As the offseason progresses and the Rox continue to build a team to compete not only this yr, but next. I know this board has many trade proposal to which the Rox can become a better team. My stance is if the Rox cant get who they truly want, they should wait til next offseason and really make the big push. As is, the rox are probably the 3rd best team in the west right now if healthy. The addition of Swift and the resigning of Barry,Deke and Bowen gives the Rox a good group of guys who bring special talent to the team. As is, they're probably not as good as Phoe and SA but they're right there. After this season and with Ming and T-Mac extension, the Rox will have enough to shoehorn the perfect fit in between age and talent wise. That shoehorn is Rashard Lewis. After the season, Lewis will be an free agent and might be looking for a homecoming. I really think they're season was a bit of a fluke and probably wont be as good as last season. If they resign Radmonovich and Lewis being in his last yr, the Rox can use the expiring contracts and offer a 9m per contract for Rashard. The Rox can pull the coup and have a team with Lewis,McGrady,Ming and Swift all about 26 or 27 yrs old that could compete and win the ring multiple times. Many think they should bust a move now, but with the choices out there now, they should wait and get a player that really can vault this team to the top.
Lewis plays exclusively the SF position. That happens to be the same position of our franchise player. There goes your theory
Why lock up our capspace in 3 players? The Rockets need to build around T-Mac and Yao adding semi-star and role-players.
T-Mac can play SG, who said he couldn't? He'd dominate that position just as he does as a SF. Not much of a difference from being a SG or SF.
What position did Tracy play and dominate in Orlando? I think it was 2. The 2/3 are pretty much the same position, a wing player.
T-Mac ain't going back to SG full time. The next "big" move we make (this summer, trade deadline or next summer) will be at SG or PG and Rashard Lewis is neither.
This is an interesting question. I think it IS prudent to wait until next year before signing another big contract. However, I think the real question this year is:"HOW good is Stromile Swift?" If Swift is a legit third "star", then we should compete for a title now. If he is not, then next year, we need to find our third piece. At least we didn't overpay. Given that we didn't pay a lot, I tend to think we will be shopping next year. I like Swift; he is a very good fit, but I don't count on him in the clutch. If we need a third "star" - for respect, for scoring, for intangibles that make wins out of losses - then our two are just shy of greatness. Currently, that's the case. It's not easy to blend in a third guy. Very few champions have that. Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Pistons - hmm, well, check what I said, strike it. Maybe many do. Just not the Bulls and Rockets. Well then. What qualities should our third guy have? He should have stones- like Mario, or Big Game James, or Big Shot Bob Horry. He should be able to feed the stars and feed off them - DJ, Horry, Manu. He should have length and defense for a perimeter stop, and he should have the respect of the refs, as a legit rising "star" - but not a "superstar" = Dumars, Prince, Cooper. We probably won't find all of those things, but our perimeter fit will be a ballsy cocky, gamebreaker, on both ends. I tend to see that guy NOT being Rashard, though he could conceiveably fit our two finessee stars. With two finessee stars, though, i think we need a real bad boy to make the team feared. We need someone like Ron Artest, with a killer j.
One of the reasons we moved T-Mac to the 3 was because it made us a much better defensive team, with better perimeter quickness. Sure, Tracy can keep up with smaller, quicker SGs, but do we really want him exerting himself like that? The answer is no. Now, if we could add an elite defensive player like Artest or Kirilenko at the 3 to move T-Mac to the 2, then obviously you do it. But Rashard Lewis is, frankly, a terrible defender. People overlook this all the time, but he's really not very good defensively at all. He's not terribly quick laterally, and doesn't use his length to block shots. We can find better, cheaper fits. Interchangeable parts, if you will.
We traded JJ almost exclusively to move TMac from SG to SF. Afterall, Wesley and JJ are basically a wash execpt Wesley allows TMac to play his natural postion. It was after that trade that the Rockets started playing like a playoff team. So yes, there is a difference between SF and SF. At least JVG thinks so.
Sure Tmac can play SG he can prob also play PG and dominate that position. The advantage for tmac at the 3 is that he'd be the most explosive SF in the league not to mention the fact that he wouldnt have to be chasing wade and kobe on defense. Its also highly unlikely that Rashard would want to come to the rox after we broke the promise to draft him with the three picks that we had.
I don't think Pistons are even thinking of trading Prince..probably haven't thought about it this offseason..but he would be a great addition to our team. Yao & Deke, Swift & Howard, Tmac + Bowen, Wesley + Barry, Sura + James + Head vs. Mohammed & Nesterovic, Duncan & Horry, Bowen, Brown, Barry, Parker, and GINOBILI..+ Big Dog + Udrich. I think we should get McCarty..and we need to do something about our backcourt..we have a bunch of guards. Keep Barry + Head.
His option year isn't until 9/2007 so thats 2 seasons we would have to wait. He would be a great addition but you can't wait to build a team around some guy thats not available for 2 more seasons.
Hate to say completely wrong (some merrit) but your assessment is lacking some facts. The Rockets were in the midst of a 5 game winning streak or 5 out of six which all coincided with Sura's return and not the trade for Wesley. We were already in the middle of the streak and JJ was playing very well which is what miffed JJ so bad and left a lot of people scratching their heads and JJ and T-Mac regularly switched assignments defensively. When Wesley got here, Wesley was so cold he could not hit the Ocean from the beach but we continued to win due to the strong rebounding and heart of Sura. When Wesley started hitting his shot is when it seemed we kicked it up another notch
Having Lewis would cause all kinds of mismatches because it would force all our opponents to put their SG to cover T-mac. Their is only one SG in the league that can keep Tmac in check. With the addition of Lewis you would keep guys like Bowen, Miles, and Artest off of Tmac or Rashard would go off since he is a legit 3 that can work near the basket and shoot the 3.
I think if we wait until the end of this month, we may be able to get Darius Miles for expiring contracts, picks, and cash. How about going with Miles/TMac at the 2/3. Miles is a much better defender than Rashard and can take the 2s out at the perimeter or the opposing 3, whichever is the better player and leave TMac on the weaker, easier to defend, opponent swing man. If not, I would still prefer trying to go after Gerald Wallace or Demarr Johnson for much less dollars or expiring deals at lower payroll levels before making a move for Rashard. I don't see the defensive player that we need. I wouldn't mind having him at about the MLE but $9 mill per and more........no thanks.
T-mac preety much plays both guards and SF. He seems pretty versatile to me. Rashard lewis might be a good addition, but i dont think that he alone will launch our championship possibilities by leaps and bounds. Only certain players can do that. For instance T-mac
Why do everyone think that we have to s lockdown, non shooting guy on this team? Jordan locked people down and dropped 30 why cant Tracy? Tracy want to be known as a all time great. If thats the case then he is one of the most physically gifted defensive players in this league. Go back to his toronto days when he had 2 steals and almost 2 blks. All I'm saying is Lewis is the sharpshooter,post up 3 that gives our team the chance to force teams to match up with us. He's a effecient scorer and rebounder and not just a volume shooter. What more do you want?
