I absolutely agree that Chuck has offensive issues, but he does shoot layups better than 50%. Check the stats. To hop back on topic. With Sura, Synder, Tmac and Yao injured, we don't even have room on the roster to bring in anyone else in with the TE do we? Wouldn't they have to waive a player to get someone else? Our roster is 15 men deep already so in order to get anyone new on the team wouldn't someone HAVE to be traded or cut. Though I am of the mindset see how the team responds first before making any moves... it seems that every player we have available that has trade value we need to keep until Tmac and Yao come back if we want to have the hope of a successful post season.. and everyone else wouldn't get us what we need right now if we did try to trade them. It's a catch twenty-two.
How about Troy Murphy? He could add some rebounding, size, and scoring at the 5 until Yao gets back. Then when Yao evetually makes his return we'd have our shooting 4. It's possible the Warriors would take back Juwan's shorter contract since apparently they are interested in moving Murphy.
Okay, I glad it's cold today so the flames will warm my old bones: Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes for Ben Gordon and Mike Sweetney. Gordon (Connecticut) and Sweetney (Georgetown) come from solid programs. Even though his ball handling skills are average at best, there is no question Gordon would be the PG with Rafer backing him up. Sweetney is still undersized but not dramatically undersized like Hayes. He also has to get some lard off, but I give credit to JVG's ability to do that and to make him play defense. Both players are former lottery picks. Shane allows the Bulls to move Thabo to SG and keep Deng/Nocioni at SF. IMO Skiles loves the "glue" Battier would bring, so he would be an ideal "sixth" man with a ton of minutes. We may have to surrender some of the TE to cover the remainder of Hayes' salary, but so what. The Bulls probably will cut Hayes immediately, so it won't be like trading him at all. He just has to wait for a roster spot to open. With Gordon and Bonzi we could suffer through the T-Mc absences, and Sweetney might be a pleasant surprise at PF. However, if Yao comes back before the end of the season, that might pose an offensive problem for JVG.
Under normal circumstances, I would agree. Even now, maybe I still do. However, Shane Battier is the only player we have with value and contract size. Gordon is not chopped liver, and Sweetney is a bigger PF who does not surrender rebounding ability. You are right about Yao and McGrady. Yao is a once in a generation player, and McGrady's contract is untradable considering his physical condition and the contract's sheer magnitude.
Not when combined with Sura and Padgett's expiring deals. We could essentially acquire a player with a contract of up to $7.4 million with those 3. I wouldn't call Head untradable. But I don't see any trades that would net help us if we threw in Head. We're going to have to find either a disgruntled, unhappy star that is looking for a change of scenery or otherwise we are going to have to throw in our draft pick to be able to pick someone of significance. If Head were traded, I would hope that it at least netted us a player of the quality of a Rashard Lewis, although any deal for him is probably out of the realm of possibility now since he is out for 2 months.
Jopatmc -- I feel your pain. I agree this would be the way to go, but the chances are so very small. Everybody wants to trade Jawon Howard, but it is unrealistic. Nobody wants him. There are teams out there that do want Luther, but his contract is very small. Believe me, I've looked up and down our roster countless times. There is only one player with trade value and a large contract. I struggled with it like a worm on a hook, but it's the only way to catch a big fish .... or fishes. Also, this is not the year to trade our draft pick. I truly believe JVG will be done by the next draft, and hopefully by next March. The best available coach I can think of is Adelman, but that's another thread. We need a PG who can shoot (Gordon fits the bill) and a PF with promise (Sweetney). Battier is Scott Skiles' kind of player on the Bull's side of the ledger. On ours, Gordon and Sweetney fill gaping holes now and in the future. I don't like the idea of giving up Battier, but you have to have the parts before glue is of any value.
Dude, Sweetney does not fit in here. He doesn't space the floor and he is fat. You just witnessed what JVG did with Bonzi. He ain't gonna play a fat... Sweetney is fat, he can't get up and down the court, and he can't move his feet enough to be effective defensively. If there is a worse case to Juwan Howard, Sweetney is it. We are not going to give up Battier and Head for essentially a replacement for Head and a bench warmer that will never see the court. I agree Juwan is pretty much unmovable at the moment and it may be just as well with the injury to Yao. I would really prefer to see Juwan getting significant minutes at the 5 as an offensive option and the slowest player on the court. I do not want to see Juwan on the court with either Deke or Yao. That combo is horrible together. But, in light of Yao's injuries, I will take Juwan in combination with Bonzi's post up game and Chuck Hayes garbage man game. However, since NJ was looking for a big man before they lost their center and now they have lost their center, a logical place to dump Juwan would be on them. They could offer up expirings to a 3rd team looking to dump salary and we could also offer up Sura and Padgett's salaries as a salary cut move for some team looking to ditch a contract. Other than NJ, Juwan is probably unmovable, unless we want to take back a contract like Raef Lafrentz or something like that. But, Sweetney is a waste of bandwith here. CD and JVG don't want any part of 3 sandwiches.
