How about he wants to play for a contender that's not quite there yet so he can be another athletic scorer that puts them over the top...and he can't get the money he wants from the other contenders...so we work a trade...for the one team that had interest in Jho...we package Battier and Wells....solid replacements for VC plus Sura's contract...Wells can pan out or come off the books next year...Battier will be their glue guy...They get a pf who will not be a headcase... we get VC and Moore...am I thrilled...I don't know...I've said this before but I've always felt like SF and VC would play for us...I am sure this could happen if we wanted it too...VC and Tmac have said on multible occations that they wonder what if's??? Tmac had matured and VC is back to top form...they are both entering their prime years...Yao as a third SCORER...that's offense...defense...ehh..that's why we need JVG to stay....or bring in Elie who will kick the Rockets in the Ass...this teams needs a good kick in the ass!!! Yao/ Jake Hayes/Moore Tmac/Snyder Carter/Head Francis/Alston draft a PF and use MLE on Wallace...who plays 3-4 positions and can be our do everything 6th man... -V
My A list targets are Mo Williams, Nocioni, and Barnes. A- list Pietrus and Walton. Both Mo Williams and Barnes are URFA. Mo Williams can get more than the MLE with Milwalkee, but then he would have to stay in Milwalkee. It may very well be like the Swift and James situations where he picks among MLE suiters. We went 1/2 in those, so I don't think it is an incredible longshot or anothing. I don't think Barnes will get more than the MLE, and I'd much rather have him than Hill or Posey or Mo Pete. I think Nocioni and Pietrus are also reasonable possibilities, despite being RFA. Chicago is loaded with younger and higher upside forwards. I don't think they will want to committ to long term money to Nocioni unless they make a trade. Perhaps we could get close to an offer sheet and then work a deal (give up our #1)--I am sure they would rather do a deal with us than an EC team. I also am not sure how much interest Pietrus has for GS given their salary situation and their loads of swingmen. IMO they will only sign him or Barnes. Nellie seems to like Barnes better, but Barnes is unrestricted--thus either should be in play. Luke Walton wouldn't be bad. He isn't as athletic as they rest, but he has developed a 3 shot and an all around smart game. He would be a good set up man around Tmac and Yao--we need playmakers. Him or Battier would also really work on getting ready to play more PF minutes (Walton is reasonably strong in the lower body)--that is one way to provide better team length and athleticsm (at least compared to when Howard mans the 4). Chuck Hayes will also be resigned relatively cheaply to provide the stronger defensive alternative when necc. [quote/] Melvin Ely is the guy I'd chase the hardest (though there is a real danger of his being Stromile Swift 2), along with Jarvis Hayes (Battier-esque intangibles), Mo Pete, or one of the PGs (Blake may command an unrealistic salary). Evan[/QUOTE] Ely can't even get PT over scrubs like Elson and Oberto. No interest at all. Unfortunately I don't see any athletic 4/5 type worth checking out. Mo Pete (or Posey) is OK, but Barnes or Pietrus as well as longer shots like Mo W and Nocioni seem far better. Mason and Outlaw can't hit 3s, major, major drawback. If Mo W is not in the picture Blake or Diener or Smush or Hart would be OK with the LLE but they are secondary. We need to add a better starter with the MLE, we can't continue with 2 offensively weak starters in Alston AND Hayes. I am OK with one starter of this sort as long as we move the other to the bench, and provide help to the other (competition and a proven vet behind Alston).
Thanks. Finally an answer from someone who understands the game. The modern Game. The same game that has long since passes JVG by!!
Stevenson turned down a $10M 3 year extension from the Magic and opted for a lesser 1 yrs deal with the Wiz. I think he wanted a full MLE or thereabouts deal. A team might give that to him this season, but that'd be a bad move for the Rockets at that price.
That's just not realistic at all. It'd be wrong of him to sign for that level of money with any other team other than the Magic. Anyway, there's a good chance he'll retire. No point in playing on if it effects quality of life afterwards. After making all that money in the NBA, he'd want to be comfortable, not in pain and in a wheelchair.
I know he's not a free agent, but he's in the last year of his contract. Ricky Davis. I know he's never met a shot he didn't like, but he can score and would be good off the bench given the green light. He's still relatively young and athletic. He can swing between the 2 and 3.
