actually, Howard has always been an average defender. Yao has no real history before Van Gundy McGrady was first known as a defensive stopper in Toronto the only thing Sura was allowed to play before was defense Wesley has always been known as a scrappy player the bench has Ryan Bowen who is known for nothing but defense
Payton is one of the best point guards and defenders of all time. He is a good chemistry guy too, all the players love him. The lakers situation last year was just screwed up because kobe and shaq, gp was caught in the middle. He was putting up good number and playing good defense for boston this year, not sure what you guys are talking about, but more than likely you are just speculation and haven't really kept up with GP's game this year. I'd love to have him here and he'd be better than any point guard we have on the roster now, so he would be a starter if I were running things.
Well, GP's a FA now...let's keep this one active for any further speculation rather than starting a new thread.
Hell, no !!! I dont want the old, locker room poison GP being here. Plus he never win any title and it is a proved rule, U even win , u never win.
I can't believe this thread now totals 4 pages. Admittedly it makes for some humorous (sp?) posts, but no way in hell does Payton deserve the honor to play on and subsequently FU the Rockets. Please, make it stop!
http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2005/03/02/will_waived_payton_make_return_trip/ Payton and the Hawks agreed on a contract buyout that resulted in Atlanta placing the 36-year-old guard on waivers. He is thus eligible to participate in the playoffs. According to a league source, the Houston Rockets would be the only team that has the capability (a trade exception) to claim Payton and his $5.4 million salary off waivers. But doing that may put the Rockets into luxury tax land, and they already have about 112 point guards, anyway. They've shown no interest in Payton till now.
I don't think so, on the TE. I thought payton was heading back to Boston? He should just take a hint and retire....
We did. I think May is just going on the earlier reports about Elden Campbell, when we still had the full amount. At this point, I don't think getting Payton matters. He's no longer eligible for the post season roster. I'm willing to ride on Mike James at the PG slot for another week till we really get cooking with Sura and James together.
Agreed... no point in signing the glove after last nights performance by James... when we get Sura back, we'll be in good shape. Our focus from this point forward should be to get a big, bad power forward. --Gladiator (aka Best Buy Guy)
Was listening to the radio on the way home from work here in San Diego, and they mentioned that Houston is the only team with enough cap space to sign GP. That said, I agree that they are probably going to stick with James. Might be a nice insurance policy if Sura's nagging injuries stay with him throughout the year.
Is the March 1st deadline only the deadline to clear waivers, i.e., not be on another team's roster?: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3432418 i.e. since Payton cleared waivers before the deadline, he can take his time to sign with a new team, and still be put on the playoff roster? Same for Mourning, Dale Davis, etc. Otherwise, Payton couldn't go back to Boston now, too, and play in the playoffs.