even if we arent really in the playoff hunt were so far over the cap keepin wesley wouldnt help us at all so do u think well move him? and what could we get for him?
Between DWes and Moochie, we have $9.2 million in expirings. I've been scouring teams looking for available swing men that would be a defensive upgrade to DWes and I just don't see them. You've got Mo Pete who can probably be had. He's got good size. I just don't know if he would actually eliminate the post ups by the SGs. Bonzi would be an upgrade, but I don't see Sac dealing him unless they fall apart the next month and head for lotto land. QRich?? I don't see him defending anybody. Antonio Daniels could probably be had for an expiring. He's not working out for the Wizards. But he's only 6'4". He's a good defender, but is he's a combo guard, not a swing man. Guys like Ricky are 6'7". Don't know if Daniels could stop that. I think our best bet would be for Van Gundy to throw Hayes out there at the swing position with TMac and let him take on the post uppers. When teams like Dallas start going to that play, take out DWes or Head (whoever is getting posted) and let's see if Hayes can stick with the post up shooting guards. Wouldn't it be something if he could? On offense, Hayes plays the 3, with McGrady playing the 2 up top. As long as we've got Juwan on the floor at the high post hitting the jumper and TMac outside along with Rafer or Luther at the 1, we've got 3 decent shooters on the floor. We can let Hayes hang around the bucket and pick up garbage.
Wesley isn't bad. Afterall, I think he averages the most minutes on the entire team. Last season he was only second to McGrady. If Wesley was so bad, that would present a HUGE problem. Would it be nice to upgrade Wesley? Yes. But you don't trade the guy just because the grass looks greener. If you trade him, you better be damn sure it is an OBVIOUS upgrade. Can you get somebody taller and more athletic? Yes. Does that make it an upgrade? And IF is it an upgrade, why would the other team do it? Wesley has been a ROCK on this team. When everything else is wrong, Wesley has always been a solid professional. Wesley isn't the reason we are losing games.
I don't see how our being over the cap has anything to do with it. Trading him would imply we're getting roughly equal salary in return, unless we're trading him to a team that's under the cap (or for a trade exception...which I'm not 100% sure on how they work exactly). In fact, our cap situation would be alleviated by keeping Wesley. It's the final year of his contract. Any trades involving him will probably be to a team seeking immediate cap relief, and we'd have to take on a multi-year contract in exchange.
The Kings probably wont move Bonzi since he is an expiring contract. On the other hand, if he clashes with Artest quickly they might move him just for chemistry reasons. I agree that Daniels could be available but while I like him, I liked him more a year or so ago, I am not sure he is a good fit now. I would LOVE to get someone like Morris Peterson though. I have been bringing up his name for a while now. He is 6'8" (nice size) and can play the 2 or the 3. He is a decent wing defender and has a good 3pt shot. He can play off the ball and is a good teammate. I think he would be a good player on this team. I am not sure he is a really explosive player in terms of being the team's 3rd scorer as he isnt much for taking people off the dribble, but I think he would be a good role player with good size and is still young. But, I dont think the Raptors would take Wesley for him. I think Peterson's contract runs out at the end of the 06-07 season.
We will have $11.1MM in expiring contracts, so trading Wesley or Moochie could be a huge mistake. This summer we won't be hampered by just having the MLE and can target a true impact player that will make the team better. It remains to be seen if Les is willing to venture into luxury tax territory. Spoon ($6.3MM) and Vin Baker ($3.8MM) also come off the books after the season.
They're all expiring contracts, but we don't get any cap space after this season. Yao's contract kicks in. We'll only have the MLE to sign anybody(or the minimum). We have to trade them.
As already mentioned, the Rockets dont have cap space and WONT have cap space for the forseeable future. This needs to be put to bed. The only "restrictions" they will have is with the LT threshold. Les said in the paper today that they dont want to go over it unless they get an impact player. So Les WILL go over it for a great player, but not to add a small time role player. In terms of the MLE, dont forget we will have to dip into that to sign V-Span this summer if we want him to come over. So that will limit who else we could sign since probably half of that MLE will be used on V-Span. Right now trading our expiring contracts to a team looking to dump salary is our best recourse for adding significant talent to this team. The ONLY upside to not using our expiring contracts is it helps potentially keep us below the LT line which in turn allows us to use the MLE. I still say we move those contracts if we can.
I really like Derek Fisher. I think he'd be perfect for the Rockets. Not only can he shoot the three at a high percentage, he plays defense, and plays smart. Chris Mullin is saying in the papers that they will make a trade soon, and that they want a big man. Swift is playing well and I do like the guy but if he along with Wesley could get the Rockets Derek Fisher, they should look into that. Derek Fisher can come in and have the effect Mike James had with the Rockets last year and with Alston and Fisher a nice balance of passing and shooting can be created between the two. That would be a nice option to have.
if we give up a young big man we have to get more than an old guard. i agree that fisher would be a perfect fit, but why trade with another team looking to make a playoff push? it's a risky move for both teams. when mullin says a trade may be coming it's probably with the east.
