While Driving to work this morning I heard on 620 Sporting News Radio (I live in NY) I heard a good rumor that is considered a possiblity... Rockets trade Kelvin Cato, Kenny Thomas and the #1 Pick.... To Dallas for Michael Finley and Raef Lafrentz Mavs need some inside presence as they were lacking rebounding and toughness against the overmatching Kings...Cato would not need to do anything but rebound and Thomas woul be a good bench piece, since Mav's owner loves the spot light he will love the media attention for the 1st pick..im not sure who they might pick..any ideas?? Rocks would LOVE to have Finley as he would become the starting SF while Lafraentz..RudyT LOVES big men who can shoot...will help in the posts.... This RUMOR IS FOR REAL....gimme comments!!
Finley is old and aging fast. Didn't do much in the Sacramento series. I don't want him to go to Chicago or Houston. Raef on the other hand may be something to consider, then pass by. Why trade for a big man that can shoot when you can draft a taller big man that can shoot and has more potential??? Oh yeah, we need help at the 4 or 5, not the 2. Losing Kenny, Cato, and only getting back LaFrentz won't help us.
If I was seriously looking at trades, I would concentrate first anf foremost on the Eastern conference teams, and then on bad western conference teams. There's no need to make the Mavs that much better For that matter, if all these teams are so so willing ot depart with talent for the pick, there must be something good up there. I still say, unless a player of Kobe/Shaq/Duncan/KG/etc caliber comes along, pick Ming.
You are kidding, right? Did you see the Sacramento series? Most of the time he was the best player on the floor for either team. He and Bibby were the only ones who were good every game. I'm not saying we should trade for him, because I want someone younger, but come on!
I think its way too early to determine whether the Rockets should draft Ming or not. I assume the Chinese Government is going to react one way or another now that they know which city and team has the #1 pick in the draft. For all we know they could say that if Houston drafts him he will not be allowed to play in the NBA. Sure, it could be all talk, but with the way that country operates, noone would really know. Based solely on the players abilities and potential I agree that Ming is the #1 prospect for the Rockets. But to me, his abilities are not what's in question, its whether he will be able to play 82 games and the playoffs every season that he is under contract with the Rockets. I'm waiting to hold judgement on whether the Rockets should take Ming, until I hear how China reacts. To me, its either you draft Ming with the #1 pick or you trade it. Forget about taking Williams or Dunleavy with the #1 pick. The Rockets could get a lot more with a trade.
Honestly, this is probably the only trade that actually makes sense that's been posted on these boards lately. I wouldn't do it, but at least we're not talking about getting Duncan, Garnett, or some other elite player that we have no chance of getting. And by the way........Finley was probably the only consistent player for the Mavs against the Kings, as well as the time since his return from the injury.
Finley is a pure scorer with a sweet J. Why wouldn't you want him and Raef on the Rockets? That fills two big holes, and puts Cato and Rice on the bench where they belong.
Rumor my ass. Just because you hear two guys on the radio talking trade dreamcasting does not make it a rumor. No way does Dallas even consider this trade.
I would forget about Finley if I were you guys. Cuban has already assured him that he's not going anywhere. As for Ming, you guys would be smart not to take him. He does have potential, however the "Red Tape" is too much to put up with for a #1 pick. If the Rockets keep the pick they need that player to be in training camp, and participate in summer league play especially if they use that pick on Ming. If his situation turns out anythin like Wang's he won't even report to the Rockets until November at the earliest. Meaning that you won't even get to see him until 2 full months into the season. Here is a trade that I'm sure most of you won't like but could be very benefitial to the Rockets future. Rockets Trade Francis Mobley K. Thomas Mo Taylor Sixers Trade Iverson Snow Coleman The Rockets end up with AI, and with the #1 pick you guys take Jay Williams. Williams, and Ai would be one of the best back courts in the NBA, and Snow would be ab excellent back up PG. Also realize that Griffin will be a year older, and should be much better prepared to start. PG - Williams SG - Iverson SF - Rice PF - Griffin C - ??? The Rockets would still need a big man but overall that is still a very good lineup. Not to mention that you get rid of Taylor's contract, and still have trade bait in Coleman. Rice is really the key factor, can he return to at least half of his former self?
Totally agree with the 'pimp. No way does Dallas consider this. Why would they trade the cornerstone of their franchise for our crap and a #1 pick who, if they are lucky, will be that good in 3-4 years. This is a team that's on the verge of becoming really, really, really good. Teams like that don't trade away their stars.
Whoop-de-damn-do! Thanks, but no thanks...I'll pass on that one. Derrick Coleman - trade bait?? That is the best laugh I have had yet!! Hehe...hoho...haha...
