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Chronicle: Griffin deal is 2 years, 1.5 mill; Posey decision still to come

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by NIKEstrad, Aug 8, 2003.

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  1. NIKEstrad

    NIKEstrad Member

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    Griffin signs on with Rockets
    Former Maverick provides versatility
    By JONATHAN FEIGEN
    Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
    The deal was done, the contract signed. It was too late to haggle when Adrian Griffin found out just how much the Rockets thought of him.

    Griffin had signed Thursday to help fill the Rockets' expected opening at small forward and was sitting in the passenger seat of Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson's Jeep when Dawson described the qualities that led him to Griffin.

    "He's a very versatile player," Dawson said. "He plays the two and three (shooting guard and small forward). He's very solid. Low turnovers. Does everything well. He'll make everyone better. He's one of those players coaches love to have. He's good in the locker room, good on the court, good off the court. A quality person."

    Asked if Griffin was blushing, Dawson joked, "He thinks I'm talking about someone else."

    But by then, Dawson had signed Griffin, a free agent after two seasons with the Mavericks, to a two-year contract worth, according to sources with knowledge of the deal, roughly $1.5 million, the minimum for a player heading into his fifth NBA season.

    In addition to Dawson's long list, Griffin could help make James Posey expendable.

    Facing today's 5 p.m. deadline to match the offer to keep Posey, the Rockets' starting small forward last season, or lose him to the Memphis Grizzlies, Griffin could serve as a similarly defensive-minded small forward who can also work in at shooting guard.

    Dawson said he would not announce a decision on matching the four-year, $24 million offer sheet until today.     But the Rockets signed shooting guard/small forward Eric Piatkowski less than a week after Posey, a restricted free agent, signed his offer sheet. The addition of Griffin to Piatkowski, and forwards Glen Rice and Bostjan Nachbar would seem to make it even more likely the Rockets will let Posey go, especially at that price, with the Rockets' payroll next season expected to trigger a luxury tax.

    "We still have until tomorrow at 5 o'clock," Dawson said of Posey. "We'll see what happens."

    But Griffin said he knew enough to know he wanted to play in Houston.

    "We played Houston before, four times a year, and you can tell when guys are out there having fun, working hard and have a bright future ahead of them," Griffin said. "I can bring experience, hard work, defense. I'll do whatever I can to help.

    "They already have a great nucleus, with Yao Ming, (Cuttino) Mobley, (Steve) Francis and Rice. They have great players already. I just have to do what I can to help."

    Griffin will move from the Mavericks, who reached the Western Conference finals, to a team that has spent the past four seasons out of the playoffs.

    "The (playoff) experience means knowing what to do in certain situations," Griffin said. "But coach (Jeff) Van Gundy has enough experience for everybody. If they listen to him, they'll be fine. Van Gundy had enough experience in New York and with Pat Riley, in those situations for everybody to feed off."

    According to Griffin, Van Gundy said he was looking for Griffin to bring the Rockets "basically the same thing: consistency and experience and defense."

    Griffin, 6-5, a veteran of four NBA seasons out of Seton Hall, averaged 4.4 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting for the Mavericks last season. Known more as a strong defender at small forward and guard, Griffin started 48 games for the Mavericks last season.

    His best season might have been the 2001-2002 season, his first with the Mavericks, when he averaged 7.2 points per game on 49.9 percent shooting.

    Griffin, 29, was a Continental Basketball Association Most Valuable Player and CBA Finals MVP in 1999 before becoming a surprise success with the Celtics the next season. He played three CBA seasons and a season in Italy before his breakthrough with the Celtics.

    With the signing, the Rockets have cornered the market on Griffins from Seton Hall, with Adrian Griffin joining Rockets power forward Eddie Griffin. But Adrian Griffin said he and Eddie Griffin are not related and have never met, other than on the court.
     
    #1 NIKEstrad, Aug 8, 2003
  2. chuichuitrain

    chuichuitrain Member

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    I like this guy already. He knows his role. And he's coming for CHEAP. 2 years, 1.5 mill? Awesome.
     
