Calvin was preventing an LA riots type reaction. If I wasn't lazy, i would've flipped the first moped I saw. We would've gone detroit on some suckas.
Who knows what Gay brings? The fact that he dropped is questionable. But players have dropped before. The fact that he was still a top 8 pick means he should be able to bring something. Look, Shane Battier was the 6th pick in what was universally regarded as one of the worst drafts in a long long time - 2001. He has underperformed even that selection. So why would we trade a current 8th selection for that. Well, maybe you say with Battier you know what you're getting. True, but considering what we definitely gave up (Stromile) and what we potentially gave up (Gay), the trade was very lopsided. In regards to needs, Gay helps because of a few things. First, athleticism. We needed it, he certainly has it. Second, versatility AND depth. He could potentially grow into a good player at the 2,3 or 4 positions - meaning one player is adding significant depth, even if coming off the bench in year one. Third, offensively. I don't think he'd give you much more than Shane Battier next year, but then, I don't think the Rockets are on the cusp of winning the championship next year either. Fourth, size. Gay is taller and longer than Battier. Fifth, defense. Battier is good apparently, but Gay has all the tools to be, too. Getting rid of Howard would be unbelievable. However, you'd have to still check the salary cap to see where we sat. By rule, you have to take back, essentially, the same amount you are taking in. UNLESS a trade exception is involved - which we could use on our end to acquire a player and MORE salary. So, unless we traded Howard for someone else's TE, cap space would be more or less the same this offseason. What's more, we may actually still be over the cap if you just eliminated Howard's salary - that's how much T-Mac and Yao make combined. What does this mean? It further reiterates the point that, on a 2 max player team, in order to get not just role players, but good to potential all-star caliber role players, you have to take advantage of drafting. Or you have to be very very crafty. This I do agree with. By all accounts, Battier should be a decent player here, and one who can up his scoring average. I'm not oppossed to looking for and finding the light at the end of the tunnel. Just pointing out that not only is it a bad deal, it potentially may not even be the right direction. Also, it's not Howard in the deal...otherwise they would have said so.
HOW THE HELL IS TRACY GOING TO MAKE 27 MILLION. thats almost the payroll of the bobcats and the highest paid players in the league are shaq and C-Web making 20 and 19 million respectively. Tracy only gets 15 mil a year u moron
OK, but how is this going the wrong direction? We now have 2 players who can play 2-4 (Tmac and Battier), are roughly the same age and can be used to spread the floor for Yao who is about the same age. He can defend most 2-4's in the league... and which extends Mcgrady's season. Our roster certainly looks better now than it did last year. I still think we got ripped off from a value standpoint and won't argue that with anyone... because here's the key... people who say if Gay is a bust... it was a good deal are wrong. On his potential alone we should have gotten WAY more for him. Its that simple. As far as being more athletic, I don't think that was our problem. Our problem was that outside of Yao... we were pretty small and unathletic without Tmac on the floor last year. You bring battier into the mix and we slide Tmac to the 2. Our guards just got alot more athletic and bigger. No longer are big twos a problem for us. Here are the things I think we improved from last year so far. 1. We can now field 3 35%+ 3pt shooters at one time (Tmac/battier/head) 2. We now have one of the best 2 guards in the league (tmac) 3. Tmac doesn't have to guard the opponents best guy between 6'4-7'0 all game long. 4. Our perimeter defense just got better because our best defender not named Tmac is now 6'9 instead of 6'4/6'5. 5. We got younger. 6. We have a guy who plays tough and plays significant minutes. 7. We have a guy who plays tough and plays significan minutes (figured that was worth 7 and 8). 8. We don't have a need to try to coax charlie ward back to play for us because we have a ton of guys who can play the 1/2/3. 9. When we look at the 4 now we don't have to try to find our 3rd scorer... we need a guy who can rebound and pass and play some d (scoring is a nice bonus). 10. Spoon/wesley/baker/ward are no longer taking up 22+million of our cap number. So tell me now that the trade is done... how are we headed in the wrong direction? Mike
I was wrong... another BBS dude already pointed it out to me... with respect... But I'm not the moron... Just because you don't like the trade doesn't mean you can go around disrespecting other dudes... If I'm such a moron...PM me and we can meet up at a bar (Stack's if you want) or something and talk Rockets, hell, the first beer is on me, and if you "bowl" that's on me too, but don't disrespect me... and check your salaries (I checked mine after it got pointed out)... he will make more than 15 million a year for the next few years... go look it up... 2006/07 $16,901,500 2007/08 $19,014,187 2008/09 $21,126,874 2009/10 $23,239,561
Any real opinion? Any reason for saying this, like a real opinion on the situation? Was it a good deal and we're headed in the right direction? What effect do you think it will have on the team?Or is it better to keep your mouth shut and appear a than open it and remove all doubt..... Mike
