maybe arroyo is one of those rare players who isnt as concerned about money as being in the right situation for himself. the guy is better than $4 mill/year and im sure he knows that he could have gotten more elsewhere. maybe he is just happy/comfortable in utah and would just assume stay. its either that or the guy is a total idiot...which is dont think is the case. as far as cd goes, i like the wait and see strategy. we have been burned far too often when it comes to overpaying/long contracts. the hemorraging must stop. no need to overreact and take on a guy who wont fit into the long term plans.
You crazy Democrat. That's not a bad idea. However, I'm guessing the Blazers wanna hold on to him for that same reason.
Two problems. One, we have no one the Blazers would want for an expiring contract. We'd have to trade someone they'd never want, like Spoon or Mo. Two, we are about $7 mil over the cap, with several salaries needing a bump next year. Even assuming we clear the $11 mil or so on Stoudamire's contract, it's not nearly enough for Parker or any other top level FA.
For all of you who thinks the Rockets / Les / CD is cheap and not going after the PG and backup center they need, can you come up with one FA that was "worth" their signing? If the Rockets signed Derek Fisher for $37Mil, would that have been a great signing?? Couldn't get Barry much like Indiana couldn't get TMac because he didn't want to go there. Last I checked, Free Agents have a right to go where they want to. Who else was out there? The Utah guard was restricted no? That only mean we would have given him a raise by setting the bar higher for Utah to match. So who else? Also, the back-up centers that signed are WAY to expensive for their backup rolls. You all hated Cato's contract for the longest time. Now we MUST give another long contract for a roll player that is no better than Cato? Are any of the FA bigs that signed better than Cato for defensive purposes? I understand it's not your money and that going over the lux tax is a "given" if a team wants to go for it, right?? Well, all the teams are trying to stay under the tax so I guess NONE of the teams are willing for pay for a championship. Also, hind sight is so in the pass. If all the teams had a chance to do their drafts again...... You think Chicago would have gone for that point guard who was a sure thing and way better than Yao? How about the great player the Celtic picked but died because of heart problems? That Grant Hill signing by Orlando would sure be great to have disappeared from the Orlando books.
I don't think Les is cheap. He's just tired of getting burned. If I was him, I'd tell CD that he's only one more MT contract from getting canned. Of the 20 or so players that have been signed, I'd say only only a quarter of them are worth the cash, and the rest are what I call blunder contracts. As long as the Rox offered Barry a 4/24 contract, I don't think it's fair to say CD and Les didn't try to improve the team. Though, I'll always wonder what Utah would have done if we offered Arroyo a 6-7 year deal at the mid level. That would have been before signing Boozer, so they might not have matched.
From the Chronicle article today, it seems that it's CD's intent to sign players to 2-3 year contracts...it's a smart concept, but not one that is too attractive to many FAs. ..."You're more flexible and have more control of your roster when you have two- and three-year contracts," DAWSON said...
Here's another possibilty, Arroyo might had an undertable agreement with Utah so that Utah can get Boozer this year and pay Arroyo big money later on.
How can anyone say with a straight face that Les is the cheapest owner this side of Donald Sterling? Look at the contracts they handed out to Cato, Mo, Maloney, Barkley (9 million dollars his last year), Dream, about to hand out to McGrady, etc. It's ridiculous to call this guy cheap. Just to think that we could have had Posey instead of Pisskowski, Tay Prince instead of Snackbar, Larry Brown instead of van Gumpy makes me mad. And it's all because of stupidity and cheapness... Sorry Kayman this is a stupid post. Van Gundy did a pretty good job with a younger team then the Pistons team. And how in the hell can you say that the Rockets chose Pike (and not the stupid, classless name you called him) over Posey. Those were completely different signings that had nothing to do with each other. I don't know who you're calling snackbar but your post was ridiculously stupid. That's a fact.
Actually I believe Barkley made $14M in his last year and that was only b/c he took a huge pay cut the prior year(s) in order to allow for the Pippen sign 'n trade. In any case, if Les had given the go ahead to get us a decent point guard pickup even in those years, perhaps we would have advanced. Maybe, maybe no. But the point is that the owner/GM should be putting the team in the best possible position to have the opportunity to be successful. Look I agree that Fisher, Barry, Rafer, etc are definitely not worth the contracts they are getting. And thus far I have not voiced much if any displeasure with Les this particular offseason. I have given him the benefit of the doubt hoping that he recognizes the window of opportunity we have with this Yao/TMac. But when CD starts trying to sell us that Lue just might be adequate as our starting PG for the season and in the playoffs - that's where I must draw the line. If they go ahead and end up using part of the MLE to sign someone like Mike James (who has told the Miami press he would even accept a 1yr/1.6M deal) or use the TE to get us a starting point and/or backup C....then I will immediately recant my slander on Les that he is a cheapass. But unfortunately, CD's words and Les' history of paying more attention to the bottomline than winning do not give me much hope. IMO, Les' cheapness is a definite factor in this team's mediocrity since the back to back rings.