    #2 chuichuitrain, Aug 8, 2003
  3. land_sharks

    land_sharks Member

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    I love that we landed him for the minimum. Excellent work CD! He will be a fan favorite - The second coming of Elie & hopefully another "kiss of death".

    I'm pumped up!...I'm going to bed...to sleep.
     
    #3 land_sharks, Aug 8, 2003
  4. Mr. Mooch

    Mr. Mooch Contributing Member

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    Yeah, this guy will make Mooch look like Jordan.

    I mean, between them (contract wise) you get a couple pretty good backups.

    Just remember folks:

    E. Griffin: Pothead

    A. Griffin: NOT Pothead
     
    #4 Mr. Mooch, Aug 8, 2003
  5. rocksolid

    rocksolid Member

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    my expectation of player salaries were met, for once!!!
     
    #5 rocksolid, Aug 8, 2003
  6. LongTimeFan

    LongTimeFan Member

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    Is it odd to anyone else that they haven't commented on not matching Posey yet? Maybe I'm just really optimistic...
     
    #6 LongTimeFan, Aug 8, 2003
  7. RIET

    RIET Member

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    I don't understand that either.
     
    #7 RIET, Aug 8, 2003
  8. AroundTheWorld

    AroundTheWorld Member

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    Applause for CD. The price/performance ratio should be very good on this one. I think that we have so far been doing exactly the right things this offseason.
     
    #8 AroundTheWorld, Aug 8, 2003
  9. hnjjz

    hnjjz Member

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    Why didn't Dallas resign this guy?
     
    #9 hnjjz, Aug 8, 2003
  10. DarkHorse

    DarkHorse Member

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    $1.5 million over 2 years? Great deal.

    :)
     
    #10 DarkHorse, Aug 8, 2003
  11. RocketKid

    RocketKid Member

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    Uh rice? I believe we now have 2 pothead Griffins.......
     
    #11 RocketKid, Aug 8, 2003
  12. Achebe

    Achebe Member

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    Not announcing the Posey decision is weird. We're either:

    a) finagling veterans w/ a huge facade re: our tax burden (where we'll snatch up Posey tomorrow).
    b) trying to exhaust any and all trade opportunities with other personnel that Posey might be able to replace
    c) just playing with Memphis and Posey.
    d) clueless. Maybe JVG isn't sure what the tradeoffs are yet.

    a, c and d are absurd, leaving b. So we either make a mega trade tomorrow or we pat ourselves on the back for accomplishing what CD wanted to accomplish... grab a few vets.

    I hope that we let Posey leave, now that I see CD's plan working out.
     
    #12 Achebe, Aug 8, 2003
  13. Yao Dat

    Yao Dat Member

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    A great pick up for the Rockets. Houston Rockets! HERE WE COME! Remember Mario Elie? Look what he did for us. Griffin brings things the Rockets need. low turnovers, I like it. Good Job Rockets. Go Van Gundy. RUDY!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!:D
     
    #13 Yao Dat, Aug 8, 2003
  14. Sane

    Sane Member

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    Maybe we're in talks to deal Glen Rice somewhere, in which case we may have some wiggle room to re-sign Posey. For example, if we send Rice (9.2M) and EG (3.5M) to the Hawks for Reef (12.2M) then we'll have created 1M in extra space, which may allow us to sign re-sign Posey.

    That's just one example. It could be Rice + Cato for Brian grant, which creates 4M in space. Could be MoT + Cato for Grant, which creates 2M in space. Who knows. But they would be stupid to make an announcement unless they were in NO trade talks currently.

    As for why the Mavs let Griffin go...They have Bell and their new rookie (Howard?) as well as Najera at the SF position, making him expendeable.
     
