Okay, we're set at the PF & PG positions with our starters & backups. We're also set at the starting SG position, but we still need depth. The starting center & SF positions are still up for grabs, along with the backups. Either Cato or Ming will be our starting center, with the other one being the backup. However, I believe that some additional depth might be needed, unless Collier surprises everyone. The starting SF should be Rice, but until he proves that he's fully recovered, it's still up in the air & Nachbar (in spite of all the news clippings) is still a rookie & hasn't played a minute of true NBA ball. The Rockets will have a team salary of about $45.8 million when they sign Yao. They have the full $4.545 million MCE, but can't use it all without going over the projected Luxury Tax threshhold. With the signing of Yao, they'll have 12 signed contracts for this year. So, the question is should we go on a free agent shopping spree & if so, whom should we target? The first position that I would target would be the backup SG. Torres is an option, but there are some better SG's available. Since it looks like Bryon Russell is planning on going to Washington, I'd make an offer to Michael Redd, Voshon Lenard, Jim Jackson, or Trajan Langdon, in that order. I wouldn't offer more than $2 million, which would most likely eliminate Redd. The next position I'd try to add depth to, would be the center position. I'd make an offer to Bateer, Zendon Hamilton, Boumtje-Boumtje (RFA), Art Long, Jabari Smith, or Jelani McCoy, in that order. Again, I'd offer no more than $2 million for the first year. I'm afraid that Bateer will price himself out of our range if he continues to play well in the WBC. However, if we could sign him, that would give Yao someone that he can relate to & would go a long way towards showing China that we have every intention of taking very good care of their national treasure, Yao Ming. If we could land Lenard & Bateer (He might take less for a chance to team up with Yao), we'd have a lineup of: C: Ming/Cato/Bateer/Collier (IL?) PF: Taylor/Griffin/KT SF: Rice/Nachbar/T-Mo (IL?) SG: Mobley/Lenard PG: Francis/Moochie/Maddox (IL?) Not a bad team, with a lot of beef on the front line. What would you do? Here's the complete list of FA's by position. http://www.nba.com/transactions/freeagents2002_position.html
An interesting point that you brought up about exceeding the Luxury Tax if the Rockets used up the entire MCE. Bryon Russell might be traded but if he is willing to take less than the MCE I would take him. Lenard is a realistic possibility.Redd is a restricted free agent and would cost too much,the other SG's don't interest me much although Jim Jackson wouldn't be bad to pick up,his lack of defense bothers me. We do need a tall enforcer in the frontcourt but I don't see an affordable one out there. Bateer is a goodback center but we are stuck with Cato and Collier otherwise he would be a useful pickup for us.He would be taking away minutes from Ming if he did join the Rockets.
Saleem, I'd think that the backup SG should be someone that brings instant offense off the bench. Kind of like Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson used to do. As for Bateer, I could see him, eventually, beating Cato out of the backup role. That's assuming he continues to develop his game & Cato starts pouting again. Since Bateer or Ming could probably play some PF on occasion, that would give us two 300 pounders in the lineup at the same time. Even Shaq would have a hard time dealing with that.
Ming has to earn it on the court...and he should eventually. As far as good deals,Hottoddie,what about a defensive stopper at the 2/3.Who else is out there?...a Bruce Bowen type?
Y'all haven't mentioned that both MoTay and Eddie can play the center position. I think our only depth problem is at the 2.
Have faith. Oscar Torres has game. He's all we really need at backup SG. He was a non-English speaking rookie in a new system last year, and he still flourished before hitting the wall. With a year's time to learn more English so he will know where to be and when, he'll do fine as Cat's backup because he has defense and he has offense.
i would rather sign raja bell. thats it. yao needs PT. cato improved last year and should be rewarded with PT. they plit 24 minutes each with collier comming in to help who ever gets into foul trouble (yao). my guess here is that Tmo will be moved to pf were he cant complain about time behind moT and griff. so we have moT, griff, and Tmo at pf. at sf, we have rice, nachbar, and now kt. kt can take minutes away from the aging rice and the unproven nachbar. with steve and cat playing 40 minutes a game each, that leaves 16 minutes for mooch. we should sign bell incase Tmac, kobe, pierce, or carter get hot as they usually do against us. so it all breaks down like this: yao 18 - cato 24 - collier 6 moT 24 - griff 24 - Tmo ir rice 18 - kt 18 - nachbar 12 (this will varie, depending on match-up's) cat 40 - bell 4 (can take more time away from mooch depending on match-up's) steve 40 - mooch 12 - tierre ir
I think that one of this team's biggest problems is that Steve and Cat play 40 minutes a night, this will have to change unless they don't mind them missing stretches again with injuries (I'm sure that management does mind).
If I'm going to do that, then I'm going to pursue a trade for Ron Artest. The problem is, Indiana is 2 deep at almost every position, with the exception of PG & Center. What would they want, that we'd be willing to give up? I'd think that KT/T-Mo for Artest would be a fair trade for both teams, but they don't need another PF. However, if we were willing to take Croshere's contract, they might be willing to listen. How about Rice/KT for Artest/Croshere/Brewer(trade fodder)? That would allow Indiana to drop Croshere's salary off the books 3 years earlier, but would stick us with it. Would getting Artest be worth that? I'm inclined to say yes. Another trade option might be Ron Mercer. He's a 2/3 that can light it up, but isn't known for his 3pt shooting. They might be willing to trade him.
The rockets should concentrate on developing and integrating the players they have. Once that's done, we can look at adding missing pieces by signing some role players. But first one should wait how Griffin, Nachbar and Ming pan out. Then the remaining needs will become clear. Increasing the team's salary roll before one can see clear what is necessary would be stupid imo.
I like Bateer, he is VERY good, well from what I saw at the WTC. We could have the wall of china with us that way huh
Confusious say (not really): He who waits, sucks up dust. Shaping a team is a continuous process, & waiting around could cause you to miss out on an opportunity to improve.
KT could be a good backup for O'Neal.We would have to take Croshere off their hands.If Mo-T wasn't injured getting Croshere for him might be possible but would amount to exchanging salaries. I'm not sure about the salaries in this potential trade but I think KT,T-Mo and a second round pick would be close enough to get Artest. If Artest wants to get more minutes he just might want to leave as he has to compete with Mercer,Bender,Miller,and Harrington when he comes back this year. He would have to agree to be a backup to Mobley and eventually Nachbar to fit in with us.
I agree with you Sofine81,he seems to be about as good as Mo-T and isn't really needed on the team.I only mentioned exchanging him and Mo-T in a trade to free up time for KT so we might get Artest.This isn't likely to happen and the best thing for us is to keep on looking for a backup SG/SF like Russell who can score and defend as well.
