Are you sure his contract is going to be up? I thought Atlanta worked out a sign and trade with Indiana? I thought both he and Stephen Jackson signed new contracts? Am I wrong?
You think Jordan complained about playing against guys like drexler? Did kobe cry about playing against Iverson at times? If you want to be considered a great player, you have to do everything it takes to be a great player. Last yr in the playoffs he shut Dirk down then when stack started going off, he shut him down. Many will tell you that no one in the league can do what McGrady can do when he wants to. By him playing the 2, it would give the Rox a huge advantage against every team in the league, even the Spurs. How would Detroit deal with Harrington and McGrady at the 2/3? What about the Spurs,Phoe,and Mia? Dallas wouldn't stand a chance this yr with that combo. Hell if Howard doesn't play, they probably wouldn't have beaten the Rox last yr. I might be dreaming or hoping, but Harrington and his versitility would be great.
He's under his contract he signed 4 yrs ago at 6m and some change and thats what atl signed jackson for so the sign and trade could happen.
Harrington would be an intriguing addition, but I agree with Nike that's he'd be better for us at the 4. With Swift at the 4, we need someone at SF who can stick the open three at a high percentage. Harrington's not that guy. In addition, he's not going to come cheap. I'd rather see CD and JVG find someone less talented, but a better fit at half the price.
Al Harrington? I like his game. But there is talk about if the Bulls can't re-sign Curry they will do a S&T to Atlanta FOR Al Harrington. If the Bulls are asking for Al Harrington for Curry, NO WAY are we touching Harrington for a #1 pick and Spoon. LOL Harrington is in the last year of his contract at 7M, he is VERY valuable right now. Imagine that, an expiring contract where the player is actually worth a damn! Our best bet is to find an overpaid swingman to move our expiring contracts. Not saying these are the guys...but they are examples of the types of contracts. Mike Finley and Jalen Rose. Horrible contracts where those teams would love nothing more than to dump them for zero value expiring contracts which is what we have. Again, not saying I want them on the Rockets at their contract value, but that's the type of contracts our expiring contracts would show some value.
Here's what i would do the rest of the offseason. Try and do a sign and trade for Stoudamire. Wesley+draft pick for Stoudamire Sign Dermarr Johnson for LLE Re-Sign Deke and Barry Yao/Mutombo Swift/Howard McGrady/Barry Johnson/Sura Stoudamire/James/Head
How about that TMac guy, I hear he can stick the open three at a high percentage. I'd look for a chnage of pace guy. Somebody who can lay some fouls, run TMacs man to keep him tired, and hustles on defense. Ryan Bowen?
I am also a big fan of getting Al Harrington, and I would love to get him here. We could have TMac at 3, Harrington at 4 and Stro at 5 and run something similar to Phoenix if Damon could handle the point. That would be fun to watch. But I think realistically guys like Demarr Johnson or Rodney White are what we'll get. They're young and athletic, and can fill a void. I don't think JVG's offense supports slashers. I wish we would employ the Sacramento/NJ (Princeton) offense instead of this high pick and roll. Come to think of it, Yao is just a great passer... Triangle offense?
You call .326 a high percentage? Seriously, though - with Yao in the middle, we need to make sure anyone to whom we pay serious money to start on the wing next to Tracy can stick the three. That's why Harrington wouldn't be such a great fit now. Neither Al nor Stromile would be happy coming off the bench, even if it was for 32+ minutes, and having both of them start at forward would mean teams could more easily double Yao. Mario Elie would be ideal, but as he's retired, Mo Pete would be nice: cheap, long, athletic, good perimeter defender, and can stick the 3.
Pretty good. Stoudamire would be good at point along with Head. I hope we move James. Barry can't play small forward..he can but not as main backup. I know this is just a ideal lineup or w/e. Sign Baxter & Glover. Sign Demarr Johnson. Somehow get Stoudamire. I'd rather have Wesley than Sura. Yao/Dikembe Swift/Howard/Baxter McGrady/Glover Johnson/Wesley/Barry Stoudamire/Head That's too many guys. Spurs have.. Mohammed/Nesterovic Duncan/Horry Bowen Barry/Ginobili/Devin Brown Parker/Udrich I think we could match up with them pretty well. Rodney White or Demarr Johnson both would be good players to get. White played well as a Nugget.