    #14 Sane, Aug 8, 2003
  15. mikedane

    mikedane Member

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    great moves this offseason . i dont think we will miss posey as mutch as he will miss us . we have just gained two solid, teamwork vets. who dollar for dollar work harder for their money than most of our players. once posey signs with the grizz. he will most likely pull a cato or mooch anyway
     
    #15 mikedane, Aug 8, 2003
  16. TIburon

    TIburon Member

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    Well in my opinion, its a no brainer that Memphis NEEDs a big man and are probably asking for Cato in a trade...

    I don't think Houston likes losing the only other big man in the middle...

    Utah is probably asking for too much and any one else out there want Cat and Cato...

    So Houston added another vet. player but guess what we still have that ace in the pocket...

    Believe you me, their will be teams during the end of the trading period (before the all-star break)that wants to add players in their last season... Glenn Rice is that type of guy...

    Honestly I like the player but at 6'5 defending 6'10/7'0... I just don't think he can make up for the height disadvantage... Then their is Glenn Rice and Nachbar both 6'8/6'9 respectively, can they give enough as backups...

    I guess you have the position covered as good as we could possibly do in our tight situation...

    G Francis 6'3, Norris 6'0
    G Mobley 6'4, Piatkowski 6'6, Hawkins 6'7(hopefully)
    F Rice 6'8, Griffin 6'5, Nachbar 6'9
    F Griffin 6'9, Taylor 6'9
    C Ming 7'6, Cato, Scott 6'9(just a guess-Shawnelle Scott)
     
    #16 TIburon, Aug 8, 2003
  17. RC Cola

    RC Cola Member

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    From what I've heard, the guy has long arms, so that helps a bit. I also like what another poster said about defense in not played with where your head is at, but with positioning and technique and stuff. (kind of put it in my own word.) Still, I don't know if it will still make up for the height disadvantage. I did hear that he usually is too quick for PF's and too strong for most SF's, so maybe he can be a mismatch for the 7 footer as well. The only problem is the issue with his back and extra weight. I'd assume that that (weird) will slow him down at least a little bit, as well as limit time.

    But this is all stuff I have read from others. Only stuff I can remember about him was that he was tough, and pretty annoying, in a good way....now anyways. :)
     
    #17 RC Cola, Aug 8, 2003
  18. Rocketsfan03

    Rocketsfan03 Member

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    great deal:)
     
    #18 Rocketsfan03, Aug 8, 2003
  19. brando

    brando Member

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    08-08-2003 03:55 AM

    I just read the Mavs board and they don`t seem too upset to lose Griffin. They say he was so slow and was totally anemic on offense. They say that he was way more likely to dribble the ball off his foot than he was to make a good pass ( and thats only if you severly limit his minutes so he doesn`t spend the year on the IR). They say all he was any good for was guarding Kobe and to have any worth in that area he will have to steal a car in Colorado or something. Talking about Rocket fans wearing rose colored glasses. There is no way we are better than last year unless Van Gumball can controll these ball hogs ( which I doubt) If we make the playoffs it will only be because of the implosion by other teams (Utah). The only player I like on this team is Yao ( and no I am not Chineese). We need to get rid off everyone else and rebuild around Yao ( or trade Yao for Garnett) . If Francis and Mobes can play as a team I can see mabey keeping one of them. I kinda like the Yao, EG and Cato lineup if they could all play together. May be hard to penetrate on. My dream would to trade every one except Yao for Garnett and Brand and add guys around them. That my friends would be a real Dynasty. I know , I know .......keep dreaming. Wow that would be something Yao in the middle flanked by Brand and Garnett. Thats more than a dream thats a fantasy baby. It wouldn`t matter what any other team like the Fakers did then.


    __________________
     
    #19 brando, Aug 8, 2003
  20. Two Sandwiches

    Two Sandwiches Member

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    To the Rice EG deal::rolleyes:
    You were prolly just throwing something out there, though. ;)

    Josh Howard(the mavs new rookie) should end up getting pretty good.
     
    #20 Two Sandwiches, Aug 8, 2003
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