BSKBALL:Trade exception to Seattle(they sign MO)in Exchange for Patterson and Scrubs?

I saw that but then realized it is completely false and here's why:

Most of the Rockets moves and non-moves have been geared toward next year's caproom, and all four of those guys have two years left on their contracts.

Nothing to worry about, but it would be a shame to have a potentially great offseason (lottery pick and trade exception) blown in both areas.

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Yeah and I'm sure Vernon and Houston are going to kiss and make up. Plus I dont want R.Patterson either. He is good, but I dont think he can shoot that well from the outside. And the style of Houston demands that the sf be able to shoot pretty consistently.

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From most of what I have read, Seattle is the team most likely to lose a playoff spot next season. I can't provide links, but I know I have read it several times in several different online publications.

The only one I was able to find is Bill Walton saying:

In the Western Conference, the Nuggets and the Rockets are young teams that appear primed to move into the playoff picture. The problem is that I think they’ll only be fighting for one spot, since all of last season’s playoff teams are solid and the only team I can see dropping out is Seattle.

Sure, Bill Walton is not the most reliabe guy in these circles but I think that what he said last makes a lot of sense.

Here are last year's playoff teams:

1) LA Lakers
2) Portland Trailblazers
3) Utah Jazz
4) SA Spurs
5) Phoenix Suns
6) Minnesota Timberwolves
7) Seattle Sonics
8) Sacramento Kings

I certainly think that Seattle and Sacramento are the teams most likely to fall out of the playoff picture.
How would they be the surprise of the West? They haven't made any big moves, except for the signing of Rashard. Will that make them do better than any of the teams listed above the Sonics? I highly doubt it.
This is not to say that the Rockets are a lock for the playoffs, but I don't mind saying that we have the greatest chance to steal a playoff spot from Seattle or maybe even Sacramento.

As for rebounding, I am mainly referring to our front line and the need we have to get some rebounding from those guys. Kelvin Cato was pathetic on the boards laste year, Kenny Thomas isn't known for it, and Hakeem is an injury waiting to happen.
I think Fortson would be a great addition for his rebounding alone, and such a presence might be very helpful. He's not a bad defender, either. Certainly better than Mo Taylor.

I also got this from MSNBC:

A rebounding machine who appears headed to the Knicks or Warriors. The Celtics turned down a sign-and-trade deal with the Knicks that would have brought them Chris Childs. Boston would rather not deal with their rivals, but they could be forced to yet.


IF the Celtics are going to be forced to deal with their rivals, I don't see Fortson signing with us for the exception. It seems like the Celtics might not want to lose him for nothing, and might even consider an offer similar to that Childs deal.
Fortson will probably opt for the security first, I'd say.

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If Brian Grant is worth 90million what in the hell is Cuttino Worth

 

Ace,

The reason many people feel that Seattle will be the suprise team next year is that they were a young team that underacheived last year. Add Desmond Mason and another year of expierence for Lewis, Patterson, Williams, and Borrell and you have an improved club. Add a healthy Vin Baker and you have a team that is very improved. The team that should drop out of the playoffs is Sacramento.

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I agree that Sacramento will be the team most likely to drop out of the playoffs. However, I also believe that Seattle remains close behind this fate.

Houston has also gone through similar improvements, is moving in on Maurice Taylor, and has an extremely cohesive unit.
Steve Francis, Kenny Thomas, Shandon Anderson, and Cuttino Mobley will all benefit from the added experience as well. I'd say more than the players you have mentioned.
Vin Baker is supposedly in better shape, but isn't the case similar with Kelvin Cato? I'd take a wait and see attitude on this type of speculation.
Granted, it will be tough to pass any of the two teams we are considering, but if the Rockets do have the goal to reach the playoffs they must focus in on both Sacramento and Seattle as their main rivals. There's no way the Rockets will somehow propel into the elite of the West.

This helps in my thought that the Rockets would never do this trade.

