I think the Rockets should spend their midlevel excpetion for a veteran Center,who plays D and rebounds well.Here are some interesting Free Agents: -Zendon Hamilton Not really a vet,but had a nice season at Denver 15.7 mpg;6.0 ppg;4.7 reb;0.3 bpg -Scott Williams Veteran who won championships with Chicago,could be also a nice addition 18.0 mpg;4.9 ppg;5.1 reb;0.8 bpg -Isaac Austin Another vet 14.6 mpg;3.6 ppg;3.4 reb;0.2 bpg -Jerome James Ok,no vet,but nice player 16.9 mpg;5.3 ppg;4.1 reb;1.6 bpg -Corie Blount: 19.8 mpg;3.6 ppg;5.1 reb;0.4 bpg -John Wallace No Center 10.7 mpg;5.0 ppg;1.9 reb;0.2 bpg Others: Charles Oakley Wang Zhizhi Malik Rose Jelani McCoy
most of those guys are stiffs, and not worthy of a roster spot!!! ...or is that just Ike Austin i would rather offer the entire exception to lewis... he will face the same reality check in the "new, salary cap concious" NBA that mason did. the sonics will offer a decent contract, but not the max... there already commited long term to vin baker his wounded pride will take him back to his hometown for the most they can (realisticly) offer... given that our 3 is now taken care off, lets win the lotto and get a center (either draft or trade, i don't care)
Rashard Lewis? Middle Class Exception? Please....He won't play for anything less than 9M, and that's why I dread having him on this team, unless we can unload Rice or Mo T. I'd rather give that money to someone who has a higher ceiling.. (Guess who) Right now, I think Oakley is a nice option. He'll keep Cato pumped up, while teaching Francis and Cat some maturity and leadership. Only one year though. After that, Oakley only does damage. I think we can easily make it through the season with a C rotation like this: Cato/Oakley/Griff/MoT I'd like to see Mo T and Griff become more accustomed to an inside game. Oakley will do that. I think Oak would accept 1 year @ 2.8M or so. That leaves us $2M to pursue anyone else, if we need. Please, no major retooling this summer. Get rid of Rice and KT, or MO T and KT for whatever fills out the roster. I hope our team looks like this: Cato/Oakley/Griff MoT/Griff Odom/T-Mo/Griff Cat/Torres Francis/Mooch
harumph why would Rashard sign for Houston's MCE this year when he didn't do it two summers ago when his value was less? Lewis' Player Option is for $4.9m. Can't imagine he'd settle for less. german rocketfan the trick is to discover the next Ben Wallace before the rest of the league does. Rose and Zhi Zhi probably will not leave their teams (not sure I'd want them if they did). With the expection of Rose and Zhi Zhi, almost everyone else you have listed appears to have reached their peak. The one player you have listed that still has some upside is Jerome James. He supposedly has a strong work ethic...unfortunately that was also said about Marc Jackson.
When you lose 100lbs, trust me, that's work ethic. Never heard about MJaxx's work ethic, but James will come to work every night, every game, every minute. How old is James? If he's 24 or 25, I'd say he's the perfect player to pickup with the MCE, yes, even the full MCE.
Sane James was born on 11/17/75 so he will turn 27 near the start of the 2002-2003 season. Given the lack of "full-sized" centers these days, some team will likley give him the full MCE or less $ but a shot at starting (perhaps Miami if Zo retires).
Gater & Sane... it is at this time of the year i like to look at the rockets prospects for the next season thru rose colored glasses There was (meant to be) a healthy amount of sarcasm in the post. The facts are that the man wants money, like twice what we're paying cato money (towards end of contract)! After the mistake of baker, the sonics might think twice about that. Talking about your "new" contract mid-series before your team is eliminated from the playoffs is also considered bad form. If they go max he ain't leaving. I think they'll make a good offer, but below the max, which in todays ego driven nba will be taken as a slap in the face. His ego will demand satisfaction. His home team "grovelling" for him to play with them after being overlooked, while being offered all they can, might just do the trick. Teams are more frugile now; less completely insane. Offer him a 7 year deal, player option after 3 (new cba due then i think), team buyout for year 7, starting at 4.5mil, 10% increase pa (max allowed), total contract is valued at $40mil, load it up with "unexpected" bonus clauses (eg. $1m bonus per round of playoffs we make. make the finals, pocket extra $4m, plus playoff share...not sure if that's a valid/legal bonus) which we actually expect to achieve. will count against the cap after the event, not before for signing people. Do i expect this to happen.. yes... just after we "swap" (can't call it a trade) shaq for cato As i said, rose colored glasses In all seriousness though, if we offered him a package around the mo/dickerson/j will amount, he'll prob jump ship. While i would like the ROX to sign him for the entire MLE, i do not expect it to happen... he's watched "Wall Street" too many times
I am so tired of hearing about how a particular veteran player can offer maturity and leadership and teach others around him to do the same! Just because a player has been in the league for 10+ years does not make him a "teacher" of leadership and maturity or someone other players should emulate. And, signing players because of this quality is a big gamble. There are very few in this league that offer "leadership" and maturity training! We assume too much in most cases. Charles Oakley is not going to teach players on this team how to be leaders and about maturity. What Charles Oakley will teach is how to put someone on their #ss when they come into the lane, but do not expect more than that. And, quite frankly, I guess some could consider this maturity. So, while I see Oak as a viable "enforcer" option on this team, do not try to pimp him as a leader who will teach others. He is an enforcer and can teach this tactic and give this team some on-the-court teeth, but Oak is not about teaching leadership....
Nice idea with Nailon.I like him and he could be a nice addition to the team.But I want to TRADE for a center.Perhaps we can trade this one:Sign-n-trade with the Clippers.Trade Cato/Thomas/#5 and get Olowokandi/#8.Then use the midlevel exception on Nailon.Send our #15 to Memphis.Draft Marcus with the #8.New Rotatin should be this: C-Olowokandi-Marcus-Griffin F-Taylor-Griffin-Nailon F-Rice-Nailon-Griffin G-Mobley-Norris-Rice G-Francis-Norris-Brown We would also have Torres,Morris,2nd Rounder
Montgo, I have been at my job for over ten years. And I just know more than I did after two years. I don't know that I am any smarter, or do a better job, but I definately have more perspective. I try to help outthe new gus with my experience. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Oak knows more about the league, fans, coaches, players, referees and fines than any of our young bucks. I doubt he knows any more than Willis though.
ooooo! My 100th post and I wasted it babbling about myself. Sorry guys, I had hoped for something dramatic, but I tripped over my experience.
Be realistic, none of the aforementioned scrubs will make any difference, save for a soon to be grotesquely overpaid Rashard.
Personally, I think the only player available that will propel us to 50 wins, is Lamar Odom. Oakley knows everything Willis knows, and more. Look at how Eddy Curry started using his size to score. Sure, Cartwright is responsile, but so is Oakley. If you lived in the building attached to where Gandhi used to give speeches, just listening from far, wouldn't teach you anything? LOL, Gandi doesn't that Oakley's physical skills LOL, but you get the idea... Oakley can't play much, and we're stacked at PF. We might as well give time to Oak, Griff and Mo to play backup C. I'd rather see them playing than SF. We need them in the paint more often.
