does anyone think that rudy is playing most of these players for trade bait? if so who? i have a feeling that jones is getting to show his skill to be traded.. and maybe oscar torres as well. and if we get jax i think cato is on his way out with maybe walt. seems like he just wants them to play show boat them and then trade a boat load for one or two...
I doubt it. The rockets wouldn't be able to trade anyone just signed until later in the season. The roster will be tight with mostly backups and projects. Thge exception would be players like KT and Walt that have been here.
I think the objective of the preseason is to play as many different combinations as possible so that you can get a good feel for how your team will work together as a whole and to evaluate individual players. Do not look too deep into who is playing or who is getting the most shots. What matters is game one and beyond.
I agree with Boom on this...the only guy that is maybe being "showcased" is Walt. However, if he is as close to Stevie as it appears...I wouldnt expect him to go anywhere.
With a lack of big men / rebounders, the Rockets have too many "small forwards". Granted that Glen Rice is not 100% come the regular season, Walt Williams ought to start. But having Dan Langhi and Terence Morris just on the bench will not help the Rockets. They ought to be traded. Heck, since the Rockets signed Damon Jones and Moochie Norris, they ought to consider using Cuttino Mobley as trade bait. Yes, trade Mobley, Maurice Taylor, Dan Langhi , and Terence Morris for Antonio Mcdyess.
What are you? A Jazz/Spurs/Fakers fan??? Trade Mobes? No way..Mcdyess is good , no denying that...but trade half of the best guard duo in the league plus my man Lanky? NO thanks..Ill take my chances with who we have. Besdies, I think NugzFan would have something to say about that
Um yeah and could you throw in our other rookie that would be great. . . . . right...... lets get real here the contracts dont even match up and then we get an injured guy that we cant use for the first half of the season.
I would take that package deal. We need a big man more than we need a shoot-first SG. Francis would be pissed though. As a team, the Rockets would be better off with McDyess than with Mobley.
First all, why would we trade someone that we just signed to a long-term deal like Mo? I know he's hurt, but still I don't think that Rudy and Cd would trade him after signing him to 6 years. Also, the Rockets went to great lengths to get Morris--it wouldn't make sense to trade him, either. Mobley is one of our best players, but to get a good player like McDyess, you do have to give up something good in return. However, trading Taylor and Morris is ludicrous in my mind. The most ludicrous thing though is what you said in another thread (maybe it was about McDyess in the NBA Dish forum), saying that Damon Jones and Torres could fill in for Mobley??!! ROTFLMFAO!!
Ack. Cuttino Mobley is so underappreciated. Yes, I'm being repititive, but I'm going to keep being repititive until the underappreciation stops. Oh, and whatever you were on when you proposed that, stop, because it can't be good for you.
I just cannot understand why you folks are so restless and itchy. You never seem comfortable and as a result you feel a deal has to be made all the time. Injuries and depth have no meaning to you. There were so many changes this off season, why don't we just consolidate our gains and use our depth to become a consistent performer for the season. By consistency, I means, the team perormance not dipping because somebody gets injured. Walt Williams have played well and all of a sudden he is being showcased. Bull. Walt came into camp fitter and with the understanding that minutes are going to be tight and he needs to get his act together. I mean he is earning big money. Also if Micheal, Patrick et al are resistent to leave and want to be on the court, it should not be a surprise to anyone that Williams want to the on the court and tangibly contribute. Luckily, Rice has been injured and that has given Walt the opportunity to demonstrate he can be depended on more than ever. One cannot say that Rice will be available all year long. In addition, when he does get fit, I would not play him more that 28 minutes during the regular season. You can only afford to do that if you have serious depth. In addition, the intent is clear and it has been demonstrated in the camp and preseason so far. The team is going to run and play aggressive man defense. To do that seriously and effectively, you will need at least a ten man rotation. We have the horses to have a very potent ten man rotation. But we also need to have some spares available to keep the rotation intact for the whole season. So I am saying then it would be nice to have 14 quality players available to do that. We have that right now as I will show below; however, I also do not believe that we will get to improve our overrated weaknesses. Low post scoring and rebounding are our so called weakness which could be improved with a trade. Jax and Griffin has not played yet. So we are talking about sacrificing our depth to at best, marginal improve those areas. No justification for that. Also by now Les and CD should be tired of making deals. Do not forget Walt in a FA at the end of this season, so he going nowhere. The ten-man rotation: Cato, Jax, Thomas, Griffin Rice, Langhi Francis, Moochie Mobley, Williams The spares: Collier Taylor - IR Morris Jones Torres We cannot be more set at 1,2 and 3. The front court is not as settled, but not because we do have what it take. We just need to see what we have. Cato is healthy and appear to be a good proposition for 25 minutes based on play to date. Collier making his way back could start living up to original expectations for which we would want to give him 10 -15 min. Girffin given rebounding and shot blocking should lay claims to 25 mins; and the experience, motivation and skill level of Jackson would justify at least 25 mins. Without counting Thomas, at least 85 mins of the 96 mins at 4 and 5 are accounted for. That is why I have said elsewhere that Thomas should be squeezed out of the 4 and have him put in a ten mins at the 3. With his slim down body he should have a better competitive advantage at the 3. There may be times when it makes sense to use him instead of Langhi, for instance. So folks lay off the trade talk and lets go with what we have. Can we match up with the Lakers and Spurs? We will have problems with the towers and Shaq, but they will have problems with us too.
