Just FYI, at REAL GM a Rice/Griffin trade gets you SAR. That's probably the most likely scenario. The Hawks get a young player like Griffin to build with and get Rice's contract off the books after next season. Speaking of getting a 4 with the MCE, what if the Rockets made that trade to get SAR and then got someone like PJ Brown with their MCE? How about a frontline of Yao, Brown and SAR?
SAR is available...because of his price. So, to trade for him a team must rid themselves of their wasted contract(s). Then, who does what to whom? Rice and Mo and Mooch for SAR and (a signed) Jason Terry? Maybe.
xiki, I'm a fan of yours but I think there's no way in the world that Atlanta takes Mooch and Mo. Not gonna happen. They can let Terry walk if salary is the concern. Atlanta, having been strapped by the cap is not going to take ON salary. If we could swing Rice and Griffin (or Boki if SAR projects as the three) and it might take a pick, then maybe, but I think we'd have to have already inked your thug pf (MCE) before we trade Griffin's defensive potential for SAR.
Deuce - Sorry to nitpick but FYI... Be careful using RealGM from the Feb trade deadline thru the renewal of contracts in July because it has a flaw. Any trade you run right now is based upon the current years' salary. Not all contracts get escalated at the same % rate so what works now might not work in July when the signed players get thier raises. It's probably a moot point..if teams want the deal done, it will get done but it may need some tweaking from what works in RealGM right now.
I would have liked him...but his contract is HUGE. He's not THAT good. He is a great player. Aging. But Griffin and Rice would have been good for him. Then Nachbar or Morris could get to play. Too bad. Rockets rejected.
Make all the trades you want, find a way to fit 5 max contracts if you like, Move Ming to the point if it makes you happy but know this. The Rockets will NEVER be anything more than a very talented, very inconsistent, middle of the road team as long as we use the same system we have now. Either let Rudy "resign" and bring in a coach with a proven system or keep Rudy and bring in some very strong asistants but do one of the two because as long as we are playing this ISO Rudyball playground crap we're not going anywhere.
Sorry, my point was that it would take a deal of off loading contracts which would NOT benefit the Hawks. To get SAR a team would have to take on loads. That's why Rice's expiring contract would be considered by Atlanta, unless I was their GM. Besides, SAR is not my ideal 'winner'. If he were MCE, sure. But he is NOT!!!
You guys didn't read my thread "We are not building our team very well", did you? No way we trade Mobley and Griffin for SAR. You simply can't build a team for long-term success by trading 2 good contracts to 1 bad contract. Rice and Griffin for SAR. Look okay on paper, 1 bad contract + 1 good contract for 1 bad contract. But realistically in salary, it doesn't work. We will pay over 50m next season without all the free agents (Posey, Morris and draft picks and a possible MLE guy etc) signed. If we take on SAR's contract, we will pay over 60m for the next 3 years. And even if SAR's contract comes off the book later but if he's still resigned to a lesser contract and Yao's given a max extention then, our payroll will be close to 70m. Do you really think that Les will pay that much for a borderline playoffs team?
Well...that's what I said! WE NEED A NEW COACH AND A TRUE OFFENSIVE SYSTEM!!! We are the worst passing team and one of the worst shooting teams. We barely get any assists. Horrible. We need an actual system. Not same stuff over and over again.
ATlanta made no deadline trades with their team in flux. Also the BS promise to season ticket holders. They will be aggressive in the off-season. I could see EG + Rice + Chicago 2nd rounder for SAR; or bat around the numbers a bit. If SAR would understand that his next contract would be more reasonable....OK. Steve and Yao are the only untouchables, and we need to make moves of some kind. It'll be interesting to see where we go from here.
