At first when I hear about this deal, I thought it was too good to be true. Then, I started to believe that it was for real. Now, after reading the clutchcity article, I guess the trade talks turned out to be real after all. I'm sure everyone's for the trade. We get Kendall Gill(he's got good offense, great defense, and can start on just about any team in this league) and we lose Walt Williams(in the biggest shooting slump of his career) and TMass(good player but injured too much). I hope Rudy jumps on the deal. Now, if we end up getting Gill, how will he fit into our offense? Will he mess up our chemistry? What about Cuttino's minutes? Will he start? There are a ton of other questions also, but there are a lot of positives as well. Gill will give us some offense that we've been missing for a while now. Gill and Shandon will combine to be an awesome defensive duo. Plus many more. If we the deal works out and we get Kendall Gill, how will everything work out? Any speculations?
That is what Im thinking about. If this deal happens. Someone will have to play less. I know it wont be mobley, but it is going to be between anderson and gill.
I think it's gonna have to be Mobley. Rudy says that Shandon's natural position is the 3-spot, so I think Rudy might finally want to make the move for Shandon. So, it will be Gill and Mobley rotating minutes at the 2-guard. Actually, now that I think about it, Gill will just take most of Shandon's minutes at the 2-guard. Shandon and Carlos will play the 3-spot. I'D LIKE TO SEE SHANDON AND GILL ON THE FLOOR AT THE SAME TIME. MAN THEY'D CAUSE SOME HAVOC.
There wouldn't be any chancge with our current rotations. The line-up would just shift a bit but that's it. SF-S.Anderson\M.Bullard SG-K.Gill\C.Mobley That would be it. BUT I hope this trade leads to the signing of Sam Mack.
No kidding, that would then solidify our SF position with Mack backing up Shandon. That mean we would probably select Kenyon Martin in the lottery. Say we finally get the deal with Mack figured out and we get the deal done with Gill, this is want our roster could look like... C-Hakeem/Cato/Hamilton PF-Martin/Rogers/Thomas SF-Shandon/Mack SG-Gill/Mobley PG-Francis/Drew A pretty solid team. Other than inexperience, I don't see any weaknesses.
The Gill deal is a bad idea. He's another short swing man when we already have too many. He's listed at 6'5" which would make him yet another undersized Rocket at SF. Likewise, Anderson is too small for the position. Rudy T may have said he was a natural 3 but he's still starting at the 2 (with 1 exception) -- no doubt because of his height. Gill is a good player, but we need frontcourt players, not more backcourt players.
Gill is a great all around player now that he's a little older and more mature, but here are my likes and dislikes about this situation. 1)DISLIKE: Gill is a native of Chicago and the Bulls have a lot Free agent power next year. He may pack his bags and go. Ron Artest is coming along nicely at SG and that fact alone makes me feel a little better about the Chicago thing. Gill likes his minutes (forced a trade once because of lack of guaranteed playing time). In chicago, he may not get the PT and so he may decide to stay with Houston. Artest is a key in all of this. 2 ) I LIKE the fact that Gill lead the Fighting Illini to the 1989 Final Four. This has always been a sign of leadership in the NBA. If you can make it in college as a leader, you can usually make it in the NBA as a leader to. THe Rockets have no veteran leaders other than O. 3) I DISLIKE that he and Seattle coach George Karl clashed and that Gill wanted a guarantee as to how many minutes he would play during the season. Karl wanted to use both Gary Payton and Nate McMillan in a backcourt that would fill out the holes in one's head with the bumps in another's. Gill was pissed. In houston, what would we do with Mobley and Gill. Mobley will want major minutes alongside Gill. Major problem based on Gill's history. 4)I LIKE the fact that Kendall blew up in 1996-97, finally accepting his role as an undersized small forward and leading the Nets in scoring...As just one cog in the Nets' newly high powered offensive machine for the 1997-98 season, he sacrificed his scoring average and all around statistics for the betterment of team play. Nice, but he still wanted his minutes. I DISLIKE that he took a step back in 1999. The Nets were terrible again, and the league realized that he was undersized at small forward. Uh oh. He's been figured out. That scares me. The only saving grace is that he adapted and became an average perimeter shooter and a great defender. So he's still pretty damn good. Adaptation will be important with such a young rockets team. The ultimate question if you ask me, is can Gill adapt to a young team that wants to run and distribute its minutes at SG? Or does he want to get major PT. And does he want to stay?
