Clutch, he has already wrecked a portion of the team so I think it is very smart to caution CD to just sit quietly and let the deadline pass. I do not believe he offered Mo for Cro, at least, not with Padgett on the team. If CD does want to do something, he can attempt to repair the damage he did when he let two of the best five basketball minds(Logo and Brown) pull Posey from his loose grasp. If Memphis finish ahead of us, Posey would have been the difference. Ain't that something?
Utah is supposed to be shopping everyone but Kirilenko. Mo T to Utah for Harpring (injured) and Arroyo. Good move for next year. Arroyo would help us immediately. Also, we could swap Cato for Ostertag. We lose on jumping and ally-oops, but they produce almost equally # for #, and Tags contract expires at the end of the season. A good way to save money and get a decent backup for Yao. Utah would do this because.... They lock up some reasonably talented players in a place very few free agents want to go. They still have Lopez at the point. Lopez Stevenson AK47 Taylor Cato bigger, stronger, faster than before.
DearRock, In your infinite wisdom, please educate us and let us know how a) Posey is playing better for Memphis than JJ is for us and b) How Posey gets all the credit for the good season that Memphis has had. How about giving credit to Wells?? After all, the Grizz, with the great Posey were only 9-8 when the Wells deal was made, and have gone 22-14 since.
Codell, no need to show you how he is playing better that JJ when he could have been on the team with JJ. Or would you prefer in, in my infinite wisdom, show you how he would have been better for the team than Pike? I did not give all the credit to Posey. I just believe that if Posey was not on Memphis and was on Houston, instead, it is very likely that we would have been further ahead than them, instead of tied.
Posey is a much better fit in Memphis than Houston. The Rockets would not have let him go if they thought that he was a key piece to surround Yao Ming with. I don't believe that the Rockets would be a better defensive team with Posey over JJ as Van Gundy values good defensive execution over playing the passing lanes for steals. I also don't believe that we would be a better offensive team, as JJ has been competent from behind the arc and has hit a game winner or two. He is also a veteran presence who has a calming influence on our offensive execution. I will give you that Posey would be a nice finisher on the fast break, but sadly, we don't run it that much. In the end, we made Memphis pay as much as possible for a mid-level talent. It's not like they got him on the cheap. I respectfully submit that we got a player who is more suited to our team for less money than Posey would have cost us. Ain't that something? By the way, CD also managed to dump Moochie for a more productive player and pick up a very good mentor for Steve Francis. In my books, CD has also fixed a portion of the team.
DR How could have JP and JJ both been on the team, when JJ was aquired only after Rice was traded away to keep the team out of luxury cap territory, which happened after JP was let go??? Obviously a series of events took place to bring both players to where they were. Its pretty far fetched (even for you ), to assume that JJ would have signed with us, had we retained Posey. What makes you think that we would have been farther ahead of Memphis with Posey instead of JJ??? Based on what??? It seems you are insinuating that a team should keep a player at all costs just to keep that player from going to another team and helping them.
can we at least type out the first or last names of the players. reading all the SFs and YMs and MTs make my head hurt.
Codell, do you know what the luxury tax treshold for this year is? Please let us know, because you are probably the only person in the world who knows it. There is a professor of labor economics in North Carolina, who actually thinks there is a 70% chance that there will be NO lux tax this year. Thre is NO excuse for what the Cheap b*stard Alexander did to Rockets fans with Posey. JJ has nothing to do with Posey's contract. The fact is that Les and CD decided to sign pathetic white dude Piatkowski instead of Posey for two reasons: 1. To save $2-3 after we build him an tax-subsidised arena. 2. To keep his imposed quota of two pathetic white guys on the team intact.
Gutter, absolute rubbish. Nobody on the team cuts and moves like Posey, so he would complement Ming just fine. Do not for one moment think Posey is only about fastbreak. Posey is a highly productive player and the rockets made a mistake. If they say they would do the same thing, now that they know better, then they are more foolish and sturborn than I thought. Also, Gutter, he could have picked up MJ before messing around with Wilks in the first place. While on the pg kick, he also could have kept Jones all along. If you are in love with Spoon, another one on our growing list of undersized players, that is a matter for you. He was not productive in NYC. Codell the scenario is as follows and correct me if I am wrong. First, sign Posey to the Memphis contract. Second, forget about Pike - fool's gold. Third, trade Rice and pick up JJ. So again, I am not getting into the arguement of who is better between JJ and Posey. Finally, it is not a stretch to find a better roster than the one we have now based on what we started with when Ming was drafted.
I was thinking this through the other night and determined the following holes in my own recollection of the events that led to Posey's departure, because I too had questioned why we could not have ended up with Posey and JJ: (1) I believe the luxury tax implications, whether warranted or not, were feared by Rox management when determining whether to match Posey or not. I recalledl that at the time based on Memphis' offer, Posey appeared to be paid in excess of his nightly contribution. (2) Rox Management did not know then that they would be able to offload Rice for space at a later date. (3) I'm fairly certain that JJ would not have taken our offer if he was relegated to a bench role by virtue of signing our offer with Posey on board. I feel like the starting position was a key drawing point for him. I was at rest with my analysis until you surfaced yours, and now I question my chronology. FWIW - I recall many people saying and I was one of them, Posey is too expensive and Pike + Griffin + JJ > Posey, and I don't see how we could have ended with Posey+JJ in lieu of our current cast. Hindsight is 20/20 though...
Uh, I thought we were discussing Mo for Cro?? Down, boys! I just wanted to put in my opinion while I can squeeze it in... this would be STUPID! (thank you) Taylor is finally healthy and playing better all the time, starting to live up to the hype he had before we signed him, and we're supposed to trade him for a guy with a contract just as bad, who can't get off the bench, and is producing nothing remotely on the level Taylor is?? Oh, he can shoot the three. Hell, he can't do much else! Isn't a shot blocker, not an assist man, doesn't steal the ball, not a great rebounder. WHY would we do this?? If Taylor was moved to fill a position of need, then you gotta do what you gotta do, but this supposed deal (which I don't believe) would do none of that. I think that writer was blowing smoke out his azz and exercising some wishful thinking. Just a stupid idea. (am I repeating myself? excuse me!) edit: shoots an awful percentage as well!
Raven, I think you still haven't answered Clutch's question. To wreck a team, you have to have a team to wreck. Who built the team for CD to wreck? Your answer quoted here seems to suggest that the only "team" CD built was the lucky trade of SF and the lucky ping pong hopper that got us Yao. Is that what you are saying?
I'm saying that CD's luck, skill, eye for talent, shrewdness, or whatever you want to call it, might have run out. Raven
The bottomline, Pariah, is that they undervalued Posey while, not surprisingly, Logo and Brown, seem to have gotten it right. If CD and Co. had seen it like Logo and Brown did, the roster would be much better. You do not see a boat load of undersized, non-athletic, players on Memphis, do you? But Posey is not the only move I did not like. Based on what JVG is able to do with our scrubs, I believe having him work with Tmo and Hawkins would have been a better proposition than Padgett, Griffin, Ford and the other PF they cut before Ford.
It was really the Pike singing that cost us Posey not JJ. Than we scramble to find A Griffin realizing Pike's limitations even if healthy. Later we saw an oppertunnity to get JJ and fortunately took it or we would have a huge egg on or face for letting Posey go. In sum, we should have just resigned Posey AND gotten JJ. We really bungled the offseason.
