Link: http://www.ecola.com/go/?f=&r=ny&u=www.nypostonline.com Question, how can deal materialize as early as today, must be contingent on Rockets conducting a "physical" on Rice's foot?
I may be loosing my mind, but...I think Rice actually makes some sense for this team (Assuming there is a deal in place that sends Walt to the Wizards for White) My major concern, though, is stunting the growth of Griffin. If this team is ever going to contend for a title then Eddie needs major playing time to develop. If this trade goes down, does Eddie go to the bench? If not, would we be trading for a $10 million bench player If someone could put my mind at ease about Griffin's role, I would be a lot more comfortable with this.
If this trade goes down, it a) makes Walt, Bull, etc. more expendable because we can't afford to match Bulls offer b) means the Walt for Jahadi White trade is probably even more likely c) means Griffen will get plenty of playing time backing up the three and the four and takes some of the pressure of him to contribute right away I think we end up with the following 2 deep after all is said and done PG Francis/Norris SG Mobley/Langhi SF Rice/Griffin PF Taylor/Thomas C White/Cato also Morris and Bullard/Colsen to round out roster Francis and Mobley can play PG or SG. Langhi can play SG, SF, Taylor, Thomas, Morris and Griffen all can play SF, PF, C possibly depending on matchups and Cato can play PF or C if he plays. Tons of flexibilty to exploit matchups depending on the opponent and situation. Rice, White, Norris become probably the only three that stick to one position. And I don't see any of them playing over 30 minutes a game. Since Rice is getting old, that actually helps his game stay a higher level. That's my take on all this mess.
Hey everyone... nice scoop Fredterp... thanks for the link. I am praying that this deal is not done yet, that either we can get something more out of the Knicks or we end up trashing the whole idea alltogether. I don't understand why we would could lock up a good small-forward (yes, he's a bit undersized) for about $5 million/year yet instead we want to trade him for a guy that in his 3rd year will make over 10 million?!?!? I thought we had cap issues. Not only that, but the $5 million Anderson has 10 times the defensive capabilities that Rice does... AND WE NEED DEFENSE NOT MORE OFFENSE. To answer the questions about Eddie's role... I think that the Rockets want to bring him off the bench for about 2 years at SF and PF and find what position really suits him. They don't want to overload him with pressure, but rather bring him along slowly while still allowing him to contribute. I see him playing maybe 25 minutes a game off the bench and averaging good 6th man numbers (12 pts, 7 rebs, 1.5 bpg). I hope this deal is used to get a Center... but somehow I doubt it. The teams that have enough centers to throw one away on Rice want to keep the overload of centers they have... and can you blame them? If we had 3 legit big men, I'd be the happiest fan alive... Who knows... maybe this will be the Rocket's finest hour? but it could just be us landing Rice
I agree with most of your take Eric, except I think you underestimate Rice's defense (or overestimate Shandons D). I actually started watching Knicks basketball this last season about the time of the Rice trade and when he was actually utilized Rice stepped up big. Offensively AND Defensively. There were a few games where Camby and Rice were really the only two players on the floor that mattered. Im only for Rice if we can get a good rebounding/defensive Center ( J.White ) somewhere in the process. As long as Rice knows his role (second or third fiddle), I'm cool with it. His ego is also a concern.
Anderson is a post-up forward who can run the floor Do the Post writers even wath basketball? I don't think there are any forwards in the league that Shandon could post up.
The Warriors' part of this supposed four-team trade doesn't work capwise at all. Adonal Foyle is a BYC player with a trade value of $3.3M. Ward has a trade-kicker bonus that hikes his salary up over $6M. The only way to make it work is to "throw in" Larry Hughes or Jason Richardson.
