A couple of things: 1) The Rockets actually did NOT have a high opinion of Bonzi Wells. Morey even said as much in interviews after the season. He said that the team struggled on defense when Bonzi was in the game. Wells gave the Rockets an additional low-post presence but was a sieve on defense (a far cry from his prior reputation as a good defender). I can only assume that such opinions were expressed by Adelman, especially since Morey ended up trading for an old Adelman favorite in Bobby Jackson. 2) For those of you complaining that the Rockets need a big 2/3, the Rockets have done EXACTLY that this summer. First, they drafted a 6-9 SF in Donte Greene to add depth at the wing position (and a possible future starter). Then, they went out and added the 6-7 Brent Barry to backup McGrady at the 2 or to come in for Battier and have T-Mac slide to the 3. The additions of Barry and Greene directly address most peoples' complaints. The Rockets have no need for Bonzi Wells. The team already has post-up options in Yao, Scola and Tracy. If more than one of those players is injured, then having Bonzi Wells wouldn't do the Rockets any good anyway.
Donte can flat out ball. Doresy is gonna be gone. I am in favor of Wells if we can get him cheap...dang, Bonzi really did lose out on a ton of money in Sacremento where it's likely he will never ever be able to recoup.
I doubt Morey gets him since he kinda trashed him saying the team sufferred on defense everytime he stepped on the floor.
One could argue that adding another ball-handler to the team like Bobby Jackson would actually lessen the load on Tracy. When the alternative to Rafer is having Brooks or Head organizing the offense, might that not compel the coaches to keep Tracy on the floor longer as well? I think it's irresponsible for a team to willfully ignore a glaring weakness on the roster (almost no PG depth) in hopes that a player like Bonzi Wells will help carry the team down the road.
To follow up on this, Fran Blinebury wrote in his blog that the coaches were very happy to see Bonzi leave. I'm not the biggest Blinebury fan, but I don't think he'd write that without there being some truth in it.
1) Greene is a "project", as Morey said. Greene wont help the Rockets this season. 2) Look at the depth of 2/3, if one of Barry/Battier/T-Mac gets injured, the Rockets need to go small at 2 for 3 quarters. Barry/Battier/T-Mac are more of 3 than 2. 3) Bonzi's defense is bad but Barry is worser. Bonzi is never a good individual defender. But I think Bonzi protects the defensive board very well. 4) Talking about our 2 stars couldnt stay healthy, Barry is also injury prone. 5) Double insurance with a big 2/3 is a good bet.
Amen. Bonzi screwed the pooch at SAC when he turned down 30+ million dollars. He came here for the minimum after nobody wanted him and promptly quit on the Rox because he was out of shape, couldn't play and was pissed off because he never could get over the fact that he was stupid enough to pass on $30 million. So I have to ask everyone who believes this to be a good idea: if he was unhappy here before making minimum dollars, please explain just why it would be different this go round when he''ll be making (possibly fewer) minimum dollars.
One could argue that trading tracy and shanes only viable backup put pressure on the coach to keep tracy in longer than expected. If the team struggled defensively, wait till Barry show up. Why you think he lived in Pop's doghouse and only played 15-17 mins a night? He's not tough and didn't play defense at a high enough level. Go and just watch the playoffs and you will see that. I'm not saying that Bonzi is the greatest or anything, I'm just saying the trade basically put the pressure on the coach because he had no options for tracy's minutes. Also, it was done as a next year business move, but it stunted the growth of Brooks. It talking out of the side of your neck. It was a business, not basketball move. The 1st words were it gives us flexibility next year. You don't believe me, go archive the press conference.
No thanks. All I needed to finalize what he is now as a player was his horrible playoff showing for the Hornets. Bonzi can be an OK player on a terrible team, but on a good team playing against a good team his flaws as a swingman (slow defensively, no J) are way too big relative to what he gives you. Even after Tmac we have Barry, Head and Jackson who can give you SG minutes. Battier can also play SG. And at SF we have Tmac, SB, Barry + potentially Greene & Novak. And yes I would sign Harris over Bonzi if we needed additional back-up SF help. In short, terrible playoff showing, questionable ethic, and no upside. He is not one to give a roster spot over a Deke, Dorsey or even Harris.
Alright, we're just going to be repeating ourselves at this point. I understand you didn't like the trade. But as much as you'd like to insist on it, there's no evidence that the Rockets considered it strictly a business move. That was surely part of the decision making (it always has to be), but they gave basketball reasons for why they did it, reasons that made good sense and which I came to agree with. Did the move put more pressure on T-Mac? We can only speculate. I don't think the coaches were thrilled with the idea of relying on Bonzi Wells as a sub for T-Mac when he's resting. I think adding more ball-handling and leadership on the court was no less important in relieving pressure off him than Bonzi's shaky post up game would have been.
...How often does Tracy actually post up? I watched almost every game and he only did it like 5 times the entire season (before taking it to the rim I mean, not taking a contested jumper).
We all watched the Utah series, and we all KNOW we can't call Bobby Jackson a "ball-handler." Certainly better than AB and Head at this point, but not a "ball-handler." I don't believe BJax is that much of an upgrade from AB, both struggle on defense and are streaky on offense. I honestly don't see the RA offense flow better with him in the game anyways since he always shoots once he touches the ball.
You're right that we won't see eye to eye and that's cool. I'm just merely stating that after the trade, morey said it was to give the rox flexibility to stay under the LT and a expiring for next year. Those are his words not mine. I seriously doubt Adelman lobbied for Jackson, but I could be wrong. Coaches really don't care about luxury tax and stuff. They just want the best players that give them the best chance to win. Looking at how many minutes Deke played, Adelman didn't think he could effectively relieve Yao. Looking at Tracy's minutes before and after the trade, adelman didn't think he could afford to sit tracy for any extended minutes after the trade. Looking at the playoffs, tracy had to set everyone up and score and play big minutes at the same time. The rox have a 2.5m te to use. Will it be a basketball decision to use it or let it expire or is it a business decision? That is a very usable item when used right, but it will probably just expire. We will see in the future..
That wasn't the only reason given by Morey. I'd like to listen to the press conference again, but I know he cited basketball reasons for the trade at as well. I don't know if Adelman lobbied for the trade, but I do think he appreciated it. We might just be wearing different colored glasses on on that one.
Bonzi's contract was up at the end of the year right? So might as well get somethin for him b4 he walks.
as far as i remember, morey sited 2 main reason of the trade. one is to rid of mike james' contract and getting an expiring in return; two is to better the pg depth. so i think both lee and durvasa are right. also, it was made right before yao went down. so i won't say the move was any indication of quitting the season. no at all. now someone pls enlighten me why, even at the league minimum, do we need to sign bonzi again and use up one more roster spot?
Could we have given him a 1-year $6 million contract, comparable to Bobby Jackson, and then traded him this year?
U right, but we will see about the financial flexibility. We will see if those expirings turn into something or if they just roll off.
