1) We won't be trading McGrady until the trading deadline next year, IMHO, unless someone is dumping big-time due to the economy. You have to let him heal to see whether he comes back or not. Morey values assets. Until McGrady as an asset becomes his most valuable, I doubt he'll get traded. 2) I think we'll sign Artest. He's an asset. 3) IMHO, I think Lowry will become our starting PG, with Brooks coming in for instant offense. For what it would cost us, I doubt we'll be able to improve there. It would cost us too much, and I doubt anyone is going to give up Paul, Williams, or Rose. We might be able to get some older guys, like Nash, Davis, or Miller, but we're probably better off letting Lowry and Brooks develop, instead of giving up the farm for a couple years help. 4) They'll probably be looking for a third star at whatever position, but that will take packaging a bunch of our upcoming talent. Do we want depth or the closer? I think it all depends on McGrady, and whether he recovers. 5) I doubt they'll get Deke to sign for another year, and it looks like Dorsey is a bust ... so, yeah, it sounds like they'll have to address that. But, Adelman seems to like rotating our PFs in at Center, so that might not be that high a priority. There aren't that many real centers in the NBA, anyway. 6) We've actually got a lot of youth who can improve. 7) If McGrady doesn't come back, our greatest need might actually be at SG. Actually, I don't expect us to do too much this off-season besides sign Ron-Ron. I think it's a waiting game on our talent and McGrady. Now if Morey finds someone in a financial crunch, where we can get that 3rd star, I'm sure he'll jump on it. Otherwise, I don't expect us to do too much this off-season, besides buy a draft pick and pick a sleeper.
I'd be wary of acquiring Redd. He's recovering from a number of injuries, including an ACL and MCL tear. Do you guys honestly think he'll be able to contribute at a high level next season? I'd rather have Morey just continue his pursuit of Carter. He has a better all-around game. He's older and declining, but there is no doubt that he's more clutch than Redd or anyone else on our team. He can take over the game if defenses are locked in on Yao in the fourth.
I agree but it has to be a reasonable price. I'll take Bibby. So many reasons to get him: http://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=202&size=550x550_mb&ptp_photo_id=87787.jpg Obviously Bibby knows Adelman, knows his offense and how to run it, and appears to be close to Artest based on that awkward NBATV interview. He's always been solid from three, and he has balls. People say we don't have a closer? Mike Bibby can close games in the playoffs. But with Bibby, Brooks, and Lowry, there's a glut at PG. Brooks is capable of playing the 2, but I'd rather have a more natural 2. Lowry is a keeper to me. If we can sign Bibby, Brooks is completely expendable IMO. Since the Phoenix Suns have been in love with him since he was drafted, I'd see if I could package him with fillers to PHX for Barbosa. Leandro would be perfect for this team. Very efficient shooter (high TS%), and would further improve our transition game. I'd rather keep him and hope he can at least get back to his health last season. I mean, wasn't the whole point of the micro was to get rid of his pain? If it works and the pain goes away, then he should be fine. If so, that is enough to win it all right there. No doubt. I found a very useful link worth bookmarking for the future. It lists all free agents for the next 2 years. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10 Among the FA backup centers for 2009 include Melvin Ely, the Collins twins, Zaza Pachulia, Mikki Moore, Rasho Nesterovic, Adonal Foyle, Chris Mihm, Jamaal Magloire, Theo Ratliff, etc.
3: I agree. I would like to see McGrady prove himself before in a Rockets jersey. I am confident he will be back to close to his old self(at least much better than this years T-mac). The only way I can see a team take him in the offseason is because they believe he will be back in good shape after rehab or they are the Clippers. 4: Would Joey Dorsey be a good back up for Yao even though he's not very tall but aggressive and has long arms?
That's because he is the #1 option... he isn't that type of player. Redd in Milwaukee (in my opinion) is like Abrams at the University of Texas. Great shooter, but he's not a #1 type of guy. Getting Redd would really depend on what else the Rockets have. If we have Artest and Yao together, I think Redd would be the perfect compliment. If we don't have Artest, there would be no reason to get him. The Rockets would be MUCH better off getting a guy like Joe Johnson in that scenario.
I agree. Even if it isn't the greatest need I think it is position that can most realistically be upgraded. Solid swing men are easier to find than anything else in the league.