Yeah but teams will still have to devote so much time and effort into stopping him....Besides Tmac and Carter...highlights waiting to happen...it will happen a couple times a game and we will go WOW!!!then Francis in for a few buckets and Alston contributing solid....either can start depending on matchups...they will get equal burn.... Wallace will be our glue guy off the bench...he will be our stopper and our energy off the bench...Wallace probably would not come here...but would Lewis come sign a one year rental for the full MLE like Bonzi did (accept he only got some of it) with the option of getting a bigger deal another team next year and a chance for the championship this year...haha yeah righ...how do you get to have so many players with that caliber??? well you don't have a bench...and you have solid contributers in Deke and Hayes playing for nothing and Vspan, Head, Snyder playing for what amounts to as rookie contracts in each case...case in point the Suns have 3 players maxed...and two players in Bell and Thomas with contracts like Sura and Howard respectively...next year Barbosa and Diaw make 8 and 9 million respectively...those 7 players alone push the 70 mil no bench consider Pike makes 1.5 (but Jones and Banks make 4 and 5 mil a piece)....this is considering Rose being a goner...that's some serious money invested in basically a starting line up with two guys...like the Rockets this year but the rockets spread the investment out but still only used 7 guys....we just need to reallocate our assets into those solid players...then we could use a coach like JVG....if Les wants to be a winner then we have to put out that much...Spurs are lucky they drafted well so they aren't so bad off...but even they will be at 65 mil w/ only 11 guys... 6 of which are scrubs...and key guys like Bowen are getting very old...Finley is a FA.... Dallas is 92 million so you have to pay to have talent...GS also is 70 something next year...why can't we do the same...don't tell me Les won't...if he was pissed we lost he knows we need more firepower...we trade and use the MLE to get a key guy for a rental with the option of extended the contract later...We'll go all offensive players...JVG will make the defensive players...4 guards and Yao....each guard averages plus 5-6 rpg for their career...hmmm...who cares if there isn't enough balls...these guys only want to win if in fact they sign here...Tmac won't have to go off for weeks for us to compete....Carter and Lewis can take turns carrying the load... Yao/Jake Lewis/Hayes Carter/Snyder Tmac/Head Francis/Alston Rockets...a high scoring team!!?? So you give them a JVG-like coach who will depend on their offensive superiority to win... Cap break down Yao 12 mil Tmac 19 mil Carter 15 mil Lewis 6 mil Francis 2 mil (vet's min) Jake 2 mil Hayes 2 mil Head 1 mil Snyder 2 mil V span 2 mil Novak 1 mil Moore 3 mil puts us right at about 70 mil...with more guys than the Suns roster has or the Spurs...say the Spurs add Finely back than this is comparable... so when looking at the cap we look limited...but if we consider Les is willing to open to checkbook... and stockpile talent and increase pay later (if we resign lewis to a Manu-like contract...thats 10 a year and puts us at 74 mil in 09) then maybe this can happen...NOTE this is the possibility of urgency...foresight...persistance...determination...and a little bit of luck and a lot of ppls. skill (hey Carter...it's me Tmac....hey Lewis...come back to Texas!!!)....an screw the "not enough balls to go around" idea...Look at the Warriors and Goldenstate...even Utah with multible guys scorer near 20 Yao 22 11 Lewis 17 7 Tmac 20 6 Carter 21 5 Francis 15 5 95 plus 12 points from offensive juggernauts like Hayes off the bench...nobody gets upset...different guys go off depending on matchups...107ppg...Houston Rockets! an offensive team that plays JVG defense... -V
This is a pipedream, plain and simple. It's nice to look at but it isn't realistic and why would you even want it? You can't have five starters who all think they're stars, they won't mesh. The Mavericks tried that years ago when they played Dirk, Nash, Finley, Antwan Jamison, and Antoine Walker all starters minutes. What happened, they traded Jamison and Walker the next year because it didn't work.
They made it past the first round with the crazy line up...they had Walker starting instead of Jamison....they were able to trade the stockpile of talent to get the team that went to the finals last year... sure it's a pipedream...but aiming big is the way to go....you'll be suprised at how circumstance change just by proposing the opportunity....barter....people skills....there is so much to business if you want to go down into it...trading assets and stockpiling assets is doable... can we attain a superstar line up????I don't know....will it work??? better than this team did???why not get the perfect teammates that will mesh and have great chemistry??? sure, solve that one and I have a few more questions about investment options I'd like to bounce off you.... Look...it's going to be a long summer...dreaming is what we got....but determination lulls unsuspectiing fruition to even the most impossible endeavors....we don't brush it off...Dallas that year is still an upgrade over what we accomplished....and the Suns do have a good player at every position... how is this for long shot? Sura, Snyder and Vspan (plus pick) for Artest? They save 5 mil now and get Snyder and Vspan...solid young prospects...plus a pick...not so crazy considering circumstance....why do it...why not...wiegh your options...don't get bogged down by the company line telling you over and over again"we don't have much to work with"...so what...so guys like you won't get dissapointed when something like this doesn't happen...so management doesn't look so bad when they don't do something like this....well they just have to try...because in business...it can happen... -V
Well...most likely you do as well...I mean modern science proves that our brain works as a network and that mermory relies on the formation of millions of neurons...as oppose to some organized filing system previously deemed the correct brain function...rationality is all in the process and the delivery...our thoughts our rather all over the place (see Weatherman montage of getting the mayo) besides...this typing is unique...gives a casual pause as if reading a conversation between fans.... However, if you need me to write it out for you so that it is easy to understand, than here you go, monsieur PeteTheCheat. While I am rather fond of the elipsis, I shall opt for the "usual" use of comma's and periods; I might use a semicolon. In that non-sensical splurge bluh blah blah, was a rather interesting idea. I myself can't understand it, but am sure you're one for counting holidays eh Mister Pete. Terribly exciting...and awfully delighting...I am trying to convey a sense of urgency that the Rockets management needs to feel...we need more firepower and we need to capitalize on anything we have....we need to use our assets to their full pontential..."no duh" you say...well let's hope so... -V
Actually Vivid, they did not make it past the first round that year. They lost in the first round to the Sacramento Kings in five games. Nice try though. You would want Artest? Have you not paid attention to his past? He's a nut job! If we thought Bonzi was crazy, Artest will triple what Bonzi did. His stat line looks nice, but he's very inconsistent from night to night and you never know when he's going to explode and get suspended or get arrested.
