No obvious answers to the Rockets backup PG woes from the upcoming draft and or free agency. It looks like another season of Rafer madness ahead. With that in mind would anti-Mike James posters still be against the idea of acquiring him for next sesaon? <TABLE border="0"> <TR><TH><B>PG</B><TD>Rafer<TD>MJ*<TD>KB <TR><TH><B>SG</B><TD>Mac<TD>Synder<TD>Kapono/Matt Carroll** <TR><TH><B>SF</B><TD>Battier<TD>Jeffries*<TD>??? <TR><TH><B>PF</B><TD>Lee*<TD>Hayes<TD>Novak <TR><TH><B>C</B><TD>Yao<TD>Jake/Deke </TABLE> + Drafted Rookie *via Trade **via Free Agency Sura+Lucas for Mike James Without having to add salary the T-Wolves are likley to be over the Luxury Tax Threshold next season. Their team salary will be over $69 million. A potential trade package of Sura (partially guaranteed contract) and Lucas for should get them under the LT threshold. The package deal alone saves them around $1.1M then from Sura they waive and save a further $2.8M. JHo+Head for David Lee & Jared Jeffries Knicks need shooting to create spacing for Curry. Head will bring that. Why else would they give up Lee? Rockets take on Jeffries long contract who's been an ordinary signing for them. Anyway overall the Rockets are giving up more talent. Houston Trade Breakdown Outgoing Juwan Howard, 6-9 PF from Michigan 10.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.8 apg in 27.6 minutes Luther Head, 6-3 PG from Illinois 11.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.4 apg in 28.0 minutes Change in team outlook: -5.6 ppg, +5.3 rpg, and -1.5 apg. New York Trade Breakdown Outgoing Jared Jeffries, 6-11 SF from Indiana 4.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.9 apg in 21.6 minutes David Lee, 6-9 SF from Florida 11.2 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.8 apg in 30.9 minutes Change in team outlook: +5.6 ppg, -5.3 rpg, and +1.5 apg. Free Agency Go after Kapono or Matt Carroll to replace Head's 3P shooting. Remaing Roster Spot/15th Man Perhaps a player via a S&T involving Jake or Deke or simply another free agent.
...Boo to adding a proven team cancer to the Rockets roster, especially since we're already going nuts over an unproven one (Rafer screams, he must hate the team!) .
Juwan isn't going to be traded unless he just ****s up for the rest of the year. He's one of JVGs favorite players. So unless we got a favorable deal out of this, I dont think its going to happen. Plus, I dont see Head being traded either. He's pretty much our best spot up shooter, and he's the only one that can run that play where he passes it to Yao then cuts to the baseline and scores. I would do Sura and Lucas for Mike James all day though, but would Minnisota? You would think they would try to get more for him.
Why the hell we need a shoot first PG (not to mention proven cancer) on this team...You guys seriously undervalue Alston on this board, especially Clutch. 1 star, stupid thread
I have no problem for Mike James. But Knicks can't be that stupid to trade Lee for JHO. No way Knicks will do that. Lee will become their star. The young man has very very bright future. I will not be surprised that one day Lee becomes an AllStar. And even right now, I don't think JHO is better than Lee. Why the heck Knicks give up him for JHO?
I agree that Mike James is not the solution to our pg woes. But Rafer will become a postseason liability, I just know it. The question is, who is out their via draft or free agency that can suplant Rafer as the starting pg. I can't think of too many affordable defensive minded pg's who can shoot. Maybe a guy like Derek FIsher, but he is too old and NOT a starter at this point in his career
I agree with you about Head!! with Yao in the lineup head is going to get better! head was the one who got hurt the most when Yao left!
No matter how good Rafer plays it's not going to solve the Rockets lack of depth at the one guard. Also each year JVG complains about the lack of offense from the bench. The microwave ain't working in Minny but maybe he can reinvent himself as Spackle and fill those needs. Curry is their Allstar. If they can get players who'll help improve Curry they'll do it I think. Anyway if you read my original post it's not a JHO for Lee trade.
They're not giving up Lee for Luther, especially since Lee (high energy, great rebounder etc.) fits so well with Curry (low energy, bad rebounder etc.). The Knicks also have plenty of players to space the court for Curry; Q.Rich, Franchise, Starbury, Jamal...etc.