It is too early for bait. Until Rice has played some consistant minutes, we need to keep Walt. Rudy has said Ed G is more of a 4 possible 5 and it doesn't appear as though Dan or T Mo have emerged yet, as the backup 3, let alone starting. (Even though it could happen later this year, it does not seem imminent.) Walt is the only known commodity at the 3, and is 3 years younger than Rice. We have alot of bodies at Small Forward, but more questions than answers. I wouldn't be surprised if Dan was the odd man out.
I think the HOuston fans (some of them) are the only ones who do not realize what we have in Cuttino. While the Rockets have quite a bit to fear when they meet up with certain oppositions, the opposition also has something to fear, one of the best guard tandems in the league. Maybe we have too much time to disect and pick apart each player so much that we begin to second guess and underestimate their abilities. I think the majority of teams would love to have Cuttino on their team. He is a great offensive threat and plays with ten thousand times more passion than any current Astro player. This guy is the real deal and we should be glad he's a Rocket. Otherwise, we might be talking about how Cuttino always comes to Houston (in someone else's uniform) and torches the Rockets for 40+ points. BTW, watching Cuttino play makes me think that he's got a lot of 'fan' in him. His reactions are just like mine when things are going bad and when things are good, he's hopping around the floor just like I do. I like him and hope he becomes a Houston staple, along with Stevie and Eddie.
Walt will not be traded this year! His contract expires after this year at 5 million dollars. That 5 million can be very helpful in the offseason. You can find good player at 5 mill a year . Look Calvin "the third ugliest man in the nba" Booth make a cool 4.5 million. We could find a person like PJ Brown who I think contract is up after the season. T -Morris was picked in the second round and we traded a future first for him he will be here at least three to four just to see how he pan out. This group will be retain at least for this season and next year barring any injury like Mo t. We have starters and backup at each position. Peace
DearRock,You have made good points in your post.Walt Williams can certainly benefit from Rice's absence by getting more shots,but we are unlucky that Rice is injured.
I think Walt played that position last year and should play there this year once Rice is back. It is not that he cannot play the 3, it is just that we really should be getting Langhi and Morris some time and the 3 is a better position for them and I believe they are better rebounders than Williams. Although, Torres is not your typical rookie, I believe that he could wait a while before he starts getting time at the 2.
A. Mcdyess would fit perfictly with this team. He owns a home in Houston and wanted to play here but we picked Pippen. He would add the D, rebounding, and lowpost threat we need. His athletism and his lake of needing the ball complement the strengths of this team. Denver doesn't have a chance reupping his conract when he becomes a free agent. We don't need to get any younger we need talent that can help now. Throw in a package of draft picks with Taylor, Langi, and Thomas or Williams. I know Taylor and Mcdyess are hurt but it should bring their value down. Mcdyess would put us into a continder catogorey. It would also make us impossible to guard us. Amagine the starting five: C Cato PF Mcdyess SF Rice SG Mobley PG Francis also a good bench: Jackson, Collior Griffin Morris Jones, Torres Norris
