that. We need rebounding. Malone would give us that. The only 2 reasons no one wants Malone is because he's old and because he's the hated man of the Rockets era. No one on this board is going to convince me that he isn't one of the best players of the 90's. No one is even going to convince me that he isn't the best PF of all time. I really hate the guy as well, but he still deserves respect. I hate Chipper Jones as well but he still deserves respect for what he's done and I'd much rather have him on my team than face him. The same goes for Malone, he can't be a nemisis if he's on our team can he? He can't throw dirty elbows in the post on our team if he's playing with them can he? He's the type of guy that you absolutely despise if he's on another team, but you know that once he hit that open 17 foot jumper for a win or pushes Duncan to the floor in the fourth quarter you'll love him. We need toughness and we need it so badly that a hated nemisis might be the only way we can get it.

The real question is can toughness be taught? Can Malone teach our young guys (most specifically EG) how to play tough in the post with guys that may be bigger or taller than you are? If he can then his acquisition would be invaluable to our team. We currtently have no toughness. We have no scrappiness. Malone, if nothing else respectable, is willing to scrap and crawl for the ball and the win. We really need that in our frontcourt.

It would definitely be a bold move. It would definitely be one that you'd need to adjust to, but can anyone say that Malone wouldn't upgrade our frontcourt even if for only a year? Can anyone say that he wouldn't be an invaluable tutor to our up and coming big man in Griffin? If he gets us into the playoffs then he could also teach our young guys another thing. HOW TO WIN! Francis, EG, our pick, Cato, and Mooch all have one thing in common. They've never even been to the playoffs, so even an experience that will be shortlived (by the 1 year rental of Malone) could offer invaluable experience to those guys. As much as they want it now, they'll want it even more after they've been there and seen what the intensity and atmosphere is like.

This move is bold, and I'm not even sure that I would make it but it certainly does one thing. It would change the complexity of our team. It would give us a different element. If Malone can deal with the lesser role (though still obviously extremely important) then he may just get his ring or his best shot at one. And our team could not only get a shot at a ring, but could get invaluable experience for building towards another one.