I am a bit dispointed that we haven't got the pg we need. But I would be absolutely furious if CD offered deals as stupid as Fisher's.
If we let the TE expire than Kayman is spot on. Last year I was very upset in picking Pike/AG over Posey solely because of possible lux tax implications. But last year we still were far away from a contender, Posey or no Posey. This year we are not. I am hopefull we will put the resources into a championship contender. We have a full MLE and a 7 mil TE to fill two primary weaknesses--another capable PG to share the load with Lue and a back-up defensive presence C. Right now I am confident Les will spend now that his team is close, if he doesn't, well then.... I think CD is postering. I think they are saying they don't like the deals out there right now. Yeah I don't know why they didn't try Arroyo for like 20 over 5 or go for another RFA if they really were not in such a hurry, but they didn't. I still llike to see Jones or James or Ostertag or Clark signed for about half the MLE up to 5 years, or like 66% of the MLE for 3 years. But maybe those guys are not entertaining those offers. Maybe it is best to bargain shop over the next few months. Just taking care of one of our needs (c/pf) would make me feel better about gambling for the latter position on the cheep later though.
Take a look at this without fainting: * Brian Cardinal, $39 million after averaging a career-best 9.6 points last season and about a point his previous three seasons. * Mehmet Okur, $50 million after averaging 9.6 points and rarely playing after the Pistons got Rasheed Wallace. * Hedo Turkoglu, $39 million after four seasons of averaging about eight points. * Stephen Jackson, $44 million after the second NBA season in four in which he averaged in double figures. * Etan Thomas, $38 million despite rarely playing in four injury-plagued seasons with the Wizards. * Mark Blount, $42 million after averaging double figures for the first time in four NBA seasons. * Adonal Foyle, $42 million after averaging 3.1 points in limited play this season. * Marquis Daniels, $36 million after averaging 8.5 points as a rookie. * Rafer Alston, $28 million after averaging in double figures for the first time in five NBA seasons. * Brian Skinner, $25 million from the 76ers, despite his first double-figure scoring season after being injured in six of them. * Quentin Richardson, $48 million offer sheet from Phoenix. *Antonio McDyess, a four-year $23 million contract from the Pistons despite a shaky knee. * The Bulls' Jamal Crawford, is said to be getting anywhere between $50 million and $70 million from the Knicks. * Michael Doleac, a four-year $12 million contract from the Heat. * Derek Fisher, a six-year $37 million deal from the Warriors after averaging 7.1 points and 2.3 assists per game last season. I think Les and CD felt Barry would be a good fit but forn anyone else they just said no.... they don't see any long term solution or any players worth paying those kind of dollars
Personally, I will be fit to be tied if we sign Charlie Ward and that is all we do at PG. We'd be better not doing anything at all.
Kayman, Childish, unmerited cheapshot barbs like yours are uncalled for. Calling Les cheap, and CD a r****ded moron just shows your ignorance and how much of a sellout you are as a Houston Rocket fan. Sure you're going to counter by saying something like "Just cause I call it as I see it, that makes me a sellout?" And you'll surely reference the Charles Barkley trade and Scottie Pippen trade. Last I checked it took balls to pull that trade off in the first place. And show me ONE fan in Houston that wasn't ecstatic that Carroll pulled those trades off. Since you're a know-it-all.... How many championships have you brought to Houston? I bring up the sellout part because thats what you're doing. You have no faith, and it's the whole forum's problem because you don't have any. Quit acting like a whining baby. If following the Rockets is too stressful for your fragile little psyche to endure, try following Brian Boitano and figure skating; they'll be a lot more gentle for you.
Agreed. What I think everyone here with these pipe dreams of handing out money to any FA available seem to forget is this: Our payroll is currently in the $50 million range. About this time next year, we are going to have to shell out some SERIOUS, and I mean SERIOUS cash to resign Yao and T-Mac. So before anyone argues that we should have offered Arroyo 5 yr 20 mill, or Fisher 7 year 40 mill, think about the long term implications of those contracts. That is all.
