Which ONE player should the Rockets be targeting this offseason?

Bobby Simmons with the MLE.

SAR if possible, but we need athleticism and shot-blocking.

 

I'd also like Eric Williams, but imo he'd be a big luxury. TMac is going to get huge minutes at sf, and I don't want him playing too many minutes at pf. So that leaves him as a situation player ala Bowen or Padgett(but probly more expensive). Plus he's getting up there in age.

 

Stromile Swift could probably get the job done. He can provide some scoring in the post. He's looking for a long term deal around 6-7 years, probably costing in the $42-45 million range.

 

Exactly what I think, although I'd be very surprised if Simmons doesn't get a bigger deal.

 

I think your post is on except the last part. For one, JH becomes an excellent back-up of value to us. Second, Portland would not want another vet PF committed to a substantial amount/years (JH), or they would be selling SAR on returning in the 1st place. So expiring contracts plus future potential (1st rounder + NY 2nd, two firsts, or 1st and younger comp like Spounalis) makes much more sense.

Oh no, hell no. He is not the kind of risk a team with two of the best young players in the league needs to make.

I think the top end of an MLE is like 6 years for 37 mil. Only Memphis and teams under the cap can reach your figures.

I will say he is my #2 option after SAR, but I think SAR is more of a sure thing in terms of producing for you. If we got him I'd certainly be happy though.

As for Simmons, Mobley, Erik Williams, etc. Got to lock down the 4 spot before we do anything else. Unless it is a S&T (SAR?) we will not be in the bidding. Next offseason with Wesley's contract up and a starting 2 spot up for bidding we will have the full blown search for another swingman with the full MLE.

 

SAR should be the #1 choice b/c I dont think we have a great chance of landing Chandler or Swift (if we could i would take either of those guys in a heartbeat).

Simmons or Mobley would be my #2 choice. Both of them would give us defense, athleticism, and a good 3td scoring option. If we go this route with the MLE then we have no choice but to draft a PF (unless we can work out a sign and trade for a vet)

 

Fourth Comeback

 

Wishlist in this order:

Artest
SAR
Kurt Thomas
Bobby Simmons
Mike Miller
Morris Peterson
Jumaine Jones
Desmond Mason
Mark Blount

 

Joe Johnson. He can shoot lights out and can play multiple positions because of the fact that he's 6,7. With the # 24 pick we can select one of the PF's (Simien, Turiaf, May). My preference is Turiaf and with Johnson starting at the 2, we would have a starting 5 of ...

Sura
Johnson
McGrady
Howard
Yao

 

Top of my wish list is Tyson Chandler. Although I don't think there is any possible way he could fall in our laps. He has the length to guard big PF's like Nowitski and Duncan, and he rebounds really well. I prefer him over Swift. I think Stromile is not as effective as a defender/rebounder but does have more offensive skills.
Second on my wish list is Abdur-Rahim. I like his post moves. people say he's undersized and can't jump but he really positions well and I think he would do very well if placed in a winning situation.
Third would be maybe Theo Ratliff, solid defender and good rebounder. could give protection to Yao on defense. Imagine Yao and Ratliff inside and Jason Terry tries to drive to the hole, Yao as usual would leave his man and try to help and instead of his man getting a rebound and putback because we had no PF to speak of, Ratliff swooping in from the weak side to get the board. ah, if only dreams come true...

 

The fascination with Mobley never ceases to amaze me. What do the following players in the current NBA playoffs have in common....Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Manu Ginobilli, Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon, Damon Jones, Eddie Jones, Stephen Jackson, Mike Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, Pau Gasol, Jerry Stackhouse, Micheal Finley, Antoine Walker, Mike James, & Lo Wright.....?

They all averaged more assists per playoff game than Cuttino Mobley. (Double the # for everyone mentioned before Duhon). So did Mobley's teammate Kenny (formerly known as "The Black Hole") Thomas who out assisted Mobley 12-9. In a motion offense like the Kings', that's pitiful.

IMHO, players like Mobley and Abdur-Rahim are far down Van Gundy's wish list and I for one am glad of that. If both situations were possible in one summer, I'd take Swift and Bobby Simmons over Mobley and Abdur-Rahim 10 out of 10 times.


Joe Johnson is a great fit but as a Resticted Free Agent there is no way on this planet PHX lets him go. (Doesn't match our best offer of a full MLE). I've got my Pipe Dreams, too but at least Simmons and Swift are UFA's.

In the draft, I'd be satisfied with Turiaf, Franciso Garcia, Kennedy Winston, Joey Graham or CJ Miles. Over time, I've seen all projected around 24. I'm genuinely hoping the Rockets regard the pick as someone they are going to give PT to in the draftees rookie season.

 

If Sharif bought into the team concept like our players did this year then he would be a good pickup. Stro is soft. When you get called out by your own teammates, coaches, etc you know something aint right. SAY NO TO TURIAF. For a banger he plays SOFT not to mention that any big man could get rebounds on Gonzaga. I really think we need the Pippen to our Jordan(tmac). Artest if he could be gotten would be ideal if he werent prone to do insane things. Is Bobby Simmons a good defender?? If he is sign him.

PS- Joe Johnson would be IDEAL for us but as mentioned before that is just a pipe dream.

 

Darius Miles

Oh please this would be awesome. He's talented and can be traded for cheap (imo his trade value will only go up from now on).

6'9" 210lbs
23 years old

he's fast and quick enough and long enough to guard 2 guards. Of course his J needs work, but he doesn't take 3's, most of his scoring comes inside...he's active, can get tip ins, and so freakin athletic.

had rebounding highs this year of 12 and 13
had assist high game of 8
had a 6 steal game and two 5 block games
and of course a 47pt game vs Denver

He can be a Scottie Pippen/Tayshawn Prince type player. Prince guarded Kobe and did as good a job as anyone. Pippen often guarded the opposing 2-guard or point guard to keep Jordan fresh.

