The thing is I am not sure why people are in a hurry to get rid of him. Even if he doesn't pan out, so what? He has an excellent contract and many teams around the league would be willing to take him, regardless of how 'disappointed' we might be in him. You guys should check the rate big men are going for, even if Stro doesn't play any better than he has so far he's still an excellent value at nearly $5 per for only three years. IMO, you give him until the end of this season to evaluate him and see what he can do. Then, IF and only IF there is a deal on the table that would help us out then he's our biggest trade asset. My point is, don't worry, Swift's value will always hold up short of a career-ending injury. We should be in no rush at all to trade him, give him time and let's see what he can do the rest of the season; let's be prudent about this.
I think he is if it's For a solid backup point guard like Derek Fisher or Earl Watson. The emergence of Hayes and the reliability of Howard gives the Rockets the option to trade him for a solid point guard down the road. we can't rely on John lucas, he's a nice story but we need more. We had Mike James and Sura last year so I think we're going to need to have the option of having a point guard who can shoot the three off the bench and I think Derek Fisher or Earl Watson or even perhaps Antonio Daniels would be a perfect fit for that role and Swift may be enough to pry one of them away. Now if Sura is a lock to come back and comes back and doesnt miss a beat then the Rockets at point guard will be fine but I don't think they have enough to go on with him to be certain about his return so we're going to need some insurance at that position and Swift can get us that.
I don't want Earl Watson and his full MLE contract if Rafer is already on the team. Counting on any contribution from Sura this year or next is a big mistake. It's likely he will never be the same player, and if he makes it back at all, he's likely to break down again. I think Sura's is just about done. Hope I'm wrong. The thing that makes me really angry about the Swift signing is we totally blew our MLE. We should have gotten a long term starter at PF or SG last summer but we didn't. We are almost back to square one this summer with Tracy and Yao as our only two definite building blocks. If Rafer pans out (which is very possible) we were just lucky a last minute trade worked out. This summer is going to be another adventure in free agency when we should be close to putting the final touches on a championship contender. I'm not saying we won't contend next year, but the Stro mistake is a big pothole in the road.
If we put Swift on the trading block, 29 of the 30 teams will call (right, we don't need to call ourselves). But it's not gonna happen. He's our future PF and the backup center. I can't believe some of you guys want to run him out of town.
I understand what you are saying but lets not look back and look forward. the point of this thread is the emergence of Chuck Hayes allows the Rockets to trade Swift and fill a hole or to cover up some mistakes they may have made in the offseason. I don't think any mistakes were made, no GM is perfect and makes all the right moves, and Swift is a bargain for the money he signed for. With that said, the Rockets are going to need a backup point guard who can come off the bench and give the team a spark and I think trading Swift will allow them to do that.
Agree, just watched the game on Tivo, Swift is a lot more talented than those two. He will be ahead in the rotation for sure.
Hayes has only "emerged" for 3 games. We have no idea yet if his production is sustainable. Stro isn't a bargain. It's hard to get a bargain price on a disappointing backup player. At best he is priced about right. Stro should get one more shot. If he doesn't start playing with gusto every game we need to get him outta here. However, if the Rox make a playoff run we probably should keep Stro until the end of the season no matter what. If injuries or something else derails us and Stro still plays like he has no brain and no heart, I'd trade him for a Big Mac and fries. At some point people will snap to the fact he's a 6 year veteran and just won't get better.
Swift is expendable because he's not becoming a very good player, not because anybody below him as proved anything.
Swift has put up some excellent numbers of late in very little playing time. If he finds consistency he is a much better basketball player than many powerforwards. It will be nice having Purple Hayes come off the bench to boost our rebounding at the PF spot.
OK, I admit that was a bit over the top. Nonethless, swift is only marginally better than cato. Maybe worlds better in terms of potential, but who cares? He's been in the league six years, and he's way too skinny...
