Which of these free agents PF do you want? A. Walker, S. Swift, and D. Marshall are the most rumored to be our next PF. If it came down to signing 1 of them which one would you prefer?
I would take Walker for the MLE,Swift would be my second choice for the same deal. I don't think either are likely to happen.
I want Swift, but not at a to high price. I realy do not want Walker. Marshall is ok, however, i think Howard is better then him.
I would think Swift would be the best fit, and would think that Walker would be the worst since he doesn't really help the offense out too much by gunning threes.
no doubt I would sign swift if I could only get one. I wouldn't mind if the rockets focused on only getting swift out of those three. kinda like putting all our eggs in one basket type thing. if that doesn't work out we lose the chance at walker, who IMO doesn't fit in the offense and word has it that he's a team cancer, and donyell marshall, who at best is marginally better than jhoward. I can see swift helping us for the next 6-8 years and providing yao with weak side help keeping yao out of foul trouble. He's also athletic enough for tmac to drive and leave some alloy's next to the rim for swift to go up and get.
This answer to this question is not cut and dry. If money was the same across the board, Marshall is out of the question. I mean how many times has anybody even come anywhere close to mention Marshall and ALL Star in the same sentence? He's been a role/bench player his whole career. Then consider how many times Walker has been mentioned as an AllStar. If Swift can be had for a little less money than Walker, I would prefer Swift. Not because he's a better player than Walker, but because he knows coming in that he will be a third option at best offensively. I don't think a player of Walker's caliber would be OK with that. Swift gives us more athletisism, speed and defense than Walker. I also think Swift can improve offensively, but not as much as people claim he will. He has had a chance to work on his game for a few years now and I would think he is not going to turn into an instant allstar.
My estimations for getting these guys: Marshall ~ 40% Walker ~ 30% Swift ~ 10% SAR ~ 5% Evans ~ 5% No PF ~10% I worry about the last option.
I don't want Walker or Swift. Those guys are just gambles - they've never been the kind of guy we need. Marshall is good for a 3-4 year deal. You know what you're getting with Marshall. I'd really prefer SAR, as he's younger, but he seems locked in on NJ. So, price/performance - it's Marshall. I'd prefer to get Marshall in a sign and trade, and then use the MLE on Antonio Daniels, Kerry Kittles, Cuttino, or other improvements. If Kerry Kittles has healed (does he ever?) then he's a good price/performance pick. He only played 12 games or so last year, but before that ran exceptionally well with Kidd in New Jersey, and was a good defender and mid range shooter. He's not a me-first shooter. We'd still need another power forward, if Howard is done. In spite of my aversion to me-first scorers, I'd also look at Jalen Rose if Toronto cuts him. He's still a very talented scorer and passer. He seems to have matured some.
Personally, I wish the Rockets could work out a sign and trade for Tyson Chandler. He is young athletic, rebounds, block shots and plays defense. That's basically the type of player the Rockets need next to Yao and he doesn't need the ball to be effective. Juwan is mid range scorer. Donyell Marshall another perimeter oriented scorer. Antoine a very special talent, who can do almost anything on the court, his problem he's a star, wants to be the star and that's not going to happen here. Stromile Swift is "POTENTIAL" and we all know what that is. If you can't get a guy to compliment Yao (who doesn't need the ball to be effective), to allow Juwan to go to the bench and improve our front court scoring from the bench, you stay with what you have and improve in another area.
I feel the exact same way. My head is thinking Walker will be good as another scoring option, but I just have a gut feeling that Swift will turn out to be an awesome complement to the team.
I like Stro's upside. He's young and has a possible bright future ahead of him. I just hope he doesn't demand too much. He still hasn't proved to me that he is worth more than MLE.
SAR. But, since the Rockets don't seem to be looking his way, Marshall. Swift will cost too much and may never pan out anyway. Walker is too much of a chemistry gamble. Marshall has many of the skills we need, will likely sign for the MLE and not require a S&T, and will be most likely to play well immediately without being a cancer. I'd try to keep the contract to 3 years, though he'll probably want it to be longer.
Walker has better handles and can shoot the three. But sometimes he handles the ball too much and shoots too many threes. Stromile has less pure talent but has, uh, pure athleticism. He also fills our need for youth (not that 'Toine is old, just old-ER), quickness, that pesky gnat who brings weakside shotblocking and such. My feeling is that all else is smokescreen and just-in-case, i.e., just in case things fall through, we're talking to Walker and some other power forwards; but we've been talking for awhile with Memphis and will likely walk away with Swift and Jason Williams for expiring contracts and picks. Swift's comments hint at: I love this team, but a deal can't be signed until July 22, and you never know what can happen in the meantime; but this is where I want to be. Memphis needs to rebuild, anyway, and is way over the cap.