Why is it that, when the reply starts with "Dude," it always seems to reflect hostility. I don't want to provoke an argument. I'm just searching for possible alternatives. Gordon and Sweetney are the best PG-PF combination I could find. I would welcome a better suggestion. Like NJ, we have too many SG-SFs and not enough true "bigs." Trading Juwan there gives us no PF or C in return, and we really need him now. I never suggested pairing Luther and Shane in a trade -- I look at one or the other. I stress again, trading Battier is not a desire but it could be a means to an end. We both are trying to achieve one goal -- going deep into the playoffs if not winning it all. I root for the Rockets, not a particular player. I believe you have a similar desire, even if you prefer another strategy in getting there. BTW, while I did point out Sweetney is overweight, IMO he is not as slow of foot as you say. He is not my first choice, but I think he could hold his ground and rebound better than Hayes. Even if he turns out to be a backup, Gordon alone would be worth the trade.
to remove the curse you need to trade for and only get either native houstonians or former rockets sign Rashard Lewis to mle next summer when he opts out,with a promise of future money...or trade sucky Luther Head and Te to sonics for Lewis trade for francis after getting rid of head for lewis... try to get francis good friend Webber in a vet minimum francis tmac lewis webber ming
Yes, because making the playoffs 2 years in a row, only to have that followed up by 2 seriously injury-filled seasons to your star players in probably JVG's fault. I'm no JVG lover or hater, but if he gets kicked out, he got the short end of the stick. Maybe you'd find some coached who'd do better with Yao, T-Mac, or both constantly injured, but it's doubtful any coach would have made that much of a difference one way or another considering the Rocket's luck. As for trades, I'd look to the Kings (Bibby), Warriors (Murphy, Pietrus, Dunleavy, Richardson, Baron), Clippers (Magette, Mobley), Seattle (Rashard, Ray Allen), Boston (Pierce?), Nets... well, there are a lot of teams and players. the problem is, if you don't offer up T-Mac, you probably can't get any of the mentioned players. Yes, Denver got AI pretty cheap, but then, Andre Miller isn't exactly chopped liver (well, at least he's better than any player we have outside of the big 2 - though he wasn't cheap). so, do you offer T-Mac via trade? I think yes. At this point, at least, I'd prefer for T-Mac to not be on the team come next draft than for JVG to not be coach. Why? Because Tracy can still potentially get you great value in return. I've always wondered if there was any way to get both Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis from the Sonics. Sonics trade: Allen, Lewis, Earl Watson Rockets trade: T-Mac, Alston, Juwan Howard Why the Sonics do it? With the exception of 1 year with unbelievable, ridiculous, not counted on 3 point shooting, the Allen/Lewis combo isn't good enough to get the Sonics in the playoffs, as actual results can atest to, much less any further. Rashard can opt out of his contract this summer, without Seattle getting anything in return, besides the fact that Lewis is out for 2 more months this year anyway. Earl Watson is overpaid. Getting T-Mac is a risk, but one that could pay-off if Tracy can return to old form. Juwan is also overpaid, but would be their second best bigman. Rafer is an upgrade to Watson, and cheaper. The Sonics still wouldn't be good this year, but add a high draft pick, cross your fingers for a full healthy and attacking season from T-Mac next year and you are fielding a competive team again. OTOH, Seattle might be willing to part with the above players, especially Lewis and Watson, for less talent in return, if those players come with expiring contracts. Why the Rockets do it? Old T-Mac and healthy Yao are a perfect fit. New T-Mac and Yao are still pretty good. Injured T-Mac is a problem. Rafer is both a respected and hated player. He can nail clutch 3's, or overdribble, shoot too much, have too high an a/to ratio, etc. Juwan has been playing his best basketball since joining Houston lately, but is overpaid. Getting Lewis back would mean getting another injured player. And Allen has had (fairly considerable) injury problems, too. But if they're both healthy, with a healthy Yao, its "almost" like having 2 T-Mac's to team with the big fella. Also get rid of Juwan's contract, and trade Rafer for likely a lesser PG, but a potentially more stable one (at least in regards to a/to ratio). Plus he's been playing better as of late. If the Rockets can hang on to a playoff position until Yao gets back, and then Lewis, they could still salvage this season as well. OTOH, that's trading 2 starters and a 3rd occasional starter for, basically, one starter, an injured starter, and an overpaid backup. Chemistry has been key for this team over the past few seasons, and a new set of 3 players getting significant minutes will certainly have its effect. And most importantly, they'd just be trading injury for injury. T-Mac is injury prone. Allen, and now apparently Rashard, are also somewhat injury prone. Losing Juwan's contract 6 months ago would have been a godsend...today, who would play PF? The team would have little to nothing when it comes to frontcourt play until Yao gets back. Anyway...just a thought.