Boy am I glad you are not the Rockets GM. No offense. You want to give up a young power forward and an expiring contract for a old ass guard?
No. That's not what I meant. I would trade Swift for Fisher because Fisher fills a bigger need for us right now. Wesley and Swift for Fisher I agree would be giving up too much.
I like David Wesley a lot. He has worked hard, brought his shooting up, and plays hard on defense consistently. He's a veteran. If something happens and the only way to get better is by including David Wesley in a trade then we should do it. But I think he doesn't get near the appreciation he deserves. That guy is solid. It definitely isn't a situation where we become better by just moving him off the team. It would have to be someone pretty good in order to fill David's shoes and improve the team as well.
Expiring contracts are way over rated. (See Glen Rice @ $9m). They have value to two types of teams. Teams that have totally thrown in the towel on the current season and want to be big time players in next summers' FA market. Guess what...teams with that scenario all currently stink (or borderline stink) and all have significant cap space w/o an expiring contract. (CHA, NOK, ATL, CHI). Almost all of the remaining 25 teams wouldn't get enough under the cap to be impacted by Wesley. For those without much cap space understanding, it works like this. If next seasons' cap is $46m, a team with a commitment of $41m is as far under the cap as the MLE they would have by remaining over the cap. And they would have had to renounce Bird Rights on all of their FA's before the get to $41m. For example, Team A has $47m committed for 06-07 but they have 2 of their own FA's they want to re-sign. If they traded for Wesley @ ~6.0m, their 06-07 commitment becomes $41m. But only after they renounce Wesley AND the Bird Rights of all of their 2006 FA's. They have do that all of that to get $6m under the cap when the MLE is ~$5m. Pretty pointless. I may have missed one or maybe even two at most but almost every one of the remaining 25 teams (exclusive of HOU, ATL, NOK, CHI & CHA) is in this position. Or, the second scenario...the Luxury Tax... Teams that are playing well (playoff bound) probaly are solvent and not worried about trimming for the LTax. Especially since every team had a one-time chance to waive their Anderson's, Finley's and Weatherspoon's this season. So your "mission" if you decide to except it is...find a team high enough in the LTax stratosphere, project a roster of 15 players for them for 06-07 (IOW, Wesley out -> a low cost draft pick in) and find an unexpiring player they have that we want. The first place you'll probably look is the Knicks...$93+m already committed for 12 players 06-07. And that doesn't include Eddie Curry. My guess is they'd offer Shandon Anderson or Jerome James for DWes. No thanks. And these IMHO are reasons why Wesley isn't going anywhere. But since I'm pressed for time(and want to enjoy the Sunday) I'd enjoy seeing other LTax offers from some of the rest of you.
Basically, I agree with everything you say with the exception of their signing Spanoullis. I don't ever expect to see him in a Rockets uniform. Both he and Badianne were longshot projects at best anyway so it's not like the Rockets are losing anything because you really can't lose something you never had. The CAP issue illustrates just how poorly this team has been run. They really need to step up their talent level in order to be competitive in the West (especially at the guard & forward positions) but due to the poor personnel decisions of the past they are forced to scrounge around looking for players on the cheap and that's not exactly what I'd term a recipe for success.
from our side we would get the better end of that deal. The question is would goldenstate do that? I don't think they would. I do think we could get away with trading Swift for Fisher straight up though. Mullin is making it known that they are looking to make a trade and they will one way or another and that they want a big man. If Swift is on their radar screen, I think Fisher can be a Rocket if JVG wants him to be and by reading his quotes of late he is making it known that what is hurting our team right now is a lack of good perimeter shooting so I think Fisher would be the pefect player for that role. Now I wouldn't even bring up the idea of trading Swift if it wasn't for Chuck Hayes impressive play. I think he'll be around for a long time and with Derek Anderson and Barry due back soon our number one priority should be to acquire a point guard who can come off the bench and shoot the ball consistently well. Whether it's Derek Fisher or someone else, the Rockets have to have a point guard who is a scoring threat from the perimeter. Alston is just not getting the job done in that area. Derek Fisher would be a nice change of pace off the bench as Mike James was for us last year. That would really get our team going.
Don't forget Quentin Richardson. From what I've read, he is pretty expendable for them. Wesley is the type of hard-working pro Larry Brown would like having on his team even in a backup role. Also, Trevor Ariza is in Brown's doghouse and is not even playing. Now, I'm not saying these are something the Rockets SHOULD do, but just throwing out another couple of scenarios.
I'd take on Fisher if Golden State also gives up Murphy. Both of those guys are expendable there. Fisher and Murphy give us enough to make a run with a two-three year shelf life. EDIT - Murphy is BYC. Nevermind. GS would have to add something sweet to get me to take Fish. Their pick would be pretty sweet. They can have Swift + whatever for Fish and the pick.