I agrree, SAR is not fit with Rockets, Elton Brand Does, 12 rebounds, 3 Blocks, and his Offense does not demand the balls, Offensive Rebounds and put backs. very efficient. with yao and Brand 10 to 12 Rebounds each, and 3 Blocks a piece. that will be great interior. both rebounding and start fast breaks, and defense. NOT EVEN MENTION BOTH CAN SCORE 20 PLUS POINTS. championship teams starts insides. even with GREAT MJ AND SCOTTIE, THEY STILL WENT OUT TO GET RODMAN TO COME ON BOARD TO DO THE DEFENSE AND REBOUNDING to make sure to win the champioships that they did.
Ying Yang - The problem with your point is Brand is not available. Well maybe that a little strong, what I shoud say is he's not available for what the Rockets have to offer. For those who a dreaming of Brand just keep dreaming because thats all it is. With a combination of Griffin, Mobley, and Rice you can get a nice player but not a superstar. So thats why I proposed SAR. He's a 20/10 guy, although on a bad team so that may translate in 17/8 on a good one but those are still respectable numbers. Another point people are bringing up is his D and the fact he is sort of a tweener, kinda a combo foward. His defense IS NOT BAD. He'll never be confused with a shut-down low-post defender but he's not terrible. In fact I would say he averge to slightly above average defender. He's not a shot blocker however, .8 a game, but with Ming hopefully getting better at that aspect of his game I would be willing to overlook that. And lets address his contract. Yes, he is a max player. And no, he probably doesn't deserve that type of money. But from what I understand his contract is up in two years at which time you can sign him to a cap-friendlier figure. The Rockets wil be giving up salary in return so I'm sure it can be worked out so the Rockets will not have to pay the luxary tax. When Ming's contract is up he looks to be a max player but that would be about the same time SAR is up so you WOULD NOT have three max players at the same time. If Sac. can keep Pedja, Webber, and Bibby then I don't see why the Rockets couldn't make it work.
Buck88, you do know that we still have Mo Taylor, Cato, Moochie and Posey (if he's signed this summer) on our payroll, you do know that Peja earns less than Cato, don't you?
NewGirl - Yeah the Rockets do have those 3, I'm not going to count Posey, but the Rockets are not the only team in the league with bad contracts on there roster. And the Rockets would not be the only team in the league with two max contracts on there roster at the same time. SAR contract only runs one more year then Rice's, are you telling me the Rockets can't handle one more year untill he can be resigned for a small amount. One more thing - if you are ever going to get rid of Cato then THIS might be the offseason.
I'm not a big fan of acquiring SAR. If for no other reason than Griffin + Taylor combined put up similar numbers for a lot less money. Further, when did the Hawks become a Rockets farm team? Griffin + Rice + Mobley has what appeal to the Hawks? Is that the best offer they could get? IMO, they would get better offers. If we are going to deal some combination of Mobley, Rice, or Griffin, the position that needs to be upgraded is an All Star caliber slashing type SF with excellent 3pt range. How about Cato + Mobley + change to NYK for Sprewell and then move Posey to the 2?
Gater - While I do like Sprewell, I think he might be getting a bit old for what the Rockets are looking for. If we were contenders RIGHT NOW then I might be more tempted. As for you reasoning behind not wanting SAR, "Griffin + Taylor combined put up similar numbers for a lot less money", is crazy. First I'm not too sure Griffin + TAYLOR'S contract don't come pretty close to SAR's. But lets forget about that and concentrate on the "Griffin + Taylor combined put up similar numbers part". That is no way to compare a players worth. You could take any two players combined numbers and then compare them to a single player numbers and THAT makes the sum of the two better? If so then I guess you would rather have Mobley and Moochie then someone like Steve Nash? I mean combined they put up about the same numbers. I would always want the best player on the court and in this case that would be SAR hands down. I don't think some people give SAR enough credit. I'm not saying he a franchise player, but he's certainly no scrub. In fact put him on the right team and in the right situation and I think he's a multi-time all-star. This guy has put up close to 20/10 every year, and while he has done that on bad teams he is still a VERY talanted player. One that can still be a major piece of the puzzle on a championship caliber team.
