Could you update that list with current salaries? That would be useful. Here's the problem we're going to face. Our depth chart *currently* looks like this: PG: Rafer Alston, Bobby Sura. (Probably safe to assume Brunson's gone) SG: David Wesley, Luther Head SF: Tracy McGrady, Keith Bogans, Ryan Bowen PF: Stromile Swift, Juwan Howard, Chuck Hayes C: Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, Maciej Lampe Assume Bobby comes back next season. If we re-sign Wesley *and* draft a shooting guard, we will be looking at a glut of guards already. Expect Rafer to get the majority of minutes running the offense. Luther is a natural shooting guard and performs better when he's not being asked to run the offense (much like Wesley, even though he has better ballhandling skills). Also there's a possibility we'll sign V-Span, which brings our depth at PG to three. I don't like the idea of not re-signing Wesley because he's a proven outside shooter and the best we've got on this team right now. But then, at the same time, we probably ought to improve perimeter shooting depth so we should probably draft a shooter like JJ Redick to fill in limited "specialist" minutes at the 2. Then start Luther head and have Wesley as the primary shooting guard off the bench -- I believe Luther has passed through the fire and is ready to be a starter on this team. Our weak links perimeter shooting wise would be Rafer and Keith (hopefully they come back in better form), but Rafer I'm not concerned about since his job here isn't to shoot anyway. We're still a bit weak at SF though, and this is one spot I wouldn't be surprised to see the Rockets management address over the offseason. In the event that T-Mac is out for a number of games, we don't want to be relying on Keith Bogans to shoulder those minutes in the future. We have the opportunity to fix that situation now. This might even be more important than getting a shooting guard.
Of the players on that list, the only two that intrigue me are Speedy Claxton and Marcus Banks. Claxton can blow past pretty much any guard in the league and is great at finishing at the basket, which something we don’t have on this team. Banks is young, very athletic, and a strong defender, that makes 50% of his shots, which is significantly better than Alston’s 38%. I think either one can come in and give us some of the same qualities that Tony Parker brings to the Spurs.
This the type of roster that I want to avoid. We need much less quantity and much more quality. We still don't have a legit SG. Let me put it this way, Wesley would be a very good backup SG, but he is nowhere close to starter material. Likewise, Head isn't ready, not to start or play major backup minutes for a real contender. Frankly, I'd be pleased if the only thing we did was to add James Posey at near full MLE for 3-4 years. Posey would be an elite defender under van gundy and is a respectible spot up shooter from deep. He's only 29, so he has some good years left. Posey and Tmac would present a very long and athletic perimeter defense. Lost in all of Tmac's injuries is the fact that he is really an elite defender. Rememer what he did against Dirk last year. Does anyone have info or comments on how well Posey is doing these days?
It would be great if we could pick up Peja in a sign and trade, and maybe get VladRad for the MLE. Replacing Wesley and Howard with those two in the starting lineup (obviously moving TMac to the SG spot) would really turn our shooting around.
Does anyone know how much money we'd have next season assuming Frahm and Brunson are gone? Also, assuming we don't make a trade. I doubt we'd have enough money to pick up the larger contracts on that list, but, it would be AMAZING to get Peja. I'm dreaming, though.
There is virtually no one in free agency that can really help this team. The crop is weak, and the better guys left will want more than the MLE, which the rox can't offer. At best, maybe they can find a decent backup rotation player, but that isn't worth blowing a whole MLE on. 2007 will be more of the same. Unless the rox kick ass in the draft or manage to make a blockbuster trade, the rox are stuck with roster.
Wow look at those choices.... Pedja Stojakovic looks pretty tempting though. He's tall and if he would not mind being third option and playing for cheap he looks like he'd be a good addition. I doubt we'll get him for cheap though.