PhiSlamma you are missing the whole point of this trade. It doesnt matter if he wants to come back and sign a new contract for next year. What it does do, is get rid of Walt Williams and Massenburgs contracts. Therefore allowing us more salary cap room for next year to sign some good FA's. I would love to get rid of Walt and his contract I don't know about you? ------------------ Stevie Wonder says "they call him FRANCHISE because his dunks are for sale at an arena near you."
Gill hates playing at the 3 spot, so maybe this year he might bite his tongue and play minimal minutes, but for the money he will want he will also want the PT, also no one will give him the money for playing minimal minutes.
If you look at the trade from that perspective, then yes, it only helps the rockets. However, I don't think it's wise (for A team trying to develop chemistry) to make a trade knowing that you are looking to dump that player at the end of the year. Especially when it's a starter. It would hurt the team more than it would help. I think if you trade for Gill, then you are thinking long term and nothing else. I know that your vision of this trade makes some sense in terms of financial flexibility, but I don't think it makes sense from the team perspective. Rudy doesn't seem like the type to make that kind of trade. That's just a feeling.
It wouldn't hurt team chemistry at all. Walt has been pulled out of the line-up with his poor play and TMass has been on the injured list all year. I think if we play our cards right, we should be right around .500 play next year.
oops, submitted too early... Well anyways, if we trade TMass and Walt Williams for Gill and then we draft a great SF in the lottery we would be solid.
Getting rid of TMass's and Williams Contracts collectively would not free up enough room to allow Houston to grab any decent FA. Much less FA's. Right now the the both of them would collectively clear up roughly 6 million. Right now the Rox stand at 41.5 million. You can figure next years cap to be at 37 or 38 million. Lets say 37.5. Leaving the Rox with 2 million left. And you have to figure with that 2 million they'd have to get a big man to replace the loss of Barkley and Tmass. It doesnt come cheaper for as much production (when he's not injured) than TMass.
TDS99, I thought you gave up trying to set people straight in regards to the Rockets and the salary cap. Keep up the good work!!!!! A Laughing Mango
Starting lineup right now: pg - francis sg - anderson sf - bullard pf - rogers c - thamm I really do not like Matt Bullard. He flourishes under the DIT offense, and maybe when Hakeem comes back, we can give him more minutes. But right now, he is useless. With Gill here, we could move Shandon to the 3 spot. Even though Shandon is a bit undersized, I don't care. He is a lot better than Matt Bullard. And when Dream comes back, we will be really good cause we don't have to start THamm. I think THamm's got potential, but he will only begin to realize it next year I think. He is way too out of shape right now. As the season goes on, he will get into better shape, and then in the off season, I believe THamm will lose even more weight. It seems that THamm's got a good work ethic, so I have no doubt that he will be in better shape next year. He could be like oliver Miller but bigger. Even though big Oliver is out of shape, he is still very effective. Right now, THamm is a liablity for the Rockets because he can't dribble, travels too much, too slow, no good defense(especially in transition). Man I can't wait till Hakeem returns. You don't need playing time to get into shape; just work out by yourself.
alaskansnowman, When Dream returns, the Rockets will have gone about 2 months playing a different style than the postup game of Dream and CB4. They have started doing some penetration-dish plays and a 2 man game with Rogers and Francis. Dream might be able to have a shooting touch from working out by himself, but fitting in with this new style will take some time and only if Dream decides to adapt Mango.
Hey Mango, I agree with you. But Hakeem has indicated that he is willing to accept a lesser role on this team. There was an article in the Chronicle about him a few days ago. In it, he said some things that really made me feel that he was willing to change his game. And also, how is Thamm accustomed to our style of offense? In your reply, it seemed like you were saying Hakeem's return wouldn't be that good cause he has to adjust his game. Well, as far as I've seen, it doesn't really seem like THamm has done any adjusting to his game(if he had any in the first place). So, in essence, having Hakeem out there would be like having THamm out there but better. Since Hakeem seems like he will accept the lesser role, he can just becoome a sort of opportunity player like Hamm is. Of course, you got to give it to him occasionally in the post, like in the 4th quarter when our young people screw up. But I think we will see a lot less touches for Hakeem. hopefully. peace out.
alaskansnowman, Nothing personal against Dream, but he has played a postup game for years and it will be very hard for him to change in spite of his intention to do so. Since Hamilton has never been "The Man" as Dream used to be, Thomas starts with a clean slate in regards to the Rockets system. Old habits will be extremely difficult for Dream to break. Mango