If we're not gonna stick with Alston next year I want CD and Morey to make a play for Billups...I'f we'll stay pat at the PG position I want us to get Damon Stoudamire, ATkins or Duhon for our backup....We need to get someone to replace Bonzi. He'll not be back for sure.....For the PF upgrade, Frye seems to be attainable especially with the emergence of Lee and Balkman......Mark it down guys, IF the Rox would not be able to go past the 1st round of the playoffs, expect us to have a new coach next season..bye JVG!
no way the knicks are trading lee, at least not in that deal. other than that, i'd love to get mike james back. seems to me that the rockets had to have offered at least lucas and sura in a deal before the deadline. only way that works in the summer is if minnesota realizes they're not getting anything better, which is probably what the case will be.
For me it really depends on how Luther Head does for the rest of the season. Mike James would play the role that I think the Rockets are hoping Luther to play: someone who can play backup PG with enough of a shooting touch to play the backup SG spot as well. Having a reliable backup would help reduce Alston's minutes to an effective level. If Luther can develop the ballhandling skills to play the PG position, then we have less of a need for Mike James. But this has so far been a big 'if.' If not, I would be for bringing in Mike James for a second tour. I'd also then want the Rockets to consider shipping out Head for a larger shooting guard who can fill in at small forward, or maybe give more minutes to Snyder. It's all up to what Head can do the rest of this season.
You're right, it hasn't looked pretty, but I'm not sure the Rockets are ready to give up on Head as backup PG just yet. I think Head will get a few more chances during the rest of the season to develop some handles. And after Yao gets back, I think we'll see more of the Head-McGrady backcourt with T-Mac as the primary ball handler instead of Head. Nevertheless, Head has to learn new tricks or he'll be relegated to a one-trick pony, and Mike James will be brought in.
None of them are in the same league as Head as far as 3P shooting goes. Luther's 8th overall in 3P% this season while the closest Knick is Q-Rich at 43rd. Jeffries is another bad contract the Knicks need to dump. I think that's been overlooked in this thread so far.
I was just looking at what's out there. T-Wolves will be in a financial situation that makes this trade very possible.
I don't understand why people think mike James wouldn't fit with our team. That is like the only time our offense looked strong when we acquired him. This team is too depended on 2 just player to do it all. As long as we have t Mac on our team we shouldn't worry about mike James being a shoot first point guard Mac could bring the ball up the court if that's what everybody is worried about. Does anybody else notice we don't have anybody else who is explosive on offense besides Yao and Mac, but me?
We will revisit this many times. Especially at the end of the season. It remains to be seen how the Rockets do in the playoffs and how our PG situation will play out. BUT, if the PG situation stays the same then we still need a backup (or starting) PG for this team. If nothing else than to reduce Rafer's minutes which makes him more effictive. Mike James is proven in this system. And the Wolves will inevitably blow up their team this offseason. I absolutely could see the Rockets move Sura+JL3 for James. It makes sense for both parties. And look at James right now in Minnesota? File a missing persons report, please. The guy is getting no minutes now and even T-Hud is in the rotation. They clearly wanted to move him and yet didnt. His value will only get lower as the offseason gets here and the Rockets should jump at the chance to buy low for a guy that is proven in our system. You want to match up with Dallas/Phoenix, then we need guys like James on the perimeter. This then allows the Rockets to use their MLE for another piece. And I don't think Bonzi will be back. So perhaps the MLE would be used on another shooting swingman with length like Morris Peterson or someone like that. Or we could look to use it for a PF like Joe Smith or PJ Brown. Both can hit the 15ft jump shot and can play defense. Also they would give us a 4/5 option, especially PJ Brown. P.S. The Knicks are NOT going to trade David Lee. He is about as untouchable on that team as it gets for that roster. So forget those trades. Also, forget about any Restricted FAs like Varejo or Nocioni. Their teams would match any MLE offer we could give. Next year's team could look like this. (I have James coming off the bench as I feel his productivity is better suited for this role). PG: Alston / James / Spanoulis SG: T-Mac / Head SF: Battier / Snyder PF: {PJ Brown/Joe Smith} / Howard / Hayes / Novak C:Yao / Deke + our 1st round draft pick or PG: Alston / James / Spanoulis SG: T-Mac / Head SF: Battier / {Peterson} / Snyder PF: Hayes / Howard / Novak C:Yao / Deke + our 1st round draft pick If I was the Rockets I would also look at Mo Williams as a potential PG solution (although Atlanta could be suitor for him and has more than MLE to spend). But ideally if we could address our PG situaiton with a Sura+JL3 trade then that would free up the MLE money to use somewhere else instead of PG.
