The next person that puts up a post about Lewis that isn't up to date news should be drawn and quartered.
While it would be nice to have Rashard back in Houston, isn't EG just a year or so away from being where Rashard is now? EG was an undersized four with no handles, shooting threes. But he already rebounds as well as Rashard (or better) and also blocks shots. I would feel a little better if Eddie billboards go up, however. This kid should be a major part of the franchise's future. Why wouldn't his mug be used in the next-season campaign? Eddie's picture next to the Chinese characters for "THE ERASER" or "S.B.D." or whatever nickname we can come up with for him.
1. Gotta give Mo a chance to compete this year, worse case scenario, he blows the achilles again and we get the medical exemption. Best Case scenarion is he puts up 14 and 5 and Griffin splits minutes with him and we have a log jam come mid season and we make a move... 2. Taylor for Croshere.....maybe a few years ago....I know their contracts match, so it makes sense from a contract point, but maybe Mo can get us 14 and 5 splitting with Griffin at 12 and 6....nice two headed monster for a couple years..... 3. Bryon Russell - better shot and defense than Oscar or TMO....we should not let the exemption go to waste....lets give it a shot....he can still shoot, play D and has the playoff experience. The only other choice out there is Voshon Lenard and I will take him too 4. Ming - I agree totally with him....especially based on the smack talk he is getting from the likes of Wallace....Let him play 15-20 minutes splitting with Cato to gain confidence.....for a year...... 5. Ford - he is a putz and does not know the facts for a coverage writer...he needs to check 'em before writing.... 6. Decent white guy - Don't really care either way....though Bullard was something to watch occassionally....We are the rainbow team now: china, slovania, and usa are represented....pretty cool
I have been watching the Rockets since '81 and I am the biggest fan around and I love my Rockets' Fans...BUT...IS EVERYONE ON THIS THREAD ON CRACK??? Or just the biggest bunch of myopic Rockets fans around? IF, and thats a capital IF, in 4 years Eddie Griffin is as good as Rashard is today, this would be a fair trade. But thats a big IF. Rashard ALREADY IS everything we hope Griffin WILL BE. Don't ya'll see that? EG blocks 1 more shot a game, but they rebound the same and Rashard has better handles and can pass better and shoots better, and is more of a threat off the dribble and in transition, is a bigger mismatch to the opposing position.....I could go on and on. ARE YOU ALL ON CRACK???? DON"T YOU SEE REALITY???? We hope EG will be good, but TODAY he is a 3 point shooting, SOFT (come on now, EG don't intimidate nobody...YET), no handle having, skinny 4. POTENTIAL yes. But today he is not better than MoT. Think I'm lying? See who starts at 4 this season. PUT DOWN THE CRACK PIPE!!!!
Unless Mo really sucks his first month or so I would not trade him for Croshere. Croshere was buried on Indiana's bench all last year, even more so when they got Artest. Mo's career average is 14 & 5, Croshere's is 8 & 4. Mo can also play some 5 where Croshere can not. Mo is going to be are 3rd center, and for some match-ups or if we get an injury he may get plenty of minutes there. I like considering trades with Indiana, but my targets would be Artest, Harrington or Bender--all of whom Croshere minutes were increasingly given to because they played better than he did. Because Mo is our one PF who can play some 5, I would use KT, Mooch and throwins as bait. KT plus a thrown (Brown, Hill, Maddox) in for Artest would be reasonable--and would balance out our team across the 5 positions much better than Croshere for Mo. The main problem with this is from Indiana's perspective, they need another PG (probably vet) for more than anything else. Maybe KT and Brown would be tempting though.
Damn, what kind of crack are you on? Lewis is a non-defensive SF with no post game (dime a dozen in the league), and Griffin is a 6'10/6'11 Forward who has the potential to be one of the top PF's in the league within 2 years. Griffin will not take 4 years to be where Lewis is today. Give Griffin the starting job (at PF), with the same minutes Lewis had last year, and their would be no comparison. Griffin's stats dont mean squat, last season, since he had limited playing minutes. Lewis is overrated, and will never be anything but a good role player on a team. Griffin has the mold to be a future all-star (see Francis's comments last season).