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Ace, please explain how you expect the Sonics to fall out of the playoff picture due to "Not making any moves besides resigning Rashard" and Houston to possibly move in while they have made no moves other than to resign Mobley

didnt we finish like 12 or more games behind them last year?




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Lil Francis: guards who score 17 pts per game, don't play defense, don't rebound, and don't get many assists are alot easier to find than PF's who can average 15 and 10.



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The main point I was trying to get across is that the Sonics is one of the teams that will most likely drop out of the playoff picture. I never said that it was already set in stone.
The "they haven't done anything but sign Rashard" comment" was meant to help me illustrate my belief that the Sonics will not be the so called "surprise of the West." Do you believe that the signing of Rashard and the added experience and so on will take them above the other elite teams in the West? I can't see them cracking the top 6 teams at all.
As far as the Rockets are concerned, I think that we have a chance to make it into the playoffs. I never wanted to bring across the thought that this is guaranteed. Not at all. If we sign Taylor, I would say that we have a much greater opportunity to pry a spot away from either Seattle or Sacramento.

I think it's pretty reasonable to believe this.

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[This message has been edited by Ace (edited August 13, 2000).]

 

Why? They are a year more experienced. As a young team, they went 2-2 vs. Phoenix, San Antonio, Sacramento, Utah, and Minnesota. Seattle underacheived last year and still finished as the #7 seed. The Sonics will make the playoffs unless something severe happens to Payton.


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I guess our opinions differ in that respect. I seriously don't see the Sonics surpassing any of the teams that finished above them last year.

However, I still feel the need to mention that they probably will be in the playoffs next season. However, I will still maintain the opinion that Seattle is (as is Sacramento) one of the teams that are most likely to not make it relative to the other teams.
Because of this I mention the fact that the Rockets, an up and coming team shooting for the playoffs, will have Seattle and Sacramento as rivals. To make it into the postseason, we have to knock off one of these two teams. Hence, they will be one of our greatest rivals this coming season.

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The Seattle team is nowhere near as young as the Rockets. The Seattle core last year revolved around Payton, and more Payton.....and sometimes Baker or Grant, all veteran players. Rashard didn't log serious time till the end of the season/playoffs.

Houston meanwhile relied on Francis/Mobley/Anderson to carry them.

RT45-You've asked for where people said Seattle is the odd team out, where are the links that say Seattle is the team that will surprise?

Ace brought up a good point. The Rockets won't do this deal, for the mere fact it'd help a team they'll be trying to chase for one of the last 2 playoff spots.

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First of all, I don't think we pull off that deal anyway. Not for the reasons Ace brings up but because it isn't conducive to our reloading plans.

Some of the folks talking about the Sonics being a suprise in the west are Frank Hughes of ESPN, David Locke from the Utah Jazz radio network, Steve Smith of the Philly Inquirer, and Dwaine Price of the FTW S-T. Much of this talk came after the summer performance of Desmond Mason and Shammond Williams.

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Speaking of the Jazz, the potential pick-up of Donyell Marshall is a big one. WHY DOESN'T THIS CLUB JUST DIE!! (sorry but I am a self proclaimed Jazz hater)

 

Speaking of teams that might slip out of the playoff picture, how about the Jazz? More wishful thinking than a real possibility, but they could pull an Astros this year. On paper, they look similar to last year's team, but a couple of changes and they drop off significantly. Hornecek replaced by Starks? Talk about an accuracy drop-off! How about the addition of Manning? Bad wheels and a poor shot, nice addition. Then to sign Vaughn over Eisley? Eisley is clearly the better player. Let's not forget that Stockton has been in decline for a while. The changes in their team may not seem significant, but lose a few games because defenses are leaving Starks, Manning and Vaughn open, and see how long it is before Malone wishes he was gone fishing. With LA and Portland being the clear favorites, I think the refs will be less receptive to the constant Jazz b****ing. Take away a number of their free-throw attempts, and that just adds to their decline.