There are 2 SF's other then Artest who play at a moderate level. They are Shawn Marrion and Lamar Odom. If ron cries about money like he did last year with Sac, then we can switch it to one of them. 2nd thing we need is Height on the team. Scola and Landry are good, but they are very short. Getting someone with height will help alot. 3rd thing buy a draft pick. 4th thing, come together and pray for health!!!!
Scola and Landry's lack of height is overrated. Scola is a legit 6'9" and Landry is the exact same height as Battier and McGrady which is 6'8". Would another mobile 7 footer be nice? Yes but our two PF are not really that small.
We're one of few good teams that can legitimately expect to improve from within. Out of Landry, Lowry, Brooks, and Wafer, we can reasonably except at least one, maybe two to make a significant improvement. I think it's also not unreasonable to think Scola will post his current post all star average for the entire year. Apart from that, I see us resigning Artest. With the current economic climate I think he can be had for a reasonable amount of money, and Morey would be wise to overpay him in order to secure a 3 year contract with a team option for the third year (which would essentially make him an expiring contract for two out of the three years). After that, I think Morey looks to do whatever he can to upgrade at any position except center. See if Les is willing to part with Tracy's contract for someone better (but more expensive long term). Another athletic guard or sweet shooting forward would be nice. Also, Battier hasn't looked right all season. Hopefully next year he comes back closer to 100%
I posted this in a thread about Yao as a cornerstone for a franchise, and how difficult is to build around him. Truth is you either build completely around him, starting with a great passing and 3pt shooting PG, or he might become a liability on many facets of the game. Most likely, the path will be to build around him, so i think this is our assets and what might help us. If the Rox had an all star PG (or an all star SG great at playing off the ball and good court view) i think Yao would be much more effective, much more than for example Artest or Scola who can be fed easier. So i would like the Rox to go for a first class PG (or an all star SG great at playing off the ball and good court view) this offseason, no matter the cost, if the plan is to build around Yao. If we can get both, then great! Here is a list of players i think would fit the "around Yao" mold: PG Deron Williams Chris Paul Steve Nash (no defense) Chauncey Billups Jose Calderon Kirk Hinrich Chris Duhon SG Kobe Bryant Brandon Roy Manu Ginobili Stephen Jackson Mike Miller (no defense) Those are obviously listed by popularity, but i think any of them, wil make the rox better, I actually think if we round up a good 3 team trade we can get one of them and some expirings for T-Mac and we could also get some of the other with a combination of Battier or Artest, plus Scola or Landry or Brooks. I would personally trade T-Mac for Hinrich and Noah or Tyrus Thomas and Artest for Stephen Jackson. If we could get some of the top tier players from this list is great, but i don´t see that happening. I think a lineup of Hinrich-Jackson-Battier-Yao-Scola is a great offensive and defensive lineup (Hinrich-Jackson and Battier are great perimeter defenders) and Scola and Yao can hold their own in the paint. My 2 cents. Plus, i am not sure if T-Mac deserves the chance to prove himself in the Rockets again, i would only let him play if he agreed to sign a 1 or 2 year contract on the cheap, just to let us get fair value if he is either good or bad after the surgery. I would hate T-Mac to go all out on a contract year and trick us again with a max contract, but neither i want to let him go for free after the guy was virtually paid to have cosmetic surgery all the time.
Will we be able to use the MLE if Ron is re-signed? If yes,is there any role player who could realistically be an asset for that price without hurting our FA chances in the 2010 sweepstakes.
Like McGrady, Ron Artest does not play the team game. Only with retraining would i have them on next years roster.
1. Trade Artest or Battier, we need only one of them. 2. Look for a good SG(10M level) Best case: Rip Hamilton. 3. Trade Brooks for a combo-guard. I'd like Barbosa. Let Lowry be the starter. 4. Tmac maybe involved in trade 2 or 3. 5. I was disappointed that we did not acquire Gortat from Orlando in the Alston-trade.
On Tmac. If he wants to still play here, sure whatever. We shouldn't be so quick to give him up. What can he do after this major injury, that's what we need to assess before we trade him. If Tracy is willing to take a large paycut and come off the bench then maybe consider keeping him. Look at McDyess after his surgery, comes off the bench for Detroit and helps them out. If Tmac is still able to be Tmac to a lesser degree and still put up his numbers (see Amare) then trade him because superstar Tmac is no longer needed and would be of more value trading. Role player Tmac, that could help us out a bit.
Also maybe we should look into Danny Granger. Seriously, the Pacers need money. He could become available and a guy like that would help us out. He's extra clutch, I think we've witnessed that first hand.
