Buck, I dont think Wallace and Yao together would be a problem at all. Rasheed is capable of scoring from both blocks in addition to his perimeter ability. Also, one of Rasheed and Yao could play from the high post as well with the other one in the low post. The problem with Hakeem and Barkley was that by the end of their careers, both could essentially score only from the left block. By the time Barkley was on the Rockets, he had nowhere near the versatility on offense he once did before.
that isnt going to happen, the only way we will trade for wallace is by giving up anybody but the big 3. if we have to give one of them up then i wouldnt trade.
Mmanal puts up an interesting proposal for sure. I agree Thanos, I doubt the Rockets have the balls to pull it off. It is a BIG trade! Francis is a BIG part of this team. I doubt they have the guts to trade him for Wallace. There are some risks there. Do they want to dare lose Francis for nothing if Wallace walks? We would have cap room this is true, but could we find someone close to Francis' skills in FA with that cap room? I dont know. It is a risk.
Yup definitely. This is the question I have with any trade involving Steve Francis. The problem is that the Rockets brass has become VERY deliberate and has completely lost all sense of being pro-active like they once were. You have to trade players BEFORE they lose value not after the fact. Its fine to say you have patience, but for instance, Eddie Griffin should have been shopped hard even as early as the beginning of his second season. It became obvious that EG was going to be nothing more than just adequate after his game improved almost zero after his first NBA summer. People tried to rationalize that he would be like Jermaine O'Neal. Ofcourse, they COMPLETELY ignored that Griffin got more PT in his rookie year than O'Neal ever got in Portland and when O'Neal did play, he was EXTREMELY active around the hoop while Griffin parked at the 3 pt arc. You simply have to be pro-active and this is another example of it. When Steve's incredible athetic abilities decline, he will just be an overpaid, run of the mill player. His quickness seems considerably less this year, and you can see how dramatically it has affected his game. Its really up to management, do they want to take a risk now or be deliberate and pathetic resulting in more mediocrity?
I'd make MManal's deal, no question. Basically, it allows JVG to rethink his roster. He gets out of some long contracts (Francis, Moochie, Taylor) and here are the options by making this deal: a.) Wallace walks/is renounced: we get around 10 million in cap space with this lineup under contract- McInnis-Mobley-Jackson-Cato-Yao with Pike, Griffin, Boki, and Amaechi off the bench. You can chase one/two of the other big free agents (Antoine Walker, Steve Nash, McDyess, Brent Barry, K-Mart, Swift, Crawford, Kobe etc. b.) Wallace resigns for around 8-10 mill- McInnis-Mobley-Jackson-Wallace-Yao with Pike/Cato/Boki/Griffin/Amaechi off the bench. The difference in this scenario is, we still have full use of the MCE and the trade exception. The other difference in this scenario, is we're no longer anywhere near the luxury tax territory (McInnis=Moochie (3.6 mill); Wallace<Francis, and subtract MoT altogether), and thus, we'd be able to make another move. Now if you want to get really creative, use the threat of renouncing Wallace to sign Kobe against- get LA to agree to a S/T where they get something like Mobley and the trade exception for Kobe, and you'd be able to keep Wallace. You can substitute any other free agent with Kobe, but that would be the biggest potential scenario. Turning Francis into Kobe and Rasheed would be an impressive magic trick.
I agree with you Deuce, but if things continue like they are....the Rockets will have no choice but to roll the dice sometime. Unless right around .500 is acceptable. Is Wallace worth the gamble? I don't really have an answer to that - excpet to say Wallace is extremly talanted. Another question that needs to be asked (one I'm sure has been asked somewhere on this board but I normally ignore these threads) is what is Steve's trade value? If Wallace didn't have the off-court issues then Wallace is above market value for Steve. But we all know these issues are present with no signs of ever going away. The kicker to this deal ridding the Rockets of Taylors and Moochie's contracts, which coupled with Wallace's deal expireing, then there is plenty of room to add a high-profile FA. Problem there is not many high-profile FA's switch teams.
jeez, I hope we tank it these next handful of games before the deadline just so that this deal goes through. Great post...JVG would love Wallace because he knows he can play (probably better than he ever has) in a disciplined system in which he'd get a lot of easy looks.