Just coming up with some random other trade ideas....may or may not make sense from the Rocket's or other team's perspective, but I think there is some reasoning behind each one: Then the Seattle one above. Anyways, just random trades IF you are willing to trade T-Mac...may not be the best ones, just some I thought of. Except for trade #2, which doesn't involve Tracy and is the best one for the Rockets...but don't know why the Clippers would do it...
I must fall on the jopatmc side of this one. T-Mc cannot be traded for two reasons: a) and most importantly, he and Yao are Rocket pillars and b) his contract/health make him immovable. I have angered jopatmc because I am threatening the newest "core" player. I am not happy about making the suggestion, but desperate times do call for desperate measures. Trading Shane Battier may well be a step backward, but then again he may well be the transition piece to land a quality PG and a steady PF. I am not wedded to the Gordon/Sweetney trade I mentioned above. I am just tossing it out there to get us to thinking in new directions. BTW, why are we trying to acquire more SG-SF (Maggette, Artest, Lewis) types when we have plenty? The need is for PG and/or PF.
thumbs, I am not angry. But it's out of the realm of possibility. Battier is a bargain for his salary. He's our third best player. I can see the possibility of trading Luther Head. But there is no chance that we would trade Battier unless it netted us Kevin Garnett. It's just not a possibility. He's too good for our team. Right now, with the loss of Yao, we need a big time scorer that can get their own shot. Gordon would be nice and an upgrade from Luther Head but subtracting Battier and adding tub-o-goo what's his name makes the deal wrong. And it's not even feasible. JVG is not going to want nor will he tolerate or play another fat out of shape player. He does not fit here. Come up with a trade involving Head and Battier that nets us KG. Because anything less isn't workable. Right now, with the loss of Yao, a player like Francis that can break down the D and get his shot or finish at the rim would look very good next to McGrady. We gotta find a Francis without the salary. They're just not out there. Right now, a good low post player like Jermaine O'Neal would look good with McGrady, but that ain't happening either. The best thing we can do is look for a perimeter scorer that can shoot and finish both that can play a 3 man game with McGrady and Bonzi. Somebody like Cat Mobley. The closest player I see out there that makes any sense is somebody like a Mo Pete. The rotations need to change to Howard, Battier, Bonzi up front with McGrady and the point guard (preferrably Head since he can shoot) in the backcourt. Then we need some offense off the bench. You run Bonzi in the post with Juwan flared out Battier in the corner and McGrady working at the top off Bonzi. McGrady and Bonzi working the pnr or Bonzi posting up and operating while McGrady helps spread the floor. Then your bench is Rafer, Hayes, and we need another scorer/shooter that can play some D (Mo Pete). Mo Pete is gettable and realistic. Ben Gordon is not realistic or gettable. Mike Sweetney is not realistic, doesn't fit, and would hurt our depth and bench in every conceivable way. These are the types of players that we have to consider: 1. Mo Pete (expiring contract, good shooter, good defender) 2. Murphy (bigger player, decent shooter, very good rebounder, poor defender, with a high contract) 3. Raef Lafrentz (great distance shooter, very good shot blocker, intimidator in the post, poor rebounder, monster contract) 4. Corey Maggette (poor distance shooter, strong finisher and great at drawing fouls, poor passer, enough talent and skills to be a good defender with the right coaching, malcontent, and tends to play selfishly) 5. Artest? (rumors he wants out....would be a great fit if he was available, probably not feasible) 6. Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (bad contract, plays TMac's game without TMac's skills, good shooter) 7. QRich (probably gettable if we offered to take back Jerome James in exchange for Howard and expirings along with him. Don't know if that would help us since it would mean Jerome James becomes our center until Yao gets back.) 8. CWebb-(A good fit if he negotiates his release and is willing to sign for the minimum, otherwise forget it.) 9. Stevie Franchise-(injured, bad contract, questionable attitude, but would fit right now as the scoring, finishing type point guard that would help us through this time without Yao. We could probably get him for Sura's contract, Rafer, and Juwan's contract because his value is so low. It would leave us short a big, so we might have to entice the Knicks with a draft pick to get them to send us Cato for part of our TE.) Knicks could cut Sura and basically have Rafer and Juwan instead of Stevie and Cato. I bet if we threw in our first rounder they would jump at this and they may even take it without a first rounder. 20/6/6.......or 16/5/5 as the case may be today. This deal would only add about $2 million to our payroll and going forward, we would have the top 4 combo in the league with 111, Battier, and Francis. 3 max contracts, yes. Before Yao's injury, I wouldn't have been tempted with Francis. Now, I am.
i would trade: rafer, sura, TE( for hunter), second round pick for andre miller, steven hunter ------------- i think phily would do it too. sura can be baught out this summer and combined with the TE (which is traded for hunter) free's them of roughly $7M this summer. if a team offered a $7M ending contract for miller, they would be all over that deal... while this is a bit more complex, the result is the same. for the rox, they get a league leader in blocks per minute and one of the more EFF PG's in the league.
Now that's a very good deal IMHO. Puts our TE to good use also. BTW I think Zo's leading the league in blocks per minute... and by some margin.