Amen Brother....Preach!!!! Add Vince to that list! We should think trade unless it package something sweet. We owe it to ourselves
Cuban: We're almost there Owner says team will go further by staying together 05/19/2002 By JODIE VALADE / The Dallas Morning News Mark Cuban's second full year as the Mavericks' owner brought a stint working at Dairy Queen, another whopping fine from the NBA, another major trade, and the same finish as last season, a second-round elimination. Cuban sat down with The Morning News to reflect on the past season and predict what is in store in the future. Q: What are your overall thoughts on the season? A: We made progress. The Question is, what can you do to get to a championship-caliber team? We had to upgrade the past couple years, and I think we've done that. Now, what I think we need to do is just give this team some time to be together. I think we overused our guys. We really focused on protecting ourselves in terms of making the playoffs. We'll go into this season much more confident. It won't be about whether we can make the playoffs. It won't even be about whether we're No. 1 or winning the Midwest. It will be about what can we do to make sure we're in the best possible shape for the playoffs. Because that hurt us this year. We're going through a transitional phase. The trade helped us get to that point where I'm a lot more confident. Mark Cuban ABOUT CUBAN: The Mavericks' owner expects a quiet off-season, except for his wedding. QUOTABLE: "The only way I give this up is if the league does something so stupid that I can't fathom. I don't think people realize how competitive I am. I really don't think they do." • • • Q: Are you turning this around faster than you anticipated? A: A thousand times faster. A thousand times faster than anyone expected. You can't be disappointed when you don't win everything. You have to have a sense of realism, as well, where you have to say it is what it is. We didn't get as far as we wanted to go, but we really shouldn't have expected to get a whole lot farther than we did. • • • Q: What's the situation with Don Nelson? Will you persuade him to coach longer than the one season he has left on his contract? A: He's my general manager, so he's here no matter what. My concern there is you want things to happen on your schedule. You don't want something external to force the issue. I'd rather be in a position of transition while he's here where I have a fallback. If Nellie wants to coach more, that's great with me and I'm not going to kick him out. • • • Q: Can you see him giving it up after next season? A: I don't know. I don't know. It depends on [Nelson's wife] Joy's health, on his health. I don't think he knows. • • • Q: You talked about developing your "plan of succession." Does that mean you see the next coach coming from in-house? A: I hope so. I don't want to be in the position where I have to do a big coaching search. That's not a good thing at all. That's upheaval. • • • Q: There was a lot of talk when Sidney Moncrief was hired that he was the next Mavericks coach. Do you still envision that happening? A: I really don't know. You have to talk to Sid about his plans because I really haven't had time to talk to him about it. • • • Q: You do most of the work of a general manager. Do you want to be that for the Mavericks? A: No. It all comes down to finances. Sometimes I do a lot of the work, because it's all about money. This isn't years ago where revenues were way up here and salaries were way down here. Now they're as intertwined as you can possibly get. I still spend 70 percent of my time on HDNet and 30 percent on the Mavs. The reality is you can't run up a $90 million payroll. I don't want to lose $50 million a year. I don't mind losing $15 million a year, but I don't want to lose 50. It all comes down to money and the salary cap. And I know the salary cap as well as anybody. I'm more like the salary cap guy, the numbers guy. I'm the CFO. • • • Brad Loper / DMN Mark Cuban shows his frustration at the end of Game 5 of the Dallas-Sacramento series. Q: Do you see improvement coming through free agents or sign-and-trades this summer? A: Time. Shaq was on the Lakers for four years before they won. That's what it takes for teams for players to get to know their roles. People talk about our defense being bad, it wasn't the fact that we have guys that can't defend. It's just that when you've only played together for 40 games, you don't know how to work together defensively. We didn't know our backside rotation, all those little things that make a big difference. • • • Q: But you weren't exactly a great defensive team before the trade, either, right? A: Yeah, but we got better. We brought in a shot-blocker with the trade. We weren't a great defensive team before, but even that team wasn't together a lot. It's not something that happens overnight. Maybe not even in one year • • • Q: What can you do to improve the defense? Do you bring in someone? A coach, or a player? A: One person isn't going to make a difference. Look Ben Wallace, the Defensive Player of the Year, and Detroit can't out-rebound anybody. Go get Ben Wallace? Well, that sure didn't make Detroit a better rebounding team. • • • Q: You swear you want this team to stay together, so can you promise that your Big Three, Nick Van Exel and Raef LaFrentz all are going to stay? A: You never know. You want to explore. If a team wants to give up a top three player for whatever reason, you have to look at it. But that's what it would take. It would have to be an over-the-top superstar. You never say never, but I would be shocked. • • • Q: Do you have untouchables on this team? Would you never trade the Big Three? A: You never say never. If Shaq or Kobe or whatever are available ... you're not going to move someone to take a chance. I'm not going to move Michael Finley to get Yao Ming. • • • Q: Is it worth the hassle to deal with the Chinese government to re-sign him, and have him report late every season because of his obligations to his Chinese team? A: For a while, yeah. But not forever. And you can do that with your 10th guy. But you can't do it with someone you depend on.
The Dallas-Houston trade cannot happen for several reasons. For one, it doesn't work capwise. Finley makes too much. Second, and most important, LaFrentz is a free agent. Thus, he cannot be traded except in a sign and trade deal AFTER the draft, nullifying any such rumor. Remember guys - if any rumor involves a player who is a free agent this offseason, it CANNOT happen. Pay them little attention/credence and move along.
HELLO, old and aging!? If not for Finley the Mavs get blown out every game in that series and gets swept. He was the only consistent player on the team! Game 1: 21 points 5 boards Game 2: 11 points 10 boards Game 3: 37 points 4 boards 5 assist Game 4: 28 points 5 boards Game 5: 26 points 6 boards Which averages out to 24.6 ppg and 6 rpg for the series. That is up from this career average of 19.4 ppg and 5.2 rpg and his career average of 20.6 ppg and 5.2 rpg Michael Finley, by the way, is only 29. Not even in his prime yet.