Do you honestly think they would make a goodie two shoes move of "We are Letting Eddie Go because its the right thing to do" to aquire someone like Sheed? I like Sheed and all, but at least Eddie has somewhat of an excuse for being "young" and making "mistakes". Sheed is just a bad guy......who happens to be one hell of a B Ball player.
That was brilliant MMANAL. I actually was thinking about posting a trade suggestion like sheed+mcginnis but I know how this board frowns upon trade accepted type posts. Anyways, I think honestly that Kobe would LOVE to play here. He visited China and loved the culture and hopefully he understands the need of a big man. I guess he would take 10 million with Ming here than 15 million with the clippers I think. Plus we finally dont have those bad contracts that just totally morgaged the future. Awsome Idea. I hope it happens. The team that gets the best player in a trade usually wins the trade. IMO Sheed is a better all around team player than Steve.
NIKE - A small augmentation to what you posted.... In your scenario, if we renounce Wallace and we dip below the cap, we lose some portion of the TE (probably all given Wallace's $17m salary).
I don't see how anyone in the Rockets organization can be happy with the consistent lack of excitement surrounding the team, especially in their new arena year. Even the Astros, who had a horrible year when they opened Minute Maid/Enron had consistent sell-outs. I go to a lot of the games, it is dead in there. Every so often they will have a decent crowd on the weekend, like the Indiana game, but then they throw up 28 points in the first half - not exactly enticing some of those random fans to make the trip back. The Rocket's need some high-energy, quick players. McInnis does that. Wallace's game is somewhat lackluster. I'd love to have the cap room to sign Steve Nash though. I think he makes the Mavs go, and would love to have that fast break game. Don't know what kind of salary he'd demand, but I'd find it reasonable to get a Nash and a player like Stromile over the summer. Is there still going to be a luxury tax next year?
Bravissimo to many of the posters in this thread. Might I add something? Would we trade Steve Francis to the Pacific Northwest? Would a team risk the same crybaby that forced himself out of Vancouver (Steve's inability to speak Canadian notwithstanding)? The main components of the trade I propose are, of course, Steve and our oogy contracts, Antonio McDyess, and Rasheed Wallace. Steve Francis, Moochie Norris, Maurice Taylor to New York. Antonio McDyess, Bostjan Nachbar, Frank Williams, Charlie Ward to Portland. Rasheed Wallace, Jeff McInnis, Q-Woods, Michael Sweetney to Houston. New York must realize that Antonio McDyess is not going to return to his complete self. Also they have too many power forwards, even with the buy-out of Clarence Weatherspoon's contract. Isiah Thomas would probably love to have Steve Francis. That would be a home run for him and the NY crowd and media. Isiah is the one who drafted Stoudemire and Tinsley. Francis would return some electricity to the Garden. (I've had about all the jolts that I can stand here in Houston.) Boki obviously isn't JVG's boy. Q-Woods can either be included or excluded in a trade. We can try him out. I know the Blazers want him away from Randolph. JVG has praised Rasheed. Anyway, we get the cap flexibility, and a better PG in McGinnis, and much cheaper, too. We dump contracts we don't want or need. I might have made the trade lopsided here and there (Q-Woods, Boki, Frank W., Sweetney are all afterthoughts), but again, as I say, the main parts of the trade are FRANCIS, SHEED, and McDYESS.
