I'm not starting a new thread, but here goes a better trade: Mike James + Shane Battier + Bob Sura for AK47 The dude says he wants out of Utah The trade works in RealGM's Trade Checker Utah gets: Let's face it, they could have gotten more, but AK demanded a trade, so his value went down. With this trade, they do at least get some value, not dead weight and/or problem players. a small forward who brings a much needed outside shooting touch to Utah who can defend and work hard in Sloan's system and is perfectly happy to defer to Williams, Boozer and Okur. A combo guard who can start next to Williams like Fisher used to and make three point shots. He can then back up Williams when he goes out. James isn't the ideal SG, but Utah is woefully thin at this position and all there SGs are really young and inexperienced (brewer and Almond). Salary Cap relief in Bob Sura Houston Gets: A jack of all trades forward who can run, rebound, defend, drive, block, steal and even step back and drain a few. If Scola is the perfect offensive complement to Yao, Krilenko is the perfect defensive complement to Yao. He's that rebounding shot-blocker we always wanted next to him. I see Krilenko starting at SF and sliding over to PF when Scola goes out and basically splitting time there with Scola (with Hayes as third string, where he probably belongs). AK would also serve as insurance in case Scola or Hayes goes down, he can just start at PF and McGrady could slide down to SF. In fact, Adelman has made noise about playing Wells and McGrady at the same time, now he doesn't have to put Battier out of position to do it. Don't forget that he even played point guard for like a minute in the playoffs. He could conceivably start the offense at the top while Yao and Wells post up, and Francis and McGrady slash to the hoop. Possible Lineups: Francis McGrady AK47 Scola Yao James Wells/ Francis McGrady AK47 Yao Plus, we would have both the MVPs from the Americas Tournament and the Euro tournament on the same team. Pretty cool huh? Cons: Salary cap. Even though it works, we would basically have three max players on the same team for years to come. That ties us down a lot. AK47 is also injury proned, although he has said he's worked with a trainer to make his body more durable, for whatever that's worth.
No way.. our whole strength this year will rely on depth... no way we're doing a 3 for one for a guy who didn't amount to anything last year.
Mike James + Shane Battier + Bob Sura for AK47? No much to say, just say NOOOOOOOOOOO! Battier alone is useful than AK4, not mentioning the money AK4 is making.
what kind of crap did you just smoked? MJ + battier in a trade? WTF. u are a utah fan aren't you? we do not need or want AK's big contract. no way, no how. u are killing rockets' future.
We need to dump some contracts. Landry, Snyder, Alston and Lucas for Kwame Brown and maybe a future 2nd rounder (though its doubtful they throw it in). This helps because we cut our future costs, and Kwame can be decent in 10-15 minutes. Not to mention that if we need to make a deadline blockbuster trade (someone falls into our laps) it doesn't hurt to have an expiring 8M contract.
There has never been any confirmation on Reed being cut. Feigan still refers to him as under contract - there was just that rumor. So as of right now I think Reed is still a Rocket. That being said, I'd never make this trade
Well, I like the idea. MJ and Battier together is a significant cost, but I think people have forgotten what a bad-ass AK is. He wasn't very effective last season because of chemistry problems -- until the last couple of playoff games. If he hadn't found a way to be effective, we would have won. And, of course, if he had been that effective all year, we wouldn't have been seeded ahead of Utah in the first place. Maybe he can be had for less talent, maybe he'd require more, depending on what the situation is for Utah's front office. But, MJ and Battier seem like a reasonable ballpark for an offer and one that would still make the transaction beneficial for the Rockets. MJ is good, but we've got Francis, Alston, and Brooks to fill in. Battier is good, but AK can take his place. He may not be the chemistry guy that Battier is, but he is the better player, and a game-changer on defense. I'd love to have him helping out Yao on defense.
Maybe it's spelled that way to indicate that it would take somebody as dumb as Purpura to conjure forth such garbage.
Thank You, finally a decent response. Btw, I haven't been smoking anything and its bothering me, so no that's not it. Mike James and Battier are both good, but Ak takes Battier's place, and we have a lot of point guards so it's not like giving away James makes us thin at guard. If anything, this trade gives us better balanced depth. Krilenko is much better adept at playing power forward than battier, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch for him to play there than it would Battier. So I don't buy the depth issue. Also, AK is a good team player, he just doesn't like Sloan's system. I think he would thrive with Adelman because he can run, jump, pass, drive and shoot. You never have to call a play for him, he'll just be in the right place at the right time. These are legitimate reasons this trade doesn't work: Salary Cap. Like I mentioned, it would really put a dent in our financial situation. We would have to hope that a core of him, yao, scola, hayes, and mcgrady could last for a few years. This normally would be a deal break for me, but the way Morey has put together this team this summer with no cap room at all really makes me optimistic about his ability to maneuver in tight spaces. Shooting: AK is not nearly the three point shooter Battier is. Lineups with two non-outside shooting threats like francis and wells, or even francis and McGrady would render us pretty weak from the outside. Durability: Has AK really gotten over injury concerns or not? Say what you will about Battier, but he is rarely hurt. I disagree with previous posters. If it wasn't for cap restrictions I would make this trade in a heart beat. Just like Battier, AK brings intangibles, he just brings more of them.
