Per a cursory glance, the Rockets don't have anyone on contract next year beside Yao, Deke, Juwan, Stro, Bowen (player's option), Rafer, Sura, & Head. Assuming Bowen picks up his option and Sura comes back healthy, that's only 8 players. I, for one, would not be opposed to just dumping our old players in favor of rookies/undrafted rookies. Like some of the other posters mentioned, the Rockets have a lot of holes/needs that need to be filled. And given that this is a 'shallow' draft, I feel like a lot of teams [and BBS posters] have given up on the available talent, even though these very players [including down to #62] could easily be better options on our team than our current benchwarmers [and, at times, starters]. Obviously, Yao & Deke fill the 5 slot, TMac fills the 3 slot, Rafer fills the 1, and Head fills the 1/2. I have serious doubts about Sura the drinking playboy coming back ever. And I think, since it's impossible to find anyone willing to take Juwan's albatross contract, we should give him maybe a 1- or 2-year extension, and then restructure [i.e. SPREAD OUT] the money on his contract so that it's more reasonable year-by-year, and also more tradeable [a la Shaq]. he would agree to it if we told him we needed to the money to attract FAs, and also b/c it would give him 2 more year of job security/guaranteed money. Stro, even though he could make a pretty capable backup 5, unfortunately holds too much value as trade bait, and will never get smarter. All other things being equal, it's easier to accumulate talent via the draft vs FAgency b/c, with FAgency, every player comes with a price up-front, and those prices can be ratcheted up using game theory and bluffing and talking-up by agents. We were very lucky in getting Stro's services at such a reasonable price. It's not likely to happen again. Even decent players or role players come at high prices nowadays. But draft picks, especially 2nd rounders, can be had for very little value, like cash considerations, future considerations, future 2nd rounder, etc. Before drafts and FAgency, here's what I expect :: 1 - Rafer, Sura [otherwise get a medical exception on BS and save his roster spot] 2 - Head 3 - TMac 4 - Stro, Juwan, Bowen 5 - Yao, Deke if we get the medical exception on Sura, and move Head to the 1 like we've been grooming him, we have 2 PGs, and no SG. it looks like Bowen will take his option, and no one will take Juwan. so now we need to fill in the rest of our spots with either FAs or Draft Picks. John Lucas III and Rubber Chucky Hayes are FAs that will come cheap. they will not break the bank; they will just be happy they're getting a call. Spanoulis, however, will cut into our MLE. Jon Barry is retired, DWesley is old, and Bogans might go for greener pastures elsewhere. I say we shop Stro for a 1st and 2nd rounder. if we move Bowen to the 3, and resign Bogans, we now have :: 1 - Rafer, JL3, 2 - Bogans, Head 3 - TMac, Bowen 4 - Hayes, Juwan 5 - Yao, Deke PLUS: our #8, #32, plus the 1st Rounder and 2nd Rounder from trading Stro. that's 14 players. if we leave off Lampe, DWes, Barry, Brunson, and Frahm, we still have one more roster spot to spare. If we get any 4 of: Roy, Reddick, Gansey, Pittsnogle, Shelden Williams, Carney, Hassan Adams, Taquan Dean, Craig Smith, Novak, Bobby Jones, Maurice Ager, Millsap, Denham Brown, or Rashad Anderson; - we will have a strong nucleus of smart, talented, athletic youth that can grow around our current stock of players, and even replace them. It's easier to infuse our team with talented players via the draft than it is via FAgency. That being said, we still have that $5 million MLE we can use. We could either spend it on V-Span, or split it up b/w him and someone else. I just think that, based on the response I've gotten to inquiries on the BBS, it is my understanding that there's no limit to our number of rookie contracts, but there is a limit to the amount of money we can devote to FAs. If every one of the rookie contracts averages out to Luther Head's contract, that's still 5 serviceable years at a total under $8 million, averaging $1.6 million/year. that is far more efficient and reasonable than dumping $5 million on a journeyman. i'd like for us to build a young team out of draft picks, not unlike the Celtics, who have so much youth it's effing crazy - orien greene, ryan gomes, kendrick perkins, tony allen, delonte west, gerald green, al jefferson. [they had marcus banks, too, but he was part of the Davis|Blount-Szczerbiak|Kandi deal, i think]. with all of that youth, it's so much easier to fill holes, and it's just overall more flexible, IMHO. i say we go draft-crazy. make it happen, Morey.
