do yall think any other team would give steve a max contract or did CD just overpay someone again? just a simple question. Just wondering b/c if we want to trade him!
I wouldn't, but I think the Rockets were in a tough place. Zone defense has decreased Steve's effectiveness, but illegal defense was called back when Steve was signed to a maximum contract. You can't just iso your way to baskets anymore with the same ease. Clippers signed Elton Brand to a contract that was under Steve's contract. I might have done that. I would have let another team go after Steve after the 4th season. If they bite, then match the offer. Kenyon Martin is going to have that done to him too. He's going to have to see what other teams are going to offer. The Nets will match. I doubt Kenyon Martin gets some big offer. There aren't too many teams out there that have cap space. Clippers have their power forward. Denver has Nene.
Sure it's possible. There are other teams that are poorly managed out there. I do not, however, think the majority of NBA teams would give this guy a max contract. If the Rockets ever do decide to trade Francis, it will be very interesting to see who/if anyone bites, and if they do, will it be them swapping their overpaid garbage for our overpaid garbage. I think the window of opportunity to get an impact player in return for Steve closes more with every sub-par season in which the Rockets fail to meet expectations so even though I think Steve and his contract are a problem, I would not be in favor of trading Steve. That is unless Yao turns out to be a failure too because at that point, someone is going to go and it is not going to be Yao because of the economic impact he has versus Francis' economic impact on the team.
As far as Francis goes... there was no point in going thru the ugliness and distraction of allowing him to take bids. Every summer, there are always teams with cap money trying to improve their "product". For all of his pluses and minuses, Francis puts fans in the seats around the NBA...it's not just Rockets fans voting him onto the All Star Team. IMHO, the Rox management had no other option. There are a lot more teams than you think who might drive up the price. * Given Camby's injury history, Denver would be wise to make an offer and use Nene at both C & PF. Assuming a cap of ~$44m for 2004-05: * The Cavs could get close if they'd renounced Darius Miles. They could then make an offer to Martin and offer Miles their full MLE later. This is not w/o risk as they may lose Miles. * The Pistons couldn't max Martin, but they could easily make an offer between in the $7m-$8m. This would be true for the Hornets as well if they renounced Courtney Alexander. * I doubt they's do it, but the Grizz could not take the $8m team option on Bonzi and get close. But they'd have to be convinced Gasol was a Center. Not likely, but they are still players in the cap space game. * Spurs and Jazz have more than enough cap space and Portland is close. * There are other marginal teams who could get by "shedding" salary to the Charlotte Bobcats. * Martin could sign with NJ for 1 more year and be unrestricted FA in 2005.
Some owners are losing money with their teams. I don't believe Les is one of them at least right now with the money he makes from Yao. I've gotta think he was losing bigtime during the last couple of years of Hakeem's contract when the team was getting sellouts maybe once every ten games. Channel 51 is not exactly the big network to squeeze for revenues. Many teams are now trying to cut back on payroll such as the Trailblazers even though Paul Allen is one of the richest men in the world. I think times are tough now for sports free agents to make big money unless they can absolutely be a big money maker for the team through wins or marketing. Steve could make max money now, but I doubt the Clippers would give him the contract. They didn't even want to max out Elton Brand. Denver got Andre Miller for a cheaper contract. Utah wouldn't want Steve. Most teams are already capped out.
You're worried about Steve's max contract? Steve's first couple years with the Rockets proved he deserved his contract. Look at some of the other players with their contracts and they are no comparison with Steves. To answer your question: Yes, there are teams that would give him a max contract. If we can give Moochie Norris a 7M/year contract, anything is possible. Just look at Vin Baker....
You're right. Elton Brand signed the contract a year later than Steve which meant he was able to get 25% of the salary cap when the cap rose from 2002 to 2003 at 10% raises each year. I believe Steve got 7 years though. Elton got 6 years since he's a non-Bird player. I think the coming free agents in the league will have tough times until a lot of cap space is freed up in 2-3 years. Teams like Bulls and the Heat have contracts ending in 2006 and 2007 for players who will not be resigned at nearly the number they originally signed for.
It's wise to give max contracts to guys who are the best of the best. However, cap flexibility prevents garbage transactions like the Rockets giving up a 1st rounder to the Jazz to have them take Glen Rice off the Rockets' payroll to avoid the luxury tax. Moochie is making around $3.75 million/year till 2006-2007. You say to look at Vin Baker. Vin Baker is an example of what not to do. Giving out long-term contracts haphazardly is not a sign of a championship team. I think Steve deserved the max contract at the time he got it. I would like to see the Rockets create more plays for him in order to utilize his talent rather than have him be a passer which he did not get a max contract for.
There is one slight problem with this: Creating more plays for him is detrimental to the team. Key word being... TEAM! His number of shots per game is just about on par with his career average.
You do know that Moochie's current contract will never, ever top $4.3m? The problem wasn't the amount...it was the length of the contract.
I didn't mean having him dribble the ball in between his legs 10 times and jacking up an offbalance jumper. Maybe have some plays where his teammates are involved in freeing him up for easy drives to the basket. I think there are better ways to use Steve's offensive skills than isos. Yao's sole offensive game should not be posting up and fading away as Steve's sole offensive game should not be these isos. It's killing the team since it is so predictable to the opposing defense.
sup, hindsight is 20/20. Right now, I wouldn't give up a milkshake for SF. I guess CD was thinking about SF's future potential. Back when CD gave SF the extension, it was probably the smart move to offer the max to your "franchise" player. Right now, I'm not too sure.
I'm referring to the plays in which Steve's man is getting busted up by good picks set by Cato and Yao. I've seen Cuttino get some great shots out of these plays. The isolation I know of is when it's just Steve and the defender going one-on-one with the other players sectioned off to another part of the court.
dude, Isos them self are not bad plays. All they are are creating mismatch problems and going one on one. Every single team does it. But the problem with the rockets was that almost every play was an iso for cat and steve. Charvo is just saying mix it up a bit. You dont want a guy with some much offensive talent to just pass the ball. then whats the use of the talent. Heck, then i should replace steve.