Right now I'm about as anti-trade as I'll ever be, because I think this team can just blow through the rough in these final few months and I think most of the guys we have now really want it. But, if there is one guy that might be expendable, it is Swift. It hinges on whether Baxter, and more importantly, Hayes are true keepers or not. It also hinges on how other teams perceive Swift right now (do they see him the same way 75% of people on this board did last summer?), and whether the Rockets feel like he's expendable. Personally, I think Swift can still be a very productive player in this league, but I don't think this is the right system for him. He needs a running team, one where he doesn't have to think so much.
a3 - At the risk of hi-jacking this thread, most of your posts are very logical but this one confounds me. First, as I've already posted the emergence of Hayes has too short of a sample size to totally write-off Swift. However. IMHO if Swift departed in a trade netting Earl Watson, Alston would eventually move to the backup PG. Watson is faster & smarter (and IIRC younger) than Alston. Plus he is better in transition and from what I've seen a better shooter. IMHO, Watson has most of the mental toughness and 1 on 1 ability of Mike James but makes better decisions and will more readily pass to an open teammate. Watson is a very good blend of James' and Alston's strengths. Secondly, I'm not in agreement that a full MLE for Swift was a bad decision. We signed him during a summer when Larry Hughes was getting a max contract and Bobby Simmons a near max. We spent $30m for Swift in era when Kmart is getting $91m, Carlos Boozer and Raef LaFrentz $70m, Brad Miller $67m, Tyson Chandlet $64m, Rasheed Wallace & Eddie Currry $60m, Dalembert $58m, Camby $57m, Ilguskas $55m, Adonal Foyle and Croshere $51m, Mehmet Okur & Kenny Thomas $50m, Malik Rose & Nesterovic $42m, Mark Blount $38.5m, Etan Thomas $36.8m, Scot Pollard $30.7m & Jerome James $30.0m. IOW, unless they are still on Rookie Scale, there is a premium to pay for any NBA "big". Lastly, I do not recall any long-term PG or SG available last summer for less than a full MLE. Had we gone that route or offered Antonio Daniels a full MLE, we'd have had Vin Baker on the depth chart backing up Juwan. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't recall a plethora of unrestricted Guards available last summer. IMHO, PF was the right choice last summer given that we drafted a PG/SG and had more overall depth at guard. Plus, Swift carried that added advantage of being able to be a backup C.
Sorry, just had to highlight those salaries again. Amazing how much teams have to pay for size. No question, EVERYONE overpays for size in the NBA. There just arent many good "values" unless you are a franchise bigman like Garnett or Duncan.
I've got to admit, when you post those salaries, maybe Swift is a bargain. Can't believe I'm actually saying that. At the same time, it's disappointing to me we didn't get a long term starter (or at least a better player) over the summer with the MLE. Turning back the clock is tough. I don't remember any decent PGs or SGs available at the MLE either, except Watson. If he is a big upgrade over Rafer, then we could have signed him, got a backup PF on the cheap and our team would be better than what we have, maybe. OK, maybe signing Stro WAS the right thing somehow. He's athletic, long and can play backup center. He's just not very effective, is injury prone, has no heart, has little offensive game and doesn't come to play every night. 9.5/5.0 plus a boatload of dumb fouls. I'm not being sarcastic, but just putting my thoughts in writing. Maybe, just maybe, signing Stro was the right thing to do, even if he doesn't improve. Somehow, we must do better this coming summer. Don't know how, but we must.
Totally support moving Swift for Watson. If we can move Alston for a pick to Atlanta, jump on that. Both guys do not fit. I also wonder how bad Utah wants to trade Boozer. Maybe they could pay us to take him and a pick for Swift and an expiring. Depends on if he can pass a physical - looks like his injuries are fake. He's stunk it up with Sloan, but used to look good in Cleveland.
Antonio Daniels.........now there is another MLE that isn't working out.....and he fits the Rockets. Why not some trade using Moochie and Swift for AD and one of their big men? They get an expiring and a low contract big man. Why wouldn't they do it. Daniels is just gonna eat up cap space sitting on the bench.
No thanks. He's averaging like 6 points a game, including a whopping 17% from 3 point land. Last year, even on a team that fit his style more, he only shot 29% from deep. He's kind of like Swift in a guards body...sounds good, looks good on the surface, but once you see what he's done you'll realize he's a lot of hype. And just like Swift, there are only a couple of teams in the league he can truly prosper with. At this point I'd rather keep Swift or explore other options.
