I don't know if E.Griffin is ready to start and go aganist the PFs of the west, night in and night out; so I would keep Mo. Taylor. I would get lewis if only we could do a sign and trade which included Rice and Thomas, so we would not have so many fowards.
Trying to be real about it, the only way the Sonics do a sign and trade is if Rashard force their hands. If he said look I'm either going to Houston for the mle or the organization will lose me for nothing , then the sonics will be forced to make a decision. If this scenerio happens, the Rockets have a few candidates that they can trade that will satisfy Rashard. Contrary to popular belief and the poor Fa class in 2004, Glen Rice will not be included. #1. The Rockets trade Mo Taylor (8mill) and Moochie (4mill) for Rashard signed for 6yrs 65mill. Its not max money, but its close. That would give him about 10mill per yr and when he's through he'll only be 28yrs old. #2. The Rockets trade Taylor(8), Thomas (1) and Collier (1). This still gives seattle a little less to swallow in yrs and Lewis still gets his money. Other than that, I don't see it happening. In the second scenerio, people may wonder about giving up both power forwards. I don't see it as a problem because Cato after losing his job can back up both 4/5 spots and get enough minutes to keep him happy. In the first scenerio, the rockets get rid of Moochies deal and could either rely on Brown or Maddox or sign a guy like Greg Anthony as a backup. Honestly , I think the Rockets when they meet with Lewis should just offer him 6yrs 35 mill with an opt out after the 3rd yr. That way he can become a free agent the same time the new labor agreement is in place and the luxury tax will not be around. People were wondering why the Sonics drafted Radmonovich last yr, but they figured they would be in this scenerio. Radman is a Dirk combo like forward so he could play with Taylor or Thomas.
Rashard signing with Dallas? Don't do it kid: you'll get paid, but you'll lose about 10 mpg playing time.
Let Rashard sign with the smavs. Apparently he is not too bright if he thinks Dallas has a better organization than Houston. He must be talking about the locker room and the personal DVD players each guys gets. Surely he is not talking about the “Brain Trust”(I use that term loosely) of Nellie, Cuban and little Donnie(can’t forget that genius). Just because you get lucky and draft a great offensive player in Nowitzki does not make you a great GM. Cuban throws his money at any free agent he is familiar with, that’s great but it does not build champions just look at the Blazers. So I say to Dallas, Go ahead take Rashard, foolishly WASTE your money on LaFrentz,Van Exel, and Bradley all the while taking yourselves out of the running for next years grand prize in the free agent market, Duncan(not that Duncan would want to perform in that dog and pony show anyway). So it is probably best that Houston does not get Rashard, keep themselves open for bigger and better things. Besides Defense wins championships and Lewis is not known for his defense(a perfect fit, he doesn’t play defense and Nellie doesn’t know how to coach it.).
while (re)thinking about a Sign'n'Trade for 'shard, there is this from ESPN's Insider, Scouting the Euroleague Final 4 by Chad Ford The rising star Bostjan Nachbar, a sweet shooting 6-foot-9 swing man from Slovenia, put his name into the draft last year before pulling out right before the deadline after he wasn't guaranteed to be a first-round pick. He'll be glad he waited. Though his team eventually lost to Kinder, Nachbar was the best player on the floor for Benetton. He has a silk smoothy mid-range jumper, made a bounce pass through the legs of a defender on the fast break, and during the fourth quarter, took over the game for Benetton. He ended the game with 17 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of play. He loves to play on the break, has excellent ball-handing skills and a dangerous mid-range jumper. Scouts say that he reminds them of a bigger version of Hidayet Turkoglu. Teammate Charlie Bell thinks that Nachbar will be able step right in and play a major role in the NBA. "He can play. There aren't many guys in the NBA like him. He has the size and the shooting ability to play the three and the ball-handling skills and quickness to play the two. I think he's going to do really well in the NBA." So do scouts. Two different sources told Insider that after scouting him all week at practice in Treviso and during Friday's game, several teams are now projecting that he could move all the way up into the late lottery. That's a meteoric rise for a guy who couldn't sneak into the first round last year. ___ A banger at the '4' still sounds better...
