Rockets have 4 objectives during offseason

Yes, Raven, but do you have any ideas as to who that PF, PG or Sixth Man should or could be? And which bloated contract would be the easiest to shed?

 

You would be pleased with giving up your young, 17+ ppg SG for a veteran PF. What a waste of the MLE. It was created for players like PJ Brown. Now I'm not saying PJ would come here, but it seems like there are always serviceable PJ Brown, Otis Thorpe, Juwan Howard type players out there. Interestingly, I think Juwan would be a pretty decent PF on this team if he was willing to sign for the MLE. He probably won't though.

 

Howard? Another soft big body who's a mediocre defender and not a very good rebounder? He's a hyped up MoT who gets more playing time.

I'd kill for Thorpe in his prime or for PJ. Just not Juwan for this Rocket squad.

 

You're probably right. Thorpe in his prime or PJ now or Antonio Davis when he was good would all be better alongside Yao. Howard's game is similar to Taylor's, but Howard is what we hope Taylor could be. Better scorer, better rebounder, better passer, better defender - still soft, but better.

 

i have a hunch we won't do a thing until all star time.

there is a chance that jvg might be the only change we needed. now he can work with our roster for half a season and see what needs to change. rice will be even better trade bait mid-season.

i'm not giving up on griffin yet. there are too many instances of young guys not coming on strong till their 3rd or 4th season. a veteren pf might not be the answer.

a veteren pg would be nice however. someone to calm the team down at critical moments. someone LIKE kerr....(not him, but someone like him)

 

Yup. I'd also be interested in Dale Davis but I assume he has a monster contract. And while I know Fortson was injured most of the year, if healthy he could be a great fit. Regardless the pickings are slim in the big man department so I assume the team will still have the Griffin and Taylor at the four for another year, much to my dismay.

 

Dale Davis is waaay past his prime and Fortson is fine if you like pint-sized power forwards. I'd prefer Kenny Thomas to Fortson any day of the week. Griffin and MoT are worth ten times any of them.

 

Fair enough. I don't support criminals so I haven't watched the Blazers in years. I'll take your word.

As for Dampier, I don't care about his height. He's a beast and a Wallace like rebounder. Yao for height and Fortson for width. No body could get through that lane. Actually I'm not sold on him. Like I said the big man market is VERY thin these days and I pray that Griffin will somehow wake up one morning knowing how to score in the post, pass, dribble and play man to man defense.

 

You make it sound waaaaaay too easy Raven. Your first two objectives are nearly impossible. Particularly because of the under 30 part. Besides, we have enough guys on the good side of thirty, we need guys with experience who are affordable, people like PJ Brown or a Dale Davis.

 

Is it just me or is the title slightly misleading? When I read "Rockets have 4 objectives during offseason" i expect to find something Carrol Dawson or Van Gundy said are their official objectives. (nevermind they would never release such a list unless they had just achieved those four objectives) instead I got what the author thought the Rockets four objectives should be.

Rockets SHOULD have 4 objectives during the offseason is more appropriate.

that said, those are pretty good objectives and I'd be happy if just one or two of them was achieved.

 

Oh, and if I could have any power forward in his prime right now I think I'd have Charles Oakley. Now that's a guy who would protect Yao.

 

The problem with Fortson is he can't seem to stay healthy, he's only played more than 55 games twice in his 6 year career, and one of those was his rookie season. I'll pass unless Golden State will accept a Mo for Fortson deal.

 

Howard better than Taylor, I beg to differ. A better rebounder yes but better offensively, I would not go that far. Although I think this is a pretty good topic for discussion. What pushes Taylor over the top for me is his shot, Howard has terrible form and a nasty hitch in his shot, Taylor has better handles, can drive better, added a hookshot this past year and hopefully more during this off season. Howard has a hook and will hit the medium range jumper when open, and he has a bigger contract that Taylor.

 

Francis+ for O'Neal and Tinsley would complete 3 of those objectives. Throw in Rice and/or Mo for Croshere and whatever other contracts need to be involved and you got a done deal. As for a scorer off the bench, we already have Taylor, and you could hopefully add Nachbar or Morris or whoever else isn't traded to Indiana as the + to that category.

 

How about trading MoT and Cato for Brian Grant?

I think it would help because

1) Grant's contract runs 2 more seasons. Mo and Cato, if I remember correctly, run for 7 years combined. Grant makes 24M total, while Mo and Cato would make somewhere around 56M. On the financial front, we don't lose anything in terms of what we WOULD have gotten from salary expiry, but overall, we actually improve financially.

2) Griffin gets more playing time, while we also have a viable backup C, as well as someone who can, at any point, take over PF from Griffin.

3) Toughness and rebounding improves.

4) More scoring opportunities for our scorers. MoT and Cat no longer have to fight for 3rd scorer title anymore, as Cat takes over that position, assuming we don't trade him in another deal.

5) More talented rotation. Last year, we had lots of talent, but there was no way we could get enough of it onto the floor. By shortening our rotation, and making more 2-for-1 deals, we get more talent on the floor than on the bench.

6) I'd be comfortable with a Griffin/Grant combo on the floor.

7) We still have the pieces to make one more major trade. Rice and Mobley are still available, and packaged with Moochie can get us a great swingman. If we parlay Mobley, Rice, and Moochie into Jeff McInnis, Derek Anderson and another throw-in player (3-way), we're set for the championship push.

 

Why do everbody wants to trade the team off. I say keep the team the way it is and see how far JVG can take it. I read alot of post that said the players was the reason why this team didn't make the playoffs and they are not talented. I disagree with this strongly and you will see the difference this upcoming season. This team won 43 games and I will say they gave 10-12 away. If you do the math that's 53-55 wins enough for a 4th seed. Along with the fact they played horrible all season. Now imagine this team playing basketball the way it is suppose to be played and the tough D that goes along with it. You have in the making a "Dam Good Team" with a coach pushing the right buttons to get this team to playing up to its capabilities.

 

Try to sign PJ with the MLE, that should be the top priority.

I would love to get rid of those bad contracts, but unfortunately you need to find someone willing to pick up them. Most likely nobody will do that unless you want to exchange for their bad contracts. Only exception is Cato. His contract is only bad to Rox, but fair to other teams.