i think you're right. now that you say that, i definitely remember something about lampe. i just checked on HoopsHype and didn't see anything, so i forgot. thanks.
DJ Naztorious, I enjoyed your post and liked some of your ideas, but about this... I'm pretty certain NBA contracts cannot be restructured. Isn't that something done in football? I've never heard of it being done in the NBA and I'm about 99% certain it can't be done. I'll be 100% certain if AElliot, NikeStrad or Gater back me up on it.
It looks like Maurice Ager's stock has slipped a bit. NBAdraft.net and Draftexpress both have him being one of the last two picks in the first round which certainly puts him within range. He's a remarkable athlete with pretty solid all-around game. He would be a decent pickup.
hey, jmwilliamson, you're totally right. i was referring to the whole Shaq thing with Miami a couple years ago [http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache...0+million+opted+out&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1] and didn't remember what the proper wording was. essentially, instead of signing a new extension onto the last, $30.6 million year of his contract, he opted out of the contract, and signed a brand new, 5 year $100 million contract. in our case, juwan currently has a 2 year contract, with a player's option on a 3rd year. the 3 year contract totals up to $20,651,400, or averaging around $6,883,800 (~$7 million) a year for 3 years. if he were to opt out of that deal and sign a new, reasonable deal (something to the tune of 5 years, $25 million), it could give us some flexibility, give him some extra guaranteed money and job security, and make him easier to trade. this begs the following question. since his salary for next year is over $6.5 million, if he were to opt out of it for us to give him this new deal, at the moment he opts out, the Rockets go below the salary cap; sure, it sounds like we're playing the system, but would that give us more to work with than just the MLE, since that's the ONLY Free Agent signing option afforded to teams over the cap?
He is basically Mobley in every facet of the game and I would definitely snatch him up if he fell into the 2nd round. However, I think he'll go top 20. No way he ends up where we draft.
Maurice Ager hands down is the guy to pick out of that selection. Fantastic off the dribble, attacks the hoop, nice jumper and can leap out of the building. Good skills on both O and D. But I bet JVG wouldn't mind taking a shot on Pittsnoggle, but I don't know how good he is defensively since W. Virginia were always in that 1-3-1. But a big man that can shoot, with a little mean streak...you never know.
when juwan has his "option" it will be the last year of the deal, so why would the rockets extend him another five years if he opts out? that's crazy, you let him go if he wants to opt out.
it was 'crazy' when fat shaq did it, too. the point isn't that juwan will want to opt out - it's that we get his services, but for much cheaper. to make it worth his while, we give a couple more years of job security and a couple more mill so that it's not simply spreading 2 years' pay over, e.g., 5 years. it worthed with full-of-himself shaq - it could surely work here with Juwan.
how about one more down: Matt Haryasz at #52 6'10" 230lbs PF Stanford NBA Comparison: Cliff Robinson "...Can face the basket and hit shots out to 15-18 feet with consistency.." "... Freakishly long wingspan gives him a big advantage on shot blocks and rebounds..." yes, i left out some of the unsavory bits
sorry for the extra post - i can't edit, and i hate making typos. it *worked with full-of-himself shaq - it could surely work here with Juwan.
I kinda like some of the less-touted power forwards available... Nick Fazekas, Matt Haryasz... ...and how about Justin Williams? Over FIVE blocks per game!? He could be our Adonal Foyle coming off the bench! Okay, maybe not, but I can dream.