See, this is the problem that I have with this SAR vs Wallace thing. Many people on this board like Rasheed because he can do everything and anything, but for a guy who suppose to have all these skills, why hasn't h never in is life avg a double double? Why can't he with all his so called skills even avg 20ppg and 9 rebs? How can a guy with all of that get his team taken over by a 3rd yr player in Randolph who is doing everything that he's suppose to do. Randolph is avg 20ppg and 12rebs which is something Rasheed can't even dream about, yet if i took a poll, people would take rasheed over Randolph. I've had league pass since its 1st yr and has watched alot of games involving both SAR and Wallace and choosing between the 2 is like choosing between style vs substance. If you want a player who plays hard every night, get you 18-20ppg along with 8-10 rebs ,go to the ft line 7-9 times along with being a great person on and off the court, then you take SAR. If you want a player with HOF talents but would rather shoot jumpers and shy away from contact as wel as not showing up at times, take Wallace. Don't get me wrong, Wallace is a really talented player, but how old does a player have to be before we stop using potential? Wallace is 29 and should be putting up Garnett,Duncan,Webber, or even Zach Ranolph type numbers. Instead all people get is the constant tease like Coleman and to a certain extent Walker t a 17m price tag. Why not get the more consistent player who you know every night you're going to get 20-9-3asst-48% on about 14 shots. On top of that, the Rockets would probably only have to give up Taylor and Mobley to satisfy the trade. No matter what position he plys, the numbers look the same. 20-9-3-48% on 14 shots. What more can you ask for from a 3 or 4 in th west?
I hate to sound like a broken record, but next year or the next I hope you will remember this. Substite Maj Lampe for Michael Sweetney. Sweetney is and will be an NBA caliber player, but Lampe will be the beast New York is seeking and that the Rockets need. If you check back in trade scenarios from a year or two ago -- before they emerged -- I urged trading for Zack Randolph and / or Troy Murphy. No one remembers now, so remember Lampe. Isaiah Thomas considers him a lesser light at the moment, so now is the time to pick him up -- before he begins to shine so brightly we have no chance at acquiring him. If we wait too late, he will be unattainable like Randolph and Murphy.
GATER- I wasn't completely clear, I guess. We'd only use the threat of renouncing Wallace to sign Kobe; by renouncing Wallace, we could outright sign Kobe (under an estimated cap of around 45 mill or so). *IF* we actually managed to sell Kobe on becoming a Rocket, we could in turn offer the Lakers two options: 1. We renounce Wallace (and the mid-class/trade exceptions), and sign Kobe. At that point, our roster options are limited to "normal" trades, and signings for the minimum. 2. We don't renounce everything, and package Cat+pick(s) with the trade exception in return for Kobe. In this scenario, we'd then still have our mid-class exception intact, as well as the ability to resign Wallace to whatever amount we wanted. ROXTXIA- Interesting idea, I wouldn't mind giving a flyer on Woods. It's certainly out there, and it'd depend how quickly NY plans on giving up on a lotto pick in Sweetney. It's a home run for us and NY I think. I'm not sure if Portland does it- they downgrade talentwise Wallace to McDyess (both free agents to be), Williams/Ward doesn't really upgrade McInnis (though Ward clears more room for them), and Woods vs. Boki is kind of moot.
Nike, Maybe the players can be switched around a bit, or NY can be enticed to send its 2004 first rounder to Portland, top-10 protected. Of course now I read how Isiah wants a long athletic player like Theo Ratliff but I'm sure in his wildest dreams he wouldn't even consider his luck at a Steve Francis. Anyway, just an idea. I like MManal's suggestions, and your own. I just wonder if Portland would want Steve; as a player, fine....but Portland wants shiny happy people who won't make waves. And two overpaid point guards? The ironic thing is that unless his arm is twisted or he receives one hell of a player in return, I don't think JVG would give up Cato. Funny to think but I can understand if it's true. Cato has almost no offense but he's toughened up, even insisting on playing with a bum ankle, and he and Cat seem to have adjusted better than Steve to JVG. Steve does have the weight of increased expectations, what with his new contract.