Let's take a look at some game summary good stuff from this year:

April 12 at Spurs

The Spurs broke open a one-point game late in the first quarter and turned it into an eight-point lead at the end of the quarter after Portland forward Darius Miles left the game with a sore neck. Before he left the game, Miles was 4-of-6 from the field and scored eight points in the previous 3:26.
Miles, who was grabbing at the back of his neck, didn't return to the game until 6:38 into the third quarter with the Spurs ahead by 15 points. Miles' free throw with 6:56 left cut San Antonio's lead to seven.

January 24 vs Spurs

Darius Miles, who had 21 points off the bench, made key plays for the Blazers in the fourth quarter.

December 27 vs 76ers

Miles continued his impressive stretch as a starter for Portland, scoring more than 20 points for the third time since replacing the injured Shareef Abdur-Rahim in the starting lineup six games ago.

December 18 at Detroit

In a show of sportsmanship, Brown pulled Miles away from officials as he argued after drawing a technical in the first quarter.
The move proved to be costly for Detroit.
With 0.5 seconds left, Miles converted a free throw to give the Trail Blazers a 75-74 win over the Pistons.
Brown doesn't regret pulling Miles away from the officials.
"Why not?" said Brown when asked if he would do it again. "I don't want to see him get ejected. He's a good kid."
Chauncey Billups tied the game with a 3-pointer with 7.8 seconds left, but Ben Wallace was called for a foul after colliding with Miles, who was driving to the basket.
Brown said the officials got the call right.
"It was a foul," he said. "It was unfortunate, because Ben was trying to make a hustle play after someone lost Darius, but it was a good call."
Miles missed the first shot free-throw attempt, but swished the second.
"That was big pressure -- almost like a playoff game," Miles said. "I just wanted to make one of them, but the crowd was going nuts."

December 17 at Hawks

Miles, starting for the second straight game in place of the injured Shareef Abdur-Rahim, made 10 of 13 shots, had eight rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots.
He's averaging 11 points a game for the season, but has picked that up to 19 in his last three games.
"This is what Darius was doing last year before Shareef came in. That's what we expect of Darius," Cheeks said. "When Darius is out on the floor, he can fill up a lot of parts on the stat sheet," he said.



And I guess I dreamed this up or something...I swear during my research that I found some recap of Darius Miles preserving a win vs the Spurs (?) with a last second block on Tony Parker, but I was real sleepy. And now I can't find that link and I have no idea what game it is after 1 hour of looking for it. Oh well.

 

Personally, I would not sign a role player for any more than 5 years. If he doesn't go well, kaboom, their goes your cap for a long while (6-7 years) since we r set with Yao and McGrady already.

This is what I like about Spur's current management, they don't usually overpay for scrubs and sign them to real long term deals.

-G'day-

 

1. Donny Marshall
2. Bonzi Wells

Donny will be a FA and Bonzi is in dog house.

 

suns need to worry about keeping amare after next season. can they really afford to keep joe johnson with guys like nash and marion already locked up with big contracts?

 

I hear a lot about the need for a rebounder because Yao doesn't rebound well. I think an athletic shot blocker at the 4 will make Yao a better rebounder. The reason Yao doesn't rebound is because most of the time he is out of position. Why is he out of position? Because you have a 7'6" guy chasing screen and rolls, following guards in the lane (picking up more fouls than blocks), and leaving the middle wide open for the garbage collectors of the world to grab offensive rebounds at will. If we correctly utilize Yao and leave him near the basket ala Shaq and Hassell, he will get way more rebounds. Let our athletic shot blocker go get them at the rim and leave Yao back to rebound. Opponents offensive rebounding will go way down, Yao will stay in more games and Yao will rebound. Who that player is another question?

 

Gater, why down on SAR? I understand and agree re Mobley, but SAR? Physically, he is gifted enough. He is not huge, but plays tough inside.

JVG's strength is clearly getting people to play defense and improve on fundamentals. He is not clever on offense. Therefore, I think we need to target a proven scorer to fill the third scoring option.

SAR can be taught discipline and defense. He can be taught to accept a 3rd scoring option role and to focus on rebounding and defense. On the nights that Yao is off or has no energy, SAR can be Robin to Tmac's Batman.

In contrast, Swift is pretty raw offensively. He'd be good on help defense and is more athletic but he's a gamble. He's been injury prone and his track record is unproven.

 

Without a doubt Bobby Simmons.

The Western Conference and the NBA in general has become such a guard oriented league and the Rockets have one of the least talented starting backcourts in the league. The Mavs guards just absolutely destroyed us. I think it's safe to say had the Rockets advanced, the Suns guards (Nash, Q, JJ) would have killed us, and the Spurs backcourt (Parker, Manu) would have had a layup drill all series long. Upgrading the backcourt should be the #1 priority.

Simmons would be the perfect 3rd fiddle. He's the same age as Yao and Mcgrady. He's got size, athleticism, speed. Excellent and efficient shooter. He's capable of creating his own shot, but doesn't need the ball in his hands a lot to be effective. I don't think the same could be said of SAR, who's only effective as the #1 option on his team.

 

SAR. Swift is still a risk and a bit immature for JVG's team. SAR is a vet who knows what he's doing and he's a known -- and good -- commodity. I'd be happy getting Mobley back as well for the same reasons, but I'm not expecting that to happen. I don't care about his alleged blackholeness. HIs assist numbers don't matter; I've seen him play and I know he'd be solid on the new Rockets.