I'm really looking forward to this season!

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NikeStrad,
Thanks for the stats on the Rockets' rebounding. I see posts from time to time saying that we have to get someone to rebound, but I can remember very few times last year that we were out-rebounded.
That being said, I am not so concerned about Taylor's rebounding as his defense. Both aspects, however, fall under heart and desire. I'm just like everyone else, though, I have very limited information to judge by. If Rudy really wants the guy, there must be more than a lazy, selfish guy who scores a lot.

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I know what you mean....Deshawn Stevenson, AND Marshall?? Die Utah.....(i guess u should conclude that i hate them too)

I wated to pose a question....who can rebound/defend better? Mo Taylor or Kenny Thomas? I rememebr two things from last season that u should take into consideration.....ONE, kenny had a 22-rebound game last season.....a fluke? are u telling me that ALL 22 rebounds were flukes?? he deserved at least 16 of them which DAMN good......TWO, I remember a game against San Antonio when he defended Tim Duncan and Timmy himself said kenny did a GREAT job....the last shot won it, AND KENNY WAS DEFENDING ON IT...BUT HE DID DO A GREAT JOB....AND ON duncan, he's like 4 inches taller than kenny......so after taking this struff into consideration, who's the better defender/rebounder? I'd really appreciate it if someone could find out about Mo Taylor best rebounding game.....

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I'LL SAY LET'S SIGN MO FOR A YEAR A LETS GET DOWN WITH IT AND LET'S SEE HOW HE'LL PERFORM.
THEN, JUST SIMPLY WILL GO TO HIS PERFORMANCE TO SIGN FOR BIG MOOONNEY!!!!!


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Mo Taylor had a 20 rebound game in 98-99, and in 99-00, he had a 15 board game.

One game doesn't make you a good, or bad rebounder.

As far as Duncan goes, if I recall, we still lost that game, in overtime (and Duncan scored something like 16 points in overtime and the 4th quarter I think?

And if Duncan's 4 inches taller than Thomas, does that give Thomas the benefit of the doubt for being schooled? "It's ok, Thomas is undersized for a PF, no big deal".

That said, Thomas is more than likely the better rebounder and defender (based on the Clippers version of Mo Taylor, whether Taylor is a better defender and rebounder than he's showed as a Clipper is to be determined), though Thomas is NOT a good defender, and he's NOT a great rebounder. He's very average on defense, and maybe a slice above on rebounding.

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Tb-Cain: I for one, think that Utah will probably be better than last year. Hornacek really declined last year, so Starks probably won't be much of a drop-off. Danny Manning still has some talent, and should help in limited minutes. I think the biggest addition though is Donyell Marshall. Marshall always has been something of an underachiever, but 14 and 10 is quite good.

About Eisley and Vaughn: Vaughn is really the more talented of the two players, and Eisley was getting a bit old, anyway. By the time the Jazz are ready to rebuild, he'd be nearly past his prime himself. Vaughn is a young talent with a tremendous work ethic. He just hasn't had the opportunity to play as much due to his youth.

Ace: I completely agree with you. Payton is going to be a year older, and he's past the point where that's a good thing. Vin Baker is completely unreliable, it seems, and Horace Grant should decline further.

The rest of the team... is youthful, but didn't really play a substantial role last year. Ruben Patterson, Barry, etc... they were nice, but they're not going to win for Seattle.

If Lewis was going to explode next year, then maybe Seattle would be the "surprise team" of the West. I just don't think he's quite ready for that. Maybe the year after. If he can average 13 and 7, then I think the season is a success.

Seattle, in the absence of any substantial improvements for either team and predicting a limited contribution from Hakeem, is slightly better than us. However, one injury to almost any of their integral players, and we're probably better than them. If Francis develops into a superstar early than I expect, we might be better than them.

But Seattle, for us, is the team to beat.
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The lottery sucks. Playoffs 2001.

[This message has been edited by haven (edited August 15, 2000).]