If Lewis signs for the exception anywhere, it will be San Antonio, the Lakers, or Mavericks. Imagine a Shaq/Lewis/Kobe trio. Oh my God. Even with Duncan, it's incredible. If Porter, Smith, and Ferry can be high percentage 3-pt shooters for them, then Lewis can probably hit 50% of his 3-pters for them! Still, that's not what WE need. We need Odom more than anything. About the 15th pick, I think we should trade it with Kenny Thomas for Milwaukee's pick. The talent drop off is huge from 13 to 15. Maybe even Miami or Washington will do this. If you want to go crazy, make it #1, #15, KT, Rice for Glen Robinson and #13 or Ervin Johnson.
Walt, Rice, and T-Mo are all worthless, eh? Sure, maybe individually on a team with no depth they would be worthless. But, when all three split time and are not injured (a big if for Rice), they can be used nicely for their strenghts. These guys are called <b>role players</b>, and they are important to any winning team. Just look at the Lakers, they are filled with role players. Horry, Fox, Shaw, Hunter, Walker are all role players. With the exception of Horry, I think the other 4 would fall in this class of "worthless" players if they were on a lottery team. Fox isn't much better than a healthy Rice or Walt, IMO. Rice and Walt can be used to spot up, and Morris can be used for defense and rebounding help. I still think T-Mo can be a nice player, especially with the flashes shown at the end of the season. One thing I don't want to do with #15 is take a project. Ming would be a big enough project himself. I really don't want to take anyone at all here, I would rather give up the obligation to Memphis. A trade would be okay, but Seattle's not taking the 15th pick and KT for Lewis, I doubt. Artest would be nice, but the Pacers don't need KT or Mo, and the 15th pick alone won't get him. Pick Ming, try and give #15 to Memphis, and go with this lineup to start the season: C: Ming / Cato PF: Griffin / Taylor SF: Thomas / Rice / Walt / TMo SG: Mobley / Walt PG: Francis / Mooch At least give that a try. Thomas and Griffin could interchange, based on the matchup. If it doesn't work out, try and make a deal before the deadline to get a SF. Or, take a SF 1st next year, with the pick that would be kept by giving Memphis #15 this year.
I think we'll be just fine. C -- Ming/Cato PF -- Taylor/Thomas SF -- Rice/Griffin SG -- Mobley/Torres PG -- Francis/Norris Other bench players + "injured" players inclued TMo, Brown, #15 and anyone else we might still have under contract.
If all else fails is TMo really such a bad option at the three? He really only has one weakness and that is his outside shooting and who knows if he will be able to improve on that this summer. TMo plays good defense, rebounds well, passes well has some good moves to the basket and plays well in the paint. If TMo could learn to hit that jumper with consistency then he would be the perfect 3 IMO. Of course I would just as soon draft someone like Nachbar (if he falls to the 15) just in case TMo does not develope an outside shot. Does anyone think that I am off base in my eveluation of TMo?
Well, I did talk some of the people in my fantasy basketball league (all winners from previous seasons) into some ridiculous trades...at least 5 got vetoed...won that league . Some considerations why I think it could be possible: Somehow I can't imagine Seattle paying Lewis the max. If the salary cap goes down to $ 40 million, they can give him a 7 year, $88.375 million contract. That's a whole lot of money for a guy who did NOT take over, for whatever reason, in crunchtime last year. I don't know how the salary progression would be - but Taylor's and Collier's salary combined over the next three years is ~ 8,4 Mio. 2002-2003, ~ 8,8 Mio. 2003-2004, ~ 10,6 Mio. 2004-2005. Do you think Lewis really commands more than that? Okay, maybe we could throw in another player (Moochie? Seattle doesn't really have a good backup PG), then we could give Lewis even more money if I am not mistaken. Of course, the basis for anything as outlined above is: What does Lewis want? If Lewis is serious about coming back to Houston, what could Seattle do? They would be much better off with Mo and the 15 and a big body (they don't really have a center other than Calvin Booth!!) than being left with nothing. Lewis should consider his options carefully. Yes, in Seattle, he could probably be the go-to guy in a year or two and perhaps he could get a little bit more money now. But is that the role he will really be able to thrive in? I don't think so. I think he will be much stronger when he will NOT be double-teamed but when he can blend in with the flow of the game in a team where the others can create shots for him - because creating shots for himself is not his No. 1 strength. He would be a perfect fit in the Rockets' system and he could be much more successful in Houston and have a much more fulfilling career in his hometown. He could get great shots off of Francis or Mobley dribbles. He could crash the boards together with Ming and Griffin. Or he could get the pass out from Ming in the post and nail the three. Rashard - do you want to be the go-to guy in a team that will keep missing the playoffs for years to come? Like Jamison in Golden State? Or do you want to be the missing piece to a championship team - the Houston Rockets Ming Dynasty!!!!! There is no pressure for you in Houston - the pressure is on others. You can only win. Come home and be a hometown hero for the next decade. PG: Francis SG: Mobley SF: Lewis PF: Griffin C: Yao Ming = DYNASTY
I think we package KT/15. I'd love to get Artest with that...talk about a defensive front line-two supreme shot blockers (Griffin/Ming), and one of the top 3 man defenders in the league? I just look and see what KT/15 can get me-maybe it'll be enough for Mike Miller (Orlando would want to move up for Stoudemire, and could package 15/18? plus land a solid PF in KT) or Artest. In a kwazy world, maybe Odom, but I doubt it. 15/a future #1 from a top eastern from an eastern conference team was able to move up to #9 (the Collier deal). What is 15/KT worth? at least the same. #9 would allow us to take Butler, Tsika, or Woods-one of them would be there. If not, Nachbar is a fine option-I've heard most comparisons are a bigger, stronger Hedo Turkoglu, which fits us well.