I would trade Griffin for Rashard. I think that Griffin will not be as good as Lewis. Just because Griffin has a of potential doesn't mean that he is going to be a superstar. He doesn't have any moves off the dribble, his post up game is okay, and he has a nice 3. Rashard can score off of the dribble, has a decent post up game, and has a better 3 point shot then Eddie. Most teams in the league would be more then willing to trade Eddie for Rashard.
The one critical move that the Rockets should do if we were to take Ford's suggestions is to find a backup for Mobley. I'm not adverse to adding Bryon Russell either. He may come from the much hated Utah Jazz, but he was dissed by them pretty bad. Besides, it would be cool to see him burn the Jazz playing for us the way he used to burn the Rockets when he played for them. The thing I like most from Russell is heis defensive intensity. Older players may lose a step or two offensively but it usually not as bad on the defensive end. He would surely be a serviceable backup to Cat. All the other moves Ford talks about, doesn't matter because if we kept all else as is, the Rockets are still a damn good team..
Ya'll AWM has a point. Lewis is a barey 23 year old who just put up 17 & 7 & a steal and half + he shot like 47% (including plenty of 3s) for a playoff team in the West. Sure, EG may have a better career than him, but it is 50/50 at best this happens I can tell you that. If I were Seattle I would ask for EG and Mo as well. I might settle for Nachbar (when he becomes eligible to trade), Mo and a future #1 if I they are going to lose him for nothing to a Western competitor--but nothing less than that would get me talking. Otherwise you can be sure some other team will put together a better offer that Seattle/Lewis will take or Lewis will just go sign with the Mavs or take the hgiher money with Seattle. Lewis is no superstar in the making, but he is a sure fire long term good player and maybe borderline star who is young. If it were a free market Lewis would be worth no less than equal of EG, almost defintely more than, perhaps lucky for us he and his agent have Seattle by the balls and we may get our low ball price.
Damn, what kind of crack are you on? Lewis is a non-defensive SF with no post game (dime a dozen in the league), and Griffin is a 6'10/6'11 Forward who has the potential to be one of the top PF's in the league within 2 years. Griffin will not take 4 years to be where Lewis is today. Give Griffin the starting job (at PF), with the same minutes Lewis had last year, and their would be no comparison. Griffin's stats dont mean squat, last season, since he had limited playing minutes. Lewis is overrated, and will never be anything but a good role player on a team. Griffin has the mold to be a future all-star (see Francis's comments last season). - Barbourdg _____________________________________________________________ OK Dude, you just exposed yourself. Lewis is a 6'10" small forward with no post game and no D? Have you seen him play regularly? He is deadly posting up (a la Paul Pierce, not as much game as Jermaine O'Neal, but getting there) He is deadly shooting and driving and passes well. And where did the lie start about him playing no D? He is an adequate defensive player, which on the Rockets puts him right next to Eddie. And as for limited minutes, Eddie had limited minutes cause he didn't earn more...on a bad team to boot. Hell the only reason tierre Brown touched the floor at all last season was because we were bad and needed to develop young players while we had the chance. When Rashard was a rookie he played the same and averaged about the same. Check the stats kid. Lewis is a rising star a la Jermaine O'Neal. He is getting better every year. How can you say today he will never be better than a role player when he is still getting better every year? Lewis doesn't have to mold to be an all star? Why? Griffin one of the best power forwards in the league? How can you say that today? Which one of the 4's is he even in the same league with? Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Ben Wallace, Malone, Dirk Nowitski, Pao Gasol, Antoine Walker (maybe), Chris Webber, Rashed Wallace, Elton Brand? Any of these guys? My point is potential and a quarter will get you a piece of gum. Griff may be one day, but Rashard is. And they are both still on the rise. That said, I'd still think long and hard about this one.
