Rockets interested in Allan Houston?

http://www.***************/article_13607.shtml



NBA RUMOR MILL – Hawks Sign & Trade?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Steve "BskBALL" Kyler
for ***************
Jul 31, 2005, 20:33





It’s Gonna Get Funky

What an interesting day today has become on the rumor front…. Many of these are “one source” rumors, a departure from the normal “two source” rule found in this space… but it’s worth talking about, but take them for what they are --- so here you go:

SIGN AND TRADE: A source close to the Hawks confirms the ESPN report, that the Suns have an offer of Boris Diaw and two lottery protected first round draft picks as part of a “sign and trade” offer featuring Joe Johnson heading to Atlanta --- its up to Phoenix to say yes or no --- but Atlanta will also send a $5 million trade exception they are holding on to... this gives Phoenix a lot of flexibility to go after a replacement player in a 2nd sign and trade. Sources in Phoenix could neither confirm nor deny the rumor. The deal if it goes through gives Johnson an extra year on the deal and about $2 million more in upfront money making the 1st year payment much closer to $20 million, than the original reported $18 million.

MOVING ON: Word is Jason Williams of the Grizzlies will be dealt in a 3-way trade involving Miami and Boston according to a well placed Grizzlies source... Michael Doleac is the player Miami will ship out, likely getting Antoine Walker in a sign and trade package if you connect the dots... Dollie goes to Memphis, JDub goes to Boston --- Dale Davis has been rumored to Miami as a free agent, and all things make sense. Miami sources in typical fashion deny any knowledge of a sign and trade, and the word from Boston is they are not talking with anyone – today.

CUTS COMING: Its expected Dallas will cut Michael Finley lose next week, although there is a rumored offer that Dallas is said to be pondering – that will contain the right mix of ending contracts – if Finley hits the open market his camp says Miami is the spot, but a league source labeled that poker on Finley’s agents part knowing full well Dallas does not want Fin with Phoenix or San Antonio – both will likely bid for Mike’s services – here is another thing to consider – Finley may not get cut at all, rather Keith Van Horn could be the contract the Mavericks absorb, his ending $15 million deal is a lot cheaper, and that gives Dallas another year to find a trade for Finley if its out there… Allan Houston is all but gift wrapped for the Houston Rockets – word is the Rockets like him, but Allan may leave Houston at the alter for Detroit, after being run through the mud in NYC – Houston is said to like the idea of joining an instant contender and getting back in the game backing up Rip Hamilton… Brian Grant is not getting cut lose. While the Lakers are hovering close to taxland – it’s believed dropping Grant is not on the list despite published reports suggesting otherwise – as it sits now the Lakers tax bill would be $2 or $3 million, that’s not enough to force the Lakers into small ball or worse yet leaving Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown as the only “proven” front court big men… The Blazers are also not trimming Theo Ratliff, although a cut might please Camp Theo – the more likely cap cut will be Derek Anderson and his remaining two years and $18 million, the other thing to realize is while Portland is over the cap, they are not near the $61.2 million tax threshold… Don’t expect the Raptors to make any cuts, they too are not close enough to taxland to care, and given that cuts will not effect salary cap space, they will join the list of teams waiting for bad contracts to become ending contracts that have trade value… A Pacers’ source called the rumors of Austin Croshere’s demise overrated. While Austin does have some $17 million remaining on his deal - Indiana is sitting at over $74 million in salary, and trimming Austin’s $8.9 million this year does not get them under the tax – it’s believed a cap clearing trade is more likely than Indy eating $17 million on Austin, although it was said, its been mentioned more than once that cutting Austin was an option, just not accepted favorably… The Heat will be tax payers this year – they know it, they have accepted it, don’t be surprised to see them pass on Damon Jones who “got greedy” according to once source on a competing team…

 

Sorry Guys. Here is the correct link from ***************


http://www.***************/article_13607.shtml

 

LOL.I guess the link is blocked for some reason. Just go to the rumor mill at *************** . I am going to take a beating by the forum junkies for this post. Sorry