joegre how can you say that Dallas has bad management. Nelson and Cuban brought the Mavericks to the second round of the playoffs in two years. How can you say that the Mavs got lucky in drafting Dirk when they knew that was the guy they wanted from the very beginning. I can see you not wanting the Mavericks to get Lewis but I don't see why you have to put down the whole franchise when you don't have much to brag about yourself.
on 610 today they were talking bout a sign and trade for mobley, straight up. it's something i would seriously consider, if there were any descent 2 guard f.a.s, but i don't think there are. what do you think about cut and mo t for shard and brent barry? hell of a 3 point shooter barry is. i think i'd do it.
I'd consider it, but they'd have to sweeten the pot, because Mobley's upside is just too good for that offer alone. Rashard is good, but Barry is 31 years old. If they were to substitute Mason in place of Barry, then you have my attention.
I don't trade Mobley for Lewis. If the Rockets get rid of Mobley, who would there be to play shooting guard? Francis Rice is going to be serviceable. Nachbar played in a top team in Europe. Let's roll the dice and see what this season turns up with Nachbar and Rice. But, I would love to have Lewis here. Taylor, Morris, Collier, Norris, for Lewis!!!!!! Now that deal I would do.
Hottoddie, put down the hottoddies, bro. Chaos would reign in Rocketland... there would be tornadoes, earthquakes, cats and dogs... living together... aaargh!!
If there is going to be a sign and trade deal, KT is going to have to be involved. A lot of people seem to think MO would be involved, but realistically, Why would the Sonics pay MO big money and not pay Rashard big money? Am I missing something? I would love to see KT stay personally, but I don't think it will happen. The rockets will also likely have to throw in another player with upside and without a huge contract. Nachbar seems to be a good fit since the Sonics would be losing a small forward and need a replacement. So there you have it, KT and Nachbar for Lewis. Let me know what you think. Obviously the contract would have to be structured so Rashard gets very big money down the road. This would make it very difficult to trade him later on if it didn't turn out the way all Houstonians would like and expect it too. Derek
I agree that Kenny or Nachbar are the obvious trade partners. But in a sign and trade, the salarys have to match, don't they (+-). To me that says Rice, (high contract but relativly short) or Taylor. Taylor is overpaid, but it would be a two for one, so Seattle saves salary in the end. And I think they need a power forward after trading Baker. Of course they will need a small forward after trading Lewis. Nachbar and Taylor add up to about $8,000,000 a year I think. Tha is proably a deal that Lewis can live with. Maybe a couple of throw ins to balance things out. That gets us Lewis, and eliminates the log jams at 3 and 4. We also get rid of Taylor's ugly contract. It has a lot of pluses. Still, I don't think I could do it. Too much for too little. Too much pay, too much talent.
thanks pat. I was wandering if the contracts had to be of equal value. I'd do it in a heartbeat however. Nothing personal against MO. I just think I would rather have Rashard. A known quality and a hometown guy to boot. Plus, he's only 22. Still several years from peaking in the NBA. Derek
wowming Such a shame! Mobley is a key player in Rudy's new game plan, he is not available for a trade for a 3pt. shooting SF who might only be a back up player!
Mobley's already gonna have his mug on billboards as advertising for the forthco-Ming season (sorry, weak pun). If there is a prayer in Hell to sign and trade for Rashard, as CD mentioned, a sign-and-trade is necessary; but if BYC comes into play, we'd have to kiss some Chicago or Clipper boo-tay; and who would either of those teams want that we'd trade away? If Chicago would take Mo-T and T-Mo (they'd have to waive their free agents first), and send Fizer and Crawford for us to get Rashard.... See how tough this gets?
