Paul shirley?!!!! This one kills, that guy is a bad mouth sisi, CD would not be that dumb to do that.
Hey what's the deal with M. Lampe. I know he is PF build and didnt get any minutes last year? Is he still on roster? was he on summer team? I understand the "win now" strategy does not mean developing players, but if he already on the team, we there is nothing great to pick up as a FA, why not give him a chance and push him a bit (I'm sure JVG knows how to push a player).
I have a question about what the rockets really offered MJ. If it has been answered already in this mammoth thread, I apologize. but my question is, did the rockets offer him 3 years, 3 years with an option for a fourth, or four years? I understand that we did not give him the trade clause. Was the trade clause the only demand that we did not meet, or did we try to shortchange him on the years as well?
LOL!!!! Gundy and CD say they have to be smart about spending money. So they trade away Mike James in lastyear of contract for an overpaid Rafer Alston with several years left on his contract. Not to even mention that Alston cannot handle close game pressure. Sweet! Next year they want James back knowing they fu**ed up but they refuse to add 1 extra year on a MLE contract!!! Despite knowing that Mike James is exactly the kind of player Rockets need to spread the floor for Tmac and Yao. Good one CD/Gundy combo!!! They get Stromile Swift but Gundy decides to ride him on the bench despite Juwan Howard giving them practically noting from that spot. Why? Because of JVG's man-love for Juwan. Not only does he NOT develop or even try to develope Swift, he reduces his trade value to nothing!! So next year he trades Swift and #8 pick for who?!?! A roleplayer who has reached his ceiling?!?! The couldnt get anything better from elsewhere huh?!? And who did they make the trade with? Jerry West!! Suck on it JVG fans. I told ya. As long as JVG is running this ship, Yao/Tmac combo is being wasted. Enjoy another year of garbage offense. JVG fans deserve it.
oh and I also want to add..... After what JVG and CD have done so far, dont count on the FAs to come sign with Houston. Houston used to be a attractive place but not anymore. Not after coming to realize that JVG will force you to play his ugly ball and backstab you when given a chance. Mike james played JVG/CD and I dont blame him one bit.
What does that have to do with anything? First of all, neither of those guys relies on athleticism to be effective. Secondly, we only signed Mutumbo for $2m to be a backup player and we didn't give him a long term deal. Third, Howard was a throw-in to get McGrady. We didn't go out and sign him as a FA. He was part of the cost to acquire McGrady.
Bowen signed with the Rockets on 9/29/04, almost a full year earlier than Padgett left (9/8/05). They both played here in '04, so how did we get rid of Padgett for Bowen?
Well, either you're mistaken about that or James is telling two different stories. Here's what he told the Chronicle: James said "a mid-level is a bad deal." he said not getting the trade kicker was a deal breaker. "I had to have two things; only one team gave them to me," said James, who also was courted by the Dallas Mavericks. "Everyone gave me the same amount of money. I specifically asked for a player option on my third year and a trade kicker, and (the Rockets) said no. I had to have those two things. After what they put me through, I couldn't sign with them without those things." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4041053.html Seems pretty clear that he had to have both, not just the option.
But it is no where near as complicated as BYC deals. All you have to is be within 10% + 100K (basically use the 25% + 100K - that allocated for the 15% trade kicker). The old rule was 15% and lot of deals we made. The flexibility we would have given up would have been minimal. It looks like a "priniciple" thing and not a pragmatic thing, and it cost us BY FAR the MLE level player who would help us the most the next few years. Where was the principle of the matter when we courted Swift heavily last year only to ship him off to the team who screwed him in the 1st place. Pragmatics matter and you have to look at it case by case, and James case was different (not a lot of money relative to production, and a miracle he entertained us at all, see details below). We utterly dropped the ball and CD's distress pretty much shows it. (Though it may have been Les that made CD feel sick) Agreed, they appear visionless when the decisions are looked at so far this offseason. Don't misunderstand me, I preferred Mike James. I just think Fred Jones is the next best option, though it is trickier business as an RFA (more risk to taking a worse LT contract). He is probably worth the TE and a future #1 if that could land him in a S&T. IMO we need an athlete who an effective perimeter player on both ends and who is reasonably efficient offensively--Jones seems like the best option. He also is a long (wingspan) and built 6'2", he plays much bigger than most 6'2" players and can guard most SGs. 42%, 35% & 82% for his career isn't shabby (and a 1.16PPS is better than any Rocket perimeter player last year including Tmac), and he shoud get better looks with us.
Here we go with this revisionist history. Please tell me again about our illustrious history of signing free agents. Help me remember who those guys were? We traded for James and then later dealt him. So what? How's that any different than us trading for Roy Rogers (06/09/98 ) and then turning around and trading him for Pippen (01/21/99 ) five months later? We signed Swift as a FA and then dealt him after the season. Does that Rockets signing Mark Bryant as a FA on 9/28/95 and then turning around and dealing him to Phoenix on 8/19/96 sound vaguely familiar? Rudy does it and it's no big deal, it's just business, but if JVG does it then he's a backstabber. Nice logic.
Yes it isn't as difficult as BYC deals. In fact one could almost say it's like a mini-BYC..oh, wait I already did say that earlier in this thread. In a big portion of the deals that get made with trade kickers involved, the player is waiving a portion of the kicker to make the deal work. Basically w/ the trade kicker, you lose about 3/4 of the margin that you have for matching. If you end up trying to trade a backup PG in his mid-30's who is making around $7M, that could severely limit your options for getting rid of him.
As a Rockets fan, I'm not sure if I'm more unhappy with the Minnesota Timberwolves or with Carol Dawson. Let me explain. I'm so very happy with Minnesota!!! They screwed us out of both Brandon Roy and Randy Foye on draft night with their little pitter pat with Portland just ahead of us. Then to top it off they gave Mike James a no trade clause so they got him too. Remind me to send Kevin McHale a Rockets Red Christmas card. I hope we kick their butts 4 times a year for about 10 years in a row. Well there isn't anything we can do about what Minnesota did to us on draft night, but as to Carol Dawson this is yet another reason to hate the draft night panic button he hit so hard. Why did we fork over the #8 pick without insisting on getting the #24 from Memphis in return. At # 24 we could have taken any of the following available guards for a relatively cheap contract: Kyle Lowry; Shannon Brown; Jordan Farmar; Maurice Ager; Mardy Collins; James White.....the list goes on. C.D. you are a true genius!!! Please feel free to fall on the sword ala Charlie Casserly any day now (you do not need to wait a year).
The only difference is that Dallas didn't desperately need him in their back court as they already have Devin Harris, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse and Maurice Ager. Can you say the same about the Rockets salaried backcourt at present with only Rafer Alston and Luther Head. Oh I forgot we can resign Charlie Ward.
Man, you people need to think outside the box. Why get Mike James when we should go for Lebron James? Mike scored, what, 20.0ppg? Lebron scored 30.0ppg. I looked it up. Seriously. Lebron was the first player taken in the draft in 2003. He is taller and he also can block more shots than Mike James. So why not sign Lebron James for the mid-exception and put him as our point guard? ... And while we're at it, let's bring back Wilt Chamberlain from the dead and have him backup Yao. We will a championship this way. I promise.
Okay, in all seriousness, we're screwed. Let's pray that Luther Head averages 25 ppg and 8 dimes next year. Yeah, that's it. Plan B. Luther Head is plan B.