Iwould prefer to take Stoudamire with the 15th pick but Nachbar wouldn't be bad either,the problem with him is his contract in Europe.
Huh? Why in the world would he want to sign with those teams for a lot less money than stay with the Supersonics for the ridiculous contract they would give him? The only way he's leaving Seattle is if his desire to be home in Houston outweighs his desire for a huge salary this offseason. I guess San Antonio and Dallas are close to Houston, but still, I'm really curious as to why you would think he would sign with those teams instead of the Rockets. I don't think he's at the point in his career where all he's looking to do is be on a championship contender. After all, Lewis has expressed interest in playing Houston and based on what some of the "insiders" on this board have said, Houston is interested in Lewis. Besides, this scenario is based on us acquiring Ming. If Ming is in fact as good as everyone says he is, the Rockets will probably end up being a half court team more than a fast break team. I think deadly 3-point shooters who can hit the shot when Ming is being double teamed is more important than someone who can simply make a pass to the post. Hence, Lewis would be a better fit with the Rockets when you throw Ming into the equation. Kind of like how the Rockets won two back-to-back championships. Hakeem in the post, 3 point shooters on the outside. But make no mistake, I am not comparing Ming to Dream. However, but he could potentially be a force in the post, as well as a center who can hit the long shot to spread the floor for Steve and Cuttino's penetration.
Artest or Miller would be great. However, I would not pick Nachbar. I follow Euro basketball a little bit and I do not think he is anywhere close to being as good as Turkoglu. I do not see him as anything special. Might be decent, but I think we could do better.
The SF position is important but I don't think we should pick someone just because they are a small forward. If we can't get 1. Butler 2. Woods 3. Nick Tschict.... 4. Nachbar and Nene Hilario or Stoudmire are around I hope we don't just pick some SF because we are weak there. I really like the looks of Nene "Hakeem Jr." Hilario.
When I look at TMo I see a spectacular underachiever who's stock dropped from lottery pick to second rounder his last two years in college. He's the poster boy for collegiate athletes who made a mistake by NOT going early. I don't see any potential at all. If he had some potential, he couldn't even fill it his last two seasons of college, how's he supposed to do it in the NBA. You say he's got some back to the basket moves...I don't even see him being as good as an offensive player as Shandon Andersen...and that's pretty bad. While his defense and rebouding are respectable, its not like he's Bruce Bowen or anything. It doesn't make up for his poor offense. I just don't think TMo has the talent or the desire to become anything more than a second string player in the NBA.
Why would a player not worth the #1 pick (Odom) when he came out, now be worth the #1 pick? If anything hasn't his stock dropped since he's a serious candidate for league suspensions and injuries? Add that to the fact that the Clippers are overloaded with swingmen, and why why why would ANYONE consider giving them the #1 pick PLUS for Odom. That makes no sense. And I really really like Odom and think he would fit in great with the Rockets.
DCkid, I said if he signs for the EXCEPTION. If he's going to take a pay cut, it will most probably be to play for a championship contender. Besides, if he's going to want us to "make up" for him signing the exception too, then NO WAY. Lewis is only worth Mo Taylor money at best. I really hope we're able to trade the #1, as well as the #15. My dream? #1 Chicago obligation (2 2nd rounders) Cato for Odom Kandi Then, trade #15 and KT (maybe even Mooch depending on other team) for anything from #9 to #13. Then pick Stoudamire/Hilario with the pick. Kandi/FA signing/Hilario or Stoudamire MoT/Griff/Hilario or Stoudamire Odom/Rice/T-Mo Mobley/Torres Francis/Moochie or 2nd round pick (Maddox? Dixon?)
We need to pick up more talent, to either build or use in trade to build. So, even if that's another PF, whatever is left at #15, we need to take the best talented front court player available that someone else might want, and we could live with keeping while he develops. Someone is going to slide, and we need to take him. In order of who slides, I'd grab Tskitishvili, Hilario, Stoudamire, Marcus, Ely, Haislip, Nachbar, Jeffries. I believe all of those guys are potential future starters, although most will take awhile. Then, if we HAVE to package that player with KT to get a better starting player, we do it. But we need another trading chit that someone else would really want, and we could keep.
When we grab Ming, why do we need another player to dish out assits? How many high assist players were there for Hakeem? You get Odom to go with Ming, Francis, Mobes and our PF combo, how on Earth does eveybody get enough looks to stay content? Ideally the Rockets need a hard-nosed, team playing, defnsive minded 3 with a respectable outside shot. Does Chris Jeffries fit that bill? Does Nachbar? How about TMo? I don't see the concern over the 3 spot. A role playes is what's needed, not an all-star.
