[Fox 26] CD and Lindsey to meet with Mike James Thursday

What is Daniels contract? Is it really that cost prohibitive? It seems to me as though Daniels is the perfect player for Colangelo's system.

 

There's JVG's primary needs and actual primary needs. You may be saying to yourself, why should the fans know any better than JVG. No reason, but Jeff hasn't won anything yet, so I think my opinion is just as valid. And that is that PF is and/or should definitely be a primary need for us. SG first, for sure, but PF second.

The only thing Juwan does like a starting PF is get paid. Don't get me wrong, Juwan off the bench is fine with me, but as a starter? Hey, I guess he improved his block/game average last year, from 0.08 to 0.10

Battier will almost definitely be a 35 mpg guy for us next year. But you have to think most of those minutes come in the "backcourt" (SG or SF), not as a PF. Even with some PF minutes, you are know talking about you're only PF's being Juwan, Battier and Novak.

I'm not saying we need Elton Brand at PF. But we need a PF who is really good at something. Juwan is mediocre at everything. Battier's only advantage at PF is that he really isn't a PF. And Novak could be that guy, but he is a rookie 2nd round draft pick.

I really really hope we sign Mike James back. And I really really hope we do it in a S&T involving our TE. It makes us deeper, it makes our backcourt quicker, better offensively and adds a solid 3rd scorer. And it hopefully leaves the MLE for us to pursue a PF. Wilcox would have been my first choice, but with the Nuggets overpaying and then overpaying some more for Nene, it's hard to see Wilcox coming for the MLE.

 

His salary isn't that bad (around MLE I think), but it's a very long contract. At least as far as I can recall. If Toronto is trying to preserve future cap space, they would probably be hesitant to commit to a player like Daniels. (Although I think Daniels is probably underrated because he sees limited playing time on a very deep Dallas squad.)

 

We definately need to upgrade PF now. Prior to trading Stro, much to the dismay of this board, upgrading PF was not our top priority.

I'm skeptical about bringing Howard off the bench. He has proven to be useless in the past as a backup. So benching Howard essentially means we need to pickup two PF's instead of one. I'd like to see us bring in a young PF that might grow into our starter in 1-2 years. If he can give us 20-25 minutes with good production this season, I'd be happy. I'd LOVE to see us get a solid upgrade to Juwan that can play 35+ MPG. But barring that, if we just get a solid rotational PF w/ upside and leave Howard as our starter, I'm not calling that a disaster.

 

It is a FULL MLE deal for full years. Colangelo will probably sign guys like Eddie House and Rasual Butler for a fraction of the cost and prserve cap space for next year.

 

Rockets best chance of landing a PF would be to try for a threeway in the strongly rumoured Hawks and Pacers S&T involving Harrington.

 

He is a MLE player???!!!???? IMO, Colangelo would be an idiot to pass up Daniels simply to clear cap space. Just like Novak (and JJ Redick) are perfect players for Houston's system, Daniels would be a good player for them for years to come simply at the MLE.

I'm not dismissing Dallas from the Mike James negotiations. It sounds like to me that they have a legit offer.

I've read reports that Dallas is offering the MLE and I think we beat Dallas straight up since James WANTS to play in Houston. But if they offer Daniels, it seems to me that would be enticing for Colangelo and James. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm over valuing Daniels but Daniels seems to be an underrated player that could flourish w/ more PT (althought thats what we said about Stromile).

 

From everything I have read from the Toronto papers, the Raptors dont want to S&T James for Daniels. It's as simple as that.

 

Ok. That's good for us.

 

howbout or trade it with someone who actually fills one of those 2 primary needs

at what? SG, SF, or PF? if SG then when don't need mike james, if PF then we don't need Juwan.. if SF then tmac goes down to SG and we don't need MJ..

maybe what they meant was they cannot get a starting PF from the draft.. do you honestly think that Juwan, Swift, and Hayes can get it done at PF?
why would we need a backup SF if we don't even have a decent PF.. just compare within our division - SA, DAL, NO, MEM - we got the weakest PF.. and you're worried about backup SF?

so all this talk to get MJ just to come off the bench for us?

if you are happy with this lineup then what can I say..

and why would everything hinge on MJ just to come off the bench for us?

 

Mrs. James wants to raise the kids here in Houston where her family is. If he wants to stay married, I think this gets done fairly easily. Of course James agent is doing his due diligence with other offers but James will be wearing rocket red next year. I welcome his fiery personality and competitiveness back to the team that has been sorely missed since he and Sura last played.

 

I find it interesting that Mark Cuban said he's never been able to get a player represented by Bill Duffy in the past. So the odds are against Mavs signing James if both Mavs and Rox offers are the same.

 

Perhaps they're trying to get Dallas to throw in their #1 pick next year, or give up the rights to Maurice Ager.

For those wanting to know Daniel's salary, according to HoopsHype, it's as follows:

06/07 == $5,880,000
07/08 == $6,370,000
08/09 == $6,860,000
09/10 == $7,350,000 with a Team Option

 

We did. Battier starts at SF and Tmac moves to SG. We now have our starting SG.

It's called a rotation. Between Mike James, TMac and Battier, we can have a legit player at both SG and SF at all times.