After reading most of the swift thread and all the threads about what should we do now,this is what I've come to: -Get Stoudamire in a S&T with wesley and weatherspoon,which should include D.Anderson for salary reasons.I'm sure Por would accept it since they would offload a bad contract while getting two veterans which is what they want. -Cut Moochie and Ward.Those contracts are not big enough to make a difference when the trade deadline comes,we should get rid of them now,taking advantage of the amnesty rule while gettinf two roster spots.If we want some leverage in february,we'd still have Baker's contract. -Bring back Mutombo and Barry.Both said they just want to come back,so probably they'll sign for the vet's minimum. -Give Baxter and Glover a chance (Be part of the IR). I liked Baxter since his Terp days and it seems he could help inside when an enforcer is needed,just 5-10 mins a game.I also think Glover should be in since our SG rotation is kind of injury prone. C- Yao/Dikembe/Baker PF- Swift/Howard/Baxter SF- T-Mac/Barry/Bowen SG- Anderson/Sura/Glover PG- Stoudamire/James/Head I'm completely sure at least 90% of this board would be happy with this roster ,it gives us great depth, versatile players, experience while adding youth and athlethism.
The only thing i say to you in response to that is do not cut moochie. his 4.2 million contract could make a big difference at the trade deadline. His contract would allow us to pick up 5.349 in salary. You only had 14 on your roster so there was still 1 more spot. He can be cut @ the trade deadline if we need his roster space and we didn't move him. and i'm not opposed to bringing Padgett back either.
Everybody needs to be patient. Trades involving expiring contracts usually happen at the trade deadline in February. Considering out of all of the expiring contracts we have, Wesley+James are the only players who are actually functional, it's doubtful a GM is going to want to essentially tank a season by trading a piece for Spoon, Moochie, Baker before the season even starts. It would be wise for CD to hold out until the deadline (unless, of course, he gets bowled over) because expiring contracts have more value in February than they do in July. I want to see this team fix it's backcourt glut too, but the fact is, better deals will come around if we are patient (ex. Carter, Baron Davis)
Derek Anderson has played 494 games out of 622. If anyone thought Grant Hill was fragile, they must don't know about Anderson. If it takes Anderson to get Damon, they should pass. In case no one has noticed, for all his quickness, Stoudimire is a terrible defender last i checked. If you think guys were getting into the lane last yr, put Damon in and its just as bad. Anyone noticed how well he played and didn't have any weed situations last yr?
The amnesty isn't appicable to us. It's for luxury tax relief only. Waived contracts still count against the salary cap; they are just exempt from the luxury tax. I'm not sure about Anderson either. As I've mentioned in other threads, I think I'd rather have Patterson.
Our backcourt was never a problem during the season. Except for McGrady taking off, I think it could be argued that the play of James/Wesley/Barry/Sura is why we elevated to new heights in the second half. However, I realize there is a need to upgrade due to the fact these guys are getting old and we were completely demolished by Dallas. I think we need to keep our late season success in mind while reconstructing this backcourt. While Harrington and Mason are no doubt attractive names due to their immense individual talents, they aren't really good fits in what we're trying to do here. We are at our best when McGrady is the small forward playing alongside two ball handling guards. I would prefer to get a point guard that can shoot. While your theory of wanting to force the other teams' smaller defenders on McGrady is practical in principle, the result would really be inconsequential. McGrady will destroy anyone that guards him, no matter what position, so it would be more beneficial to us to find players that complement him rather than create mismatches for him. For example, I would rather have two guards on the perimeter who can shoot the 3 or make decisions off the dribble rather than a guy like Mason who would create a mismatch with his rare individual talents, but wouldn't really fit in.
Assuming the Rockets are able to add Stoudamire, I don't think we'd need a big name player like Mason or Harrington. The foursome of Mcgrady, Yao, Swift, and Stoudamire should provide enough offense. Mcgrady will get his usual +25, Yao can pitch in 20 a game, and both Swift and Stoudamire can add +13 each. Plus, we'd have some firepower off the bench with Howard, Sura, James, etc. I'd prefer to get more of a defensive minded utility player at the 2 to round out our starting 5 (Trenton Hassel, Damien Wilkins, Doug Christie, etc.).
Don't have a problem with Anderson being a stop gap at the shooting guard. The only reason Portland would be hesitant for a deal is cause Anderson's contract really isn't that bad. It only goes for 2 more years. The contracts which really do damage are Miles, Patterson, and Randolph. It's a financial wash if the blazers take on weatherspoon's contract this year. They would be taking on additional salary for this year that they don't have to.
