Keith Van Horn. Before I get killed on this message board, hear me out. The Rockets are looking for a PF who can shoot from long range and help with the rebounding load. Van Horn is a proven scorer and can stretch the defense with his three-point shooting. Also, look at his numbers even as recently as 2003-04, before his bloated contract was traded around and he ended up as a bench player on a deep Dallas team with a star PF already in place. Even then, he was averaging over 16 ppg. Plus, he is a pretty good rebounder, especially for a "shooter". Until going to Dallas, he had a career average of about 7.5 rpg, including 8.5 rpg in two of his first three seasons. While I know his defense is pretty weak, we still have Howard and Battier to help out. Of course, Van Horn wouldn't be out there for his defense. His game would help keep defenses honest and open up room for Yao to work down low. He might not be your typical JVG-type player (although he is a former Knick!), but he seems to fit with what are team needs are at the PF position. It appears that Dallas won't be re-signing him, and I think he could come on the cheap. If we can't land Mike James with the MLE, I wouldn't have a problem using it on Van Horn. We could use scorers like him to complement Tracy and Yao. Thoughts?
Not on your Nelly!!! Van Horn is only just a tad better than Stromile Swift, he is in the downward spiral of his basketball career. We have just gone through two years of this, we need a big change!!
while he does fit at the 4 because of his shooting ability, i think we already have shane for that. shane and hayes fill the needs for quick PF's who can play the smaller quicker new breed of PFs. niether are real starting PF's though, and niether can guard the bigger PF's. That's the kind of guy we need.
gimme a defensive minded PF who only needs 8 points a game but can grab 7+ boards and 1.5 blocks. we have enough offense in mac,ming,and shane in our starting 5. novak,luther,and james should provide enough offense off the bench.
He went to Dallas in 04-05. He shot 42% last year, 36% on threes. His per minute rebounding has been in decline for the last three years. The last time he played more than 53 games in a season was 2002-3. He has only played 70 or more games in 4 out of his 9 seasons. He will be turning 31 before the season starts and he is declining fast. No way you can compare him the the player he was in his early years before the injjuries started taking their toll. And you want to give him a multi-year deal starting at 5 mil?
I'm not talking about full, long-term MLE money, just all or a portion of it for 2-3 years. Besides, I realize that he's not where he used to be. Otherwise, he'd be able to command more than the MLE from other teams. I just think this "decline" (which has only been in the past year and a half) might open the door to get him on the cheap. You're right about injuries being a concern, though.
kelvin cato? lol but i wouldnt mind if rockets do pick up cato. he played really well under jvg and he would be the defensive guy alongside yao in the frontcourt just like 3 yrs ago.
When Juwan Howard is no longer on the roster and when we have more SG heigth and athleticism than Bogans, Head and Mike James.
Gag a maggot. Who in their right mind wants Van Horn? We already got a slow stiff at the 4 with a very spotty jumper that can't jump over a piece of paper. Why would we want another one? He'll be lucky to garner a minimum salary deal from Charlotte. Lest you forget, Juwan and Yao on the floor together is TERRIBLE.
I think Van Horn would be a waste of the MLE, we have Battier/Howard/Hayes/Novak all filling in at the 4. Our backcourt needs a lot more help, not to say we are strong at the 4. But we at least have a number of different options depending on matchups. I am really interested to see what Hayes can do given more minutes, the man is a beast on the boards.
Van Horn was nothing short of terrible in the playoffs. He couldn't defend or rebound, and his shot was way off. He's been in a rapid state of decline the last few years.
I will bet you $1000 dollars that shane is not the opening day starting pf! IT just isnt gonna be that way he may fill minutes there but no way in the world he starts! We need to add mj and Drew Gooden as our PF and i will see yall in the WCF!
I live in Dallas.....Keith Van Horn should not be part of an 8-9 man rotation on a team who has championship hopes. It's why he will not be back in Dallas and why the Mavericks are shopping for a legit backup power forward for Dirk.
My money is on no power forward, no small forward . . . just two forwards. We have already seen this with JVG's guard philosphy (doesn't matter if you are a point or a 2 - tmac or yaos gonna get the ball anyway). Two guards, two forwards, and Yao. either of the two gards / tmac can bring the ball up the court and get it down low to Yao. Yao dances around for a while and if he doesn't put the ball up, he kicks it back out to a shooter (one of 3 or 4 players). Depending on the shooter, he takes the three or drives to the basket. Slow and go gundyball. The whole system depends on a 4 that can shoot . . . which spells battier. Rafer distributes to either Yao, Tmac, or MikeJames/head. If Yao gets it, then he can kick it out to tmac, mikejames/head, battier, or back to rafer for a last ditch reset. That's five guys who can pass and four that can get the ball to the bucket. Pretty decent if you ask me. The second string is another matter alltogether.
What about Kurt Thomas??? Good rebounder, decent shotblocker, good defense, enforcer-type, has good range for a PF. He is a gigantic improvement over Juwan Howard. His contract is relatively expensive but it will expire soon. 2006/07 2007/08 $7,355,625 $8,091,187 We will never be under the cap anyway and itll expire soon so its not that big of a problem. Plus i think he can be had for cheap cuz Phoenix's frountcourt seems a little crowded now with the return of Amare Stoudamire. They would have Amare, Kurt, Marion, and Diaw.... One of them have to go and theyre in love with Diaw. Also Kurt has fallen out of favor of Coach D' Antoni(remember in the playoffs after his foot injury he never played much). He is also the type of guy we were looking for someone who could play the 4 and the 5. I think if we give Juwan, (anyone to make salaries match, most likely an expiring contract). Throw in Head or a future first round pick(they need these to save money and for next offseason to sign diaw and other young players.). Make sure it is lottery protected also. The only problem is I dont know if they want to take on Juwans contract.... But Kurt's contract is bigger so they would be getting some salary relief. Then sign mike james and this would leave us with a line-up of: Rafer/Mike James Tracy/Head(if hes not traded) or some scrub like Wesley Battier/Novak Kurt/Hayes Yao/Mutumbo/Kurt Im in love with this line-up lol
