I guess I'll bandwagon those who think we need to wait it out. After a few teams overpay a number of players there will be some talented players left over to chose from. I was really surprised with the Brent Barry offer. If hat goes through we won't have much money left to offer anyone in free agency. There is a good possibility that he will end up elsewhere anyway. If we don't get Brent I would rather wait and get a couple young role players or guys with potential. For example: Rodney White and Chris Mihm are not in the initial group of guys getting major offers. I expect Denver and Boston will attempt to sign someone in free agency and are not likely to worry about those guys until after their major move. If they don't get a major deal done then they will try to resign their bench. Otherwise they are gone.
First of all, hello to people I haven't seen in a while. I know it's been said before, but Damon Jones is out there and a very capable point guard. Is he a guaranteed starter? No, it's not a lock. But I do think there's a good chance that he could be. His assist to turnover ratio was absolutely fabulous - 4.64 for 1, which was second best in the entire league. He also played 25 minutes per game, which makes it more than one season skewed by a small sample size of minutes. Damon's numbers were even more impressive when Ford went down at the end of February and he took over the starting role. In March and April, his minutes expanded to almost 30 a game, and he averaged 9 points and 7.7 assists and only about 1.7 turnovers. And he shot more than 47 percent from three-point range. In the playoffs (against a great Pistons defense) he put in 8 points, 7.7 assists and only 1.1 turnovers. And again he had 47 percent shooting from behind the arc. Yeah, it's only one season. But he did get a healthy amount of minutes, and he did have a good amount of starts to judge him by after TJ Ford went down. I know it was the first time he got over 20 minutes a game, but it's hard to break into an NBA rotation when you go undrafted. And even in the years he wasn't getting major minutes, he still had a very reliable three-point shot and an assist/TO ratio of around 3:1. He's also 6'3, which is decent size for a point guard and should give him some good angles to feed the post. I don't understand why Jones doesn't get more attention - most people are projecting him to get a contract starting around 2.5M or so - but at that price, he's worth the gamble. He does everything we would need in this system - manages the game well, limits the turnovers, hits open threes and has decent size and athleticism. He had a better season last year than either Hudson or Fisher, he's younger and he would cost about half the price. If you're looking for cost-effective options to avoid overspending, Jones is one to keep in mind. (And yes, I do realize that we cut him a couple of seasons ago. But the breakup wasn't all that nasty, and time heals a lot of wounds. Look at Stephen Jackson - the Spurs let him go after a championship season, and he's practically begging for a chance to go back. Giving Damon a chance to earn starter's minutes in his hometown on a great team... I think he'd jump at the chance.)
Rockets clearly still have the best off season so far, by a mile! Houston got T-Mac, a top 5 player entering his prime. Which did that happen last time? (Shaq to LA?) Rockets only gave away a max player at age 28, who also doesn't fit JVG's system. No penalty to salary cap. Utah landed a couple of decent role players, but at some outrageous prices, except for Arroyo. The only way to top Houston's offseason is for Clippers/Spurs to land Kobe, which is a long long long shot.
Well, it's not bad, but it's hard to get in much Rockets talk when every fourth or fifth post is an insult from a Dallas/SA/LA fan and the ensuing pages turn into a war of words between fans of each team. But yeah, Deuce, it is a little bizarre with my namesake no longer here. It's as if there's no one left to defend! and c'mon, SJC... you're just jealous.
Exactly. I stopped going there after LaMarcus Aldridge enrolled. Did you finally get out of Beaumont and transfer to Austin?
For goodness sake! Put out a fresh saucer of milk. The Cat is back. Your analysis and insight have been sorely missed.
Do you guys see what kind of contracts these guys are signing? Teams are overpaying for all of these players. Would you want Nash's contract on us? I wouldnt! What about Foyle? Can you imagine paying him that much money? We dont need anymore Moochie type contracts. I give props to CD for what he did with Mcgrady he could have screwed that up. I am damn excited about this team. We are young and very talented. This is a good time to be a rockets fan.
I ended up not doing it. I definitely intend on going there in a couple of years for grad school, but there are a lot of opportunities here as far as journalism (editor-to-be on the paper here) and resume-building type things that I'd feel bad if I passed up. It really sucks not being in Austin, but I still manage to make my way there on a lot of Saturday afternoons in the fall... I don't want to take this thread too far off topic, so if you guys want to talk (or insult ) me I'll be over in the Hangout.
To all the folks who say CD has just been sitting around b/c anyone could have signed T-Mac to the Rockets ... what have you all been smokin??? Yes T-Mac only wanted to play here but in the end, it still took CD's negotiations with Orlando to make this work. Remember, there were other teams out there willing to take on T-Mac (even if only guaranteed for next season) like Indiana and Phoenix. CD made our offer look the most attractive. Also. if Gaines pans out (and I know that's a big "if", remember that it was CD who insisted that he be included in the trade. Finally, how many of you all were saying it would take a miracle to move Cato's contract this time last year? If any of you all have ever had to negotiate deals, you know that even the smallest details can take days or weeks to hammer out. I have no doubt that CD busted his butt on this trade and I give him props for that. As for PG's does anyone think that Lue has a shot to be full time? I know he is small but the guy did put up pretty good numbers last year and he can hit the 3.