Actually we've tried both ways and I'd argue that the Swift way has helped the most so far. 2005: I may have this confused, but I think we split the MLE on Sura and Ward. Sura = injury forced retirement. Ward = retired. 2006: Full MLE on Swift. Swift didn't work out in a year that was otherwise also completely horrible for the team. But he still helped land Shane Battier, who is either (1) the glue that keeps the current team together, or (2) the only tradeable asset on our team that could net us something better than himself 2007: Split MLE on V-Span, Bonzi. Bonzi = never played, his fault, coaches fault, whatever...waste of money. V-Span = never played, same story. I'm not saying you can't get helped by splitting the MLE. In 2005 Sura was obviously key. And the Bonzi signing did and still does sound great. But at that level a player you get what you get. What we need is to add quality, long-term depth. Mo Williams would be perfect. I'd throw the whole MLE at him and show up at his door the second FA starts. It's been mentioned already, but the kid is young, a legitimate 3rd scorer, a playmaker, AND allows you to move Alston, who, for all his faults, is on a decent contract and a tradeable asset, especially to a team in need of a PG like LA, Atlanta, Memphis (post Chucky), etc. And to top it all off, even if it doesn't work out great, you've still got a better tradeable asset. Proof. Look at Mike James. This is the exact scenario with him. Minnesota probably isn't too happy right now. But a number of people on this board are in favor of re-aquiring him, and I'd imagine so are a few GM's across the NBA. It's almost as if by default because of the contract size when you spend the full MLE on someone, even if they underperform (or in James case, severly underperform), they are at that salary level where they may still be coveted, and in exchange for a decent asset. Point is: Choose a target for the FULL MLE. Do your best to get him.
after reading your post a second time I have to apologize for the non-sensical comment as you had some interesting ideas and there and at times poetic..the occassional use of the "enter" key is something my eyes would still dearly appreciate though I think 90% of this board wouldn't be opposed to the idea of a roster laden with superstars. a line-up of francis, mac, battier, lewis and yao makes my mouth water. sign-up rick adelman and lets get this show on the road! but unfortunately I don't think a top tier superstar of rashard's caliber is in our realm of possibility. dallas accomplished their feat by stockpiling large contracts, allowing them to match dollars and have little drop off in the talent exchanged... howard, head, vspan and sura as our best bargaining chip for lewis just doesn't seem to have the firepower to get that deal done for me... we can still dream though, right?
Jamal Magloire. Get that guy with the MLE. That would solve our problems at PF. If Steve Francis is available get him instead and get Jamal Sampson cheap at less than $1 million. That would solve our PG and PF issues. But we need a SCORER in the draft.
Would a crazy Artest that plays some games be better than nothing???They would be getting rid of him for this reason...the same reason why it would be a risk on our part...yeah there are tons of examples of headcases that hurt teams...but for greatness...sometimes you need one of those headcases to compete (see Detriot and Wallace)....I was incorrect in stating that the 2004 Dallas team got out of the first round...of course they got beat by the Kings... however the effort (or the nice try) wasn't in the facts...it was in the idea... to acquire valuable parts (though not neccesary) for future gain...you don't invest in a company or resource because you get something out of it then...you invest because you hope to get something out of it later...hoping is not good enough for you??? well going through a season w/o Tmac's back hurting requires not hard evidense but desperate hope...same with Yao's legs...hope is what we attribute to that which we can not control... here's to hoping that the Rockets front office understand the weaknesses and deficiencies in this team...greatness takes risk... you embody the company line you start to settle for mediocrity...I don't just want to get out of the first round...I'm forced to go through another year knowing this team failed at that...again...nice try indeed sccdct...for our sake...let's hope the rockets have better luck trying than I did. -V
You should watch more euro ball Euroleague semifinal between PAO and Tau, Pao held Tau who had the best offense in the Euroleague to 53 points and its star Luis Scola to 4 (fouled him out as well) by using what was for the most part 4 guards (Siskauskas, Becirovic, Dimantidis, Vujanic) and a PF (Mike batiste)
