Maybe, maybe no. Unless somebody wonderful comes along, the Rockets should keep the trade exception. The trade I see happening is with Denver -- Derek Anderson for DerMarr Johnson. Johnson has been sitting for some reason, and Denver needs a SG like Anderson. I think the salaries are similar, but I'm not sure. Johnson would give us length and a player who can play either SF or SG. At 6-9 he can give McGrady a breather without an unacceptable loss of talent. Anderson gives the Nuggets an inexpensive tall SG who can shoot and defend.
Just got back. Moochie gone?? Oh, the horror!!!! Nice write-up, Clutch! Looks like a good deal to me. I've gotta hand it to the Moocher... he was playing halfway decently, lately, which helped the deal go down. Don't know if this guy we got will pan out, but the TE is great. It just better turn into a deal!
Man, here it was yesterday when I made a comment on here somewhere about we hadn't made our annual trade with the Knicks and how Moochie is probably already packed. Now, Moochis is gone and we have an ex-Knick.
DerMarr isn't a lot more than a set shooter with some athleticism. IMO, he's like a poor man's Tim Thomas. He hasn't shot the ball well this year, so I'd be iffy about that trade.
Man, i kinda feel bad for the guy!!! He is getting paid, which I know makes it so much easier. Who's gonna be in the middle for the circle the Rockets do after the intros?
Okay, I think D.A.'s salary is about twice D.J.'s. However, JVG has crossed D.A. off his short list, and I can't find many quality backup 6-8 or 6-9 SFs that we can acquire who match salaries with D.A. or even David Wesley. With Barry back, Sura almost ready and Bogans in the fold, I think SG is okay. IMO, backup SF is the biggest Rocket need right now.
Who know something about Mooch and Tmac, I saw them talk a lot on the bench. Is this the reason why Tmac so low in last few games
Hey, Deckard, it's been a while. Any ideas on who we can get for backup SF? Our current backups are much too small and, if we wait for the draft, we're cooked.
Even with the tax break for cutting Spoon, we were slightly over the luxury tax threshold. Now we will be under it, so there will be some additional savings there. I assume the "cash considerations" to NO will be Moochie's remaining salary this year, and NO got Moochie for free or close to it. As for using the trade exception, I would doubt this, because Yao's pay raise kicks in this summer, and we need Moochie's salary and some of Wesley's salary off the books to make up the difference and avoid paying the luxury tax next year. Look for a buyout of DA's deal, too, in exchange for him not exercising his option for next year, to save a little more money (unless we trade for a player with an expiring contract). JVG did mention that a benefit of trading DA would be the cost savings of his contract next year.
Yeah I agree, but we probably need a backup PG more than we do a backup SF right now, especially since KB can effectively play some backup minutes for T-Mac. He has the height, the defensive skills and he can take the ball to the hole. But as it is right now we have no effective PG behind Rafer and that's a liability. If you've been watching games recently, you must have noticed the way the Rockets offense stagnates everytime Rafer steps off the court. Luther and D-Wes are natural SGs and cannot play the point effectively -- the only other person who can run the offense with any kind of efficiency is T-Mac himself.
FOR WHAT ITS WORTH from nbadraft.net: NBA Comparison: Dirk Nowitki Strengths: At just 17 years old, Maciej is the youngest player to ever play with the Real Madrid First Team. Some consider Lampe the best young prospect in European Basketball. Lampe has the potential to become an NBA player in just a few years. He is strong and has unusual fundaments for a 17 years old player. He is best playing the power-forward position but he has the versitility to play the SF position with his great shooting and ball handling. His lateral quickness and movements are very fast and agile. Weaknesses: The only weakness that Lampe could have nowadays is that he is very young. He needs a bit more mental strength. Because of this his defensive and rebounding skills are not complete. With more aggressivness he can become very strong on defense and rebounding.
If we were going to trade with NO for a foreign guy that never plays, I wish they would have gotten Arvydas Macijauskas. When that guy is hitting jumpers, there is no stopping him. He runs hot and cold but when he's on - he's on...anybody see this guy in the olympics? In any case, I have to believe something is behind this trade considering the salary differences... hopefully Rox have some sweet deal cooking. when is the trade deadline anyway?
I LOVE this trade. Moochie just doesn't have a place on this team anymore, so he's dead weight. He's taking up a roster spot, which we could use on JBIII, who we saw was a better option for us at PG than Moochie, and far cheaper. Otherwise, the only value Moochie still had was as a cap filler in another trade. A TE is of more value right now. For NO, this was a good move, since they lost their first 2 PGs, and Moochie is a known quanitity and veteran. There aren't very many teams who would value Moochie right now, but NO is one of them. Remember, this is where Tim went, so he knows what he's getting, and knows what he's sending. Not a big trade, but one that opens more options for us.
