Seriously, now I can understand how the Indians felt when they gave away Manhattan Island for under $30. Come on, ONLY A FIRST-AND SECOND-ROUNDER FROM TORONTO FOR HAKEEM? How can CD and Les let Hakeem go for ANYTHING LESS than two first-round picks? Sure, Hakeem's overall numbers are down, but he can still play monster defense. If I were CD and Les, I would have pushed for 3 first-round picks (2 at the absolute minimum) or the deal is killed. Truly, this is beyond me. ------------------ HOUSTON Rockets forever!!
I don't think the Rockets wanted to do that because they would have more cap money to spend, and the Rockets are a team that likes to go after free agents instead of drafting. They didn't want all of their first round picks THIS year, so they definitely don't want more. They have everything they need out of the draft, now it is up to the free agent market to shore up our needs, and they now have money from this trade to do that. ------------------ What if I say to you that the universe is a three-legged horse, eh? What then? - Russell Hoban
bcdjad, In all seriousness, your asking for a bit much. 3 first round picks for an aging center who hasn't played much more than 50 games in the last 3 yrs and who will probably only play another couple is crazy. We should be glad we got anything from the deal. Remember, he was going to retire after this season originally, so look at this as a small bonus. ------------------
Yeah, good one Rodney. Got me there! Let's hear YOUR solution, Mr. General Manager! ------------------ HOUSTON Rockets forever!!
Actually, the song title is meant for Hakeem, not you. Considering that we get to keep Mo Taylor, I think the draft picks are all we can ask for. When Dream is hurt for half of next year, Toronto fans are going to wonder why the hell he was signed for more than one year. ------------------ Odio arroz y frijoles!
Hey, knowing Dream's massive need for respect, he probably feels slighted by this asking price. Fegan said it himself: "Hakeem wants to play for a team who will respect him for what he can for a team today, not what he did in the past." A first- and second-round pick (oh, and we don't even know which year we can use those picks -- nice touch, huh?) isn't exactly showing the proper respect that Hakeem thinks he deserves. If I were CD, I would have been insulted with this offer. ------------------ HOUSTON Rockets forever!!
Its not like we had any leverage. Considering the alternatives, we did well. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
I disagree, I think we had all the leverage we needed. Loyalty runs on both sides and Hakeem's loyalty ended last season when he threw his fit about playing time. The Rockets loyalty never ended and therefore settled for a deal below value. I think the Rockets could have played hardball and set aside some of their loyalty to Hakeem and should have asked for a player, the trade exception and the picks. I guess I'm a little upset b/c I wanted Keon. His contract is around 3-4 milion this year and the exception we would have gotten would have only been around 1-2 million. We would have a viable option as a replacement, and now we don't. Marc Jackson I think is a nice player, but we need defenders in the low post and he does not fit the bill. I just think that the Rockets could have threatened more to let Hakeem walk and make him settle for the mid level exception if Toronto didn't cooperate. I just don't like it that Toronto basically got out of this scott free. I mean, there is that old axiom that u have to give up something to get something...Toronto gave up crap. The things we got were not valued by the Raptors at all. Hakeem may be old and some think washed up and injury prone, and all may be true, but I think we should have gotten more for a top 50 player, hall of famer and world champion.
Ummm... you know, originally Hakeem was retiring after last season, leaving Houston with nothing. Now, they get a couple extra picks. The sign-and-trade business was a coutesy, almost... and perhaps a nice gesture from Olajuwon. Toronto could have signed him outright with their middle class exception.
I for one think Hakeem was correct about more playing time. Look what happened after he got it. I'm not saying Hakeem was blameless in the whole affair, by any means, just touching on that one point is all.
Wait a second. Im confused. We got nothing? Were you one of the ones that said we ripped Chicago off with the Pippen trade because all we had to trade was one player? (forgot his name) Lets see, we just took on a 13 million dollar burden, and we just lost a cheap player. This alone, not including Quitten's b****ass atttiude, makes it an equal trade. Then we traded Pippen for 6 players. Once again, we had the "better end" of the stick as many would say. Yes, I would agree as we got rid of a worthless piece of crap, but we took on more crap. We really did good on that trade, till we busted it up with Cato. Now you complain about getting the short end of the stick with Hakeem? Consider yourself very lucky we at least got one draft pick out of this. He could have gone off without ever using us. And we really could not get a lot for him, unless we were lucky to land a really good cheap role player. To us, draft picks are not needed since our team is so young, and this draft pick is surely not going to be anything low. Expect it to be around the 22nd pick. Its real only value is for trade value.
I'm TELLING you, we could have gotten AT LEAST TWO, MAYBE THREE first-round picks. If you listen to the Raptors, now they're saying Hakeem "can take them to the next level." Yes, I honestly believe they would have given us a MINIMUM of two first-rounders because they felt he was worth that kind of asking price. I'll stand by that statement any day of the week!! I would have taken this stance with Toronto any day of the week -- and you can take that all the way to the bank!