We had three legit NBA players ...albeit weak players ...but legit nonetheless. We had ZERO...nada...zilch....nothing at SG, backup PG and backup SF prior to the trade. Ideally, did we need to upgrade PF? Yes but we had bigger needs at other positions.

Because we can't keep playing TMac 43 mpg. By not having a backup SF, we are killing our 1st or 2nd best team asset. Is it more important to save TMac's back or is it more important to replace a 14/8 guy at PF? IMO, I'd lean towards saving Tmac.

Maybe. Last season we had zero punch coming off the bench. Rafer coming off the bench gives us nothing. I see MJ playing starters minutes but he isn't necessarily starting. Even as a bench player, I see MJ playing 30+ mpg.

I'm NOT happy with that but the summer is just starting. But this lineup is MUCH better than what we had three weeks ago. And hopefully in another 3 weeks it'll be better still.

Because under any circumstance he still plays big minutes, because he can play close to home and he gets a long term contract. He doesn't start if he goes to Dallas either. He starts if he goes to the Wolves but they only offer MLE $$$ too so does he want to move way up there just to be a starter given that he'd still get starter minutes here?

 

wouldn't of those players be yao?

i remember a story about how donnie was one of the first nba guys to scout yao in china, that yao's first agent was somehow aligned with the mavs. if yao had entered the nba a few years earlier he would've been drafted by dallas but duffy convinced yao to break his deal and sign with him instead which resulted in circumstances that led to yao going to the nba later and later coincided with houston getting the no.1 pick.

 

I have a feeling that one of the bargaining points in the Mike James negotiations will be how he is used. I'm sure he wants to start after a 20 point average season. I think he'd be best at SG, with Alston still at PG, unless we can obtain another PG, such as Duhon. I doubt that Battier starts at the 2. I see him playing big minutes as backup at the 2,3, and 4, and more minutes at the 4 than we think. I believe he'd do better at the 4 than anywhere else, but I'm hoping we get an upgrade at the 4.

 

That is what everybody said about Stromile last year ..."no way he comes here without assurances that he starts"...they said. Stro never started.

I don't think managers or coaches often hand out promises that a player will be a starter. That can blow up in their face in 1000 different ways. If I am a coach, I'd let a player walk before letting them dictate how I do my job. JVG doesn't seem like the kind of guy that lets the players dictate coaching decisions.

 

I like the idea of a James/Alston backcourt. It gives us major quickness and 3 starters that can create their own shots. James' range would help spread the floor, but the problem would again be our size. He's about the same if not shorter than Wesley was and that was a major problem all of last year when it came to gaurding bigger guys.

I still think JVG is primarily going to go with Howard at the 4 Battier 3 McGrady 2. Battiers ability to guard the perimeter would allow JVG to play him against guys like Melo and Pierce and having T-Mac guard their weaker 2 or 3 (I can only see T-Mac gaurd a team's best player when it is the upper echeleon (sp?) NBA players such as Kobe, Lebron, or Wade as their size and quickness might be too much for Battier). When the Rockets play teams who have elite power forawrds then i can see Battier starting at the 4 and bringing James (or whoever) we get into the 2 spot and slide T-Mac back at the 3.

Either way our bench is still pretty weak. The rockets need to add 1 one more role player along with trying to get james and another serviceable big man (Maybe even lonny baxter). If the way we get james is through S&T im hoping we dont give up next years first round pick as from what ive heard and read thats suppose to be one if not THE greatest drafts ever to come out in recent years

 

Yeah, there is no way I want to be a part of that. Daniels is not nearly good enough to warrant us paying out that much for that long.

I have to wonder though, what is our plan B if James goes elsewhere?

 

Just an FYI, here's a list of the top-25 free agents this summer:

Ben Wallace, PF/C, Detroit - SIGNED W/CHICAGO
Jason Terry, PG, Dallas - RE-SIGNED W/DALLAS
Peja Stojakovic, SF, Indiana (Player option) - SIGNED W/NO-OKC
Al Harrington, PF, Atlanta
Mike James, Toronto (Player option)
Chris Wilcox, PF, Seattle (Restricted)
Nene, PF/C, Denver (Restricted) - RE-SIGNED W/DENVER
Drew Gooden, PF, Cleveland (Restricted)
Bonzi Wells, SG/SF, Sacramento
Matt Harpring, SG/SF, Utah - RE-SIGNED W/UTAH
Joel Przybilla, C, Portland
Ronald Murray, Cleveland
Speedy Claxton, PG, New Orleans - SIGNED W/ATL
Vladimir Radmanovic, SF/PF, LA Clippers - SIGNED W/LAL
Jared Jeffries, Washington (Restricted)
James Posey, SG/SF, Miami (Player option)
Nazr Mohammed, C, San Antonio
Reggie Evans, PF, Denver
Keith Van Horn, SF/PF, Dallas
Sam Cassell, PG, LA Clippers RE-SIGNED W/LAC
Alonzo Mourning, Miami
Fred Jones, Indiana (Restricted)
Ruben Patterson, Denver (Player option)
Bobby Jackson, PG/SG, Memphis - SIGNED W/NO-OKC
Francisco Elson, Denver (Restricted)

The best of the rest:

http://probasketball.about.com/od/newsrumorsopinion/a/nbafreeagents06_2.htm