Yah. I just don't think he will sign for the MLE, though it would be a major coup for the rox if he did. And I don't think West will help out the rox unless he's totally raping them or he's not really in total control anymore.
I agree that competition is fierce in the west. However, if Jerry West thinks that Stromile Swift is such an impact player, he would overlook his "other" deficiencies and sign Swift himself, which is something he could consider. If Swift is promissed a nice contract and they are willing to put their past behind them, Swift could conceivably be a Grizzly. Wright is asking for a trade in the Memphis newspaper. I don't think Swift would be totaly opposed to a 6th man role in Memphis, because wherever he goes he will have competition at the PF spot (Gasol, J. Howard, Nenad Krstic, PJ Brown, Elton Brand etc) I think the Rockets have the best chance of landing Swift from the alternatives mentioned (Clippers, Jersey etc), but I think he will end up in Money Town (Atlanta, New Orleans or Cleveland)
I used the Clippers as an "other" category. I think a better poll would have been "How much will Swift sign for?" and I think the answer will ultimately be higher than the MLE. Someone will put in an S&T that will give Swift the money he's looking for.
IF derrick is right, and West will not do a sign and trade for Swift and his agent, then, to get more than MLE money, they have to look at teams with cap room to ink him or facilitate a deal elsewhere. SAR is in the same jam right now in Portland, where Nash won't help him. The only helper out there is Atlanta, right? That's assuming Phoenix matches the Joe Johnson offer. Atlanta doesn't want expiring contracts. They might want draft picks, or a TE. Looks like these guys are stuck with MLE, unless someone like Utah takes them, and then trades Boozer for expiring contracts.
Isn't a MLE in Houston worth more than a MLE in NJ or NY because of our lack of a state income tax and our lower cost of living large? If comes down to the net effect of the MLE, we win! If all MLE's are equal though, it may come down to who will promise Swift more playing time. He couldn't unseat Gasol and he probably wouldn't start in front of a healthy Howard. Would JVG, who apparently wants Swift, make a playing time promise? (I think he would say I'll give you all the playing time you earn.) Or it may come down to whom he thinks will go farthest in the playoffs. Of the teams in the hunt, NY NJ NO...we win! And Derrick, since your source hung you out, you might as well tell us how you got your tip......Karl Rove?
Playng Devil's Advocate...if he's good enough to have that much impact to the Rockets...why in hell didn't they play/keep him? On the other hand...if you really think he stinks, why not pocket a 1st round pick and/or get rid of JWill?
I voted for NJ, though LA would make sense, too. Unless NY offers substantially more than anyone else - and I don't see how they could - he'll reject them. If it's not a money issue, he'll choose Houston or NJ. He'd fit very, very, very well with Kidd.
Someone may have mentioned this already, but... Why didn't you have a 5th option saying, "Show me the money!!!"?
For sure. It all comes down to how anxious they are to get out of Jason Williams contract. I don't see NY or NJ being able to put together packages whereby they take back that contract. I think the Rockets can, should and would improve by doing so. West really doesn't seem to like him that much. I don't know why...he is a decent PG. But West and Fratello seem to be bigger Earl Watson fans.
I would not mind getting Jayson Williams as a throw in for Swift. Jayson Williams and Webber put Sacramento on the MAP. Then when Williams got traded to the Grizzley's he helped make the Grizzleys competitive. Before Jayson Williams, the Grizzleys had never gotten over the title of "Big Joke in the NBA". Let's not forget that the Grizzleys had SAR and Bibby, but they could not do a lick in the NBA. Jayson Williams needs a tough coach, and JVG is the right guy for that. Yao / Mutumbo Swift / Howard McGrady / "Free agent" "Via trade" / Barry Williams / Head Trade pieces: Weatherspoon - Probably in the Swift / Williams deal Baker - Probably in the Swift / Williams deal Moochie - for a SG FA Ward- for a SG FA Sura- for a SG FA James - probably in the Swift/Williams deal
Jason Williams and Bonzi Wells would both be detrimental to this team, as they would both take away looks from TMac and Yao. Hell, we saw how much a few bad shots by Mike James during the playoffs hurt us. Wells and JWill are both gunners who are trigger happy, which is exactly what this team should try to avoid. Meanwhile, regarding the sign and trade, Memphis lost a LOT of money last season, which is why they don't plan on bringing back Stromile Swift. They're committed to some big contracts, including Lorenzen Wright, Pau Gasol, James Posey, and Brian Cardinal.
West has no control over what SS does. He has his choice of getting something or getting nothing. It is a matter of A. What SS wants (UFA) or B. What a team like NYK or NJN will give Memphis in a SnT and West has no control over that. He can't sign him to a $9-10MIL deal and trade him away for next to nothing. I thought you knew better. He is still bound by the CBA.
I think West would rather SnT Swift to an Eastern Conference team, or just lose him for nothing than help us get him. And I think West knows that if he refuses to work with us, there's a very slim chance that Swift signs with us. I don't think he's going to do us any favors.
Why ? Why does Mike James name keep comming up in these s&t deals by all these wannabe GMs.Like someone said hes still young and in my opinion way better than Sura and more reliable healthwise.
It isn't that simple. If I were West I honestly before free agency would have told Swift to shop around to any team not in the West, and especially no team in Texas, and I'll do what we can to make a S&T happen at the contract you want. But West could call Swift's bluff that he will sign for an MLE with Houston or anybody. From West perspective some things could happen: A) he could get an expiring contract, maybe a useful player like James, and a late 1st rounder from Houston but create another division juggernaut in the process; B) take you chances Swift will come back to you to get a deal to a decent East team over the cap but looking for a 4/5; C) Swift just outright signs with a league dreg like NO or Atl who has caproom (no compensation to Memphis), or D) Swift in fact does sign an MLE with Houston and that juggernaut is near complete and you lost him without compensation. What West wants is Option B. Option A (goes to Houston with comp) or Option C (lose him for nada, but to a dreg) are about equal outcomes (see last line). Option D is disastrous, but I could see it as really unlikely to happen from West perspective. To make Option A happen (S&T to Hou), Houston has to make it really sweet looking, and Swift has to be really convincing Option D is real. S&T with Houston would be tough to pull off. I think outright signing with our MLE for 2+ years with a wink-wink informal "understanding" of how he might be rewarded later is more likely.
Okay perhaps I should re-explain what I meant to the minutiestest detail since people seem to be taking exception to that one little point of my post. Of course West can't tell Swift not to sign for the MLE. Of course West can't tell Swift not to go sign for big bucks for a team with cap room to spare. But he can tell Swift, screw you, you can walk but I'm not helping you get paid to get to Houston, even if they give us a lousy 1st rounder and take away a bad contract. So the ball is back in Swift's court. He sees Houston has their MLE to offer, but he obviously wants more. How does he do that other than going to one of those teams with cap room? Sign and trade. So his agent calls up all the teams from the east. Hey, NJ is interested. Hey NY could always use another pf. Hey, I'm sure there's some other teams in the east with expiring contracts that could use Stro's services and is willing to pay him a bit over the MLE money. So Stro tells West, hey, thanks for giving me a chance in Memphis, I enjoyed my time there, but guess what, trade me to the east for (fill in team name here)'s expiring contract + 2nd rounder or I go to Houston for the MLE. Then West says, fine. I really think West would do something like that, and I believe part of the reason West signed Posey to that deal was to keep him from going cheap to Houston, as strange as that may sound.
