1. Sign a backup PG We can't rely on a rookie PG to run JVG's team. Jason Hart would be a cheap option to play 10-15 minutes a game. Not a great shooter, but he should be able to run the team when Rafer needs a rest. 2. Sign a PF Eduardo Najera is from Mexico and played at Oklahoma...maybe he wants to play close to home. He has an early termination option on his contract. He's like the Shane Battier of PF's. Does alot of dirty work, like Chuck, except he's 6'8. Only makes an average of $4million per year on his current contract. We should be able to make room for him. 3. Draft a scorer Morris Almond, Arron Afflalo, or Derrick Byars would be at the top of my list. 4. Resign Jake and Deke Need some backups for Yao's annual injury. I'm not sure what our cap figure is, but I think we could get this done. C-Yao/Deke/Jake PF-Najera/Hayes/Howard/Novak SF-Battier/Almond/Snyder SG-TMac/Head PG- Alston/Hart/Lucas/VSpan
Downtown parade celebrating the Houston Rockets as the 2007 NBA champs would be my favorite start to the offseason.
They really just need one more player that can make six to seven baskets a night, consistently. Easier said than done, obviously.
ideal scenario, in order of preference: 0) re-sign chuck hayes 1)somehow steal Bibby or billups into our team. somehow...very unlikely though. 2)get steve francis back here. he's an ideal complement to rafer's game. he can penetrate and give us pts when we need them and also understand our system. dunno if isah is gonna cut him lose though 2.5) sign and trade charlie bell or trade Mike James with Sura's contract 3)somehow score a paul millsap like frontcourt player through draft. again unlikely. (i didn't put drafting a PG here because its IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent one through draft..so stop all the crap about drafting a scoring PG...ain't gonna happen and ain't gonna be better than v-span.) 4) sign up decent scrubs such as steve blake(first choice), atkins, p.j.brown(combo bigman), cliff robinson , cato
*Trade Sura+JL3 for Mike James. *Sign Grant Hill with MLE money. *Resign Chuck Hayes and Deke. *Draft BPA, hopefully someone like Almond or Rush. *Maybe look for another PF big like Corliss Williamson, PJ Brown, Joe Smith using either LLE or part of the MLE money depending on what is used on Hill. *Guys like Snyder/Head/Howard/Alston/Vspan/Novak could all be used in potential trade packages. PG: James / Alston / Vspan SG: Tmac / Head / Snyder SF: Battier / Hill / {1st round pick} PF: Hayes / Howard / Novak C: Yao / Deke James becomes our 3rd scorer "A". Grant Hill is our 6th man (3rd scorer "B") giving the Rockets what we never had with Bonzi Wells. Late in the game you could put a lineup of James/Tmac/Hill/Battier/Yao on the floor. Who are you going to double off of? And James/Tmac/Hill can ALL create their own shot and attack the basket.
My present plan (which will change maybe 450,000 times before the start of the season): 1) Head/Howard/#1 for Al Harrington or Head/Howard/V-Span/#1 for Rashard Lewis 2) Matt Carroll or Travis Outlaw for the MLE 3) Francis for the LLE 4) P.J. Brown for vet minimum PG Alston/Francis/JLIII SG T-Mac/Carroll/V-Span SF Battier/Snyder/Novak PF Hayes/Harrington C Yao/Deke/Brown
I don't understand what's so unrealistic about it. Al Harrington has been traded in recent years for a lot less and let's not forget about that huge mess in Seattle with possible relocation and players opting out potentially looming.
why would they want luther head? they have a plethora of guards, and also have the most improved player in monta ellis, who also happens to be a 6'3 shooting guard, who can also handle the PG spot. why would they want howard? an overpaid old guy? our pick is at the bottom of the round and doesnt have as much value since GS would want some size, which is thin in this class. rashard isnt going anywhere either.
Actually, they really don't have a plethora of guards at all. Their two best guards (Davis, Ellis) both start and their only two rotational GF players (Barnes, Pietrus) are both FA's. Why would they want Luther? On paper he's a very attractive trade asset. -Very athletic -One of the best long range shooters in the league -Still young with room to improve -Doesn't get injured -Hits big shots Luther would be perfect on a team like GS. With all the running & gunning they would do he would get more shot opportunities and in all likelyhood be open almost everytime. Biedrins is their future at center and has a payday due after next season. Harrington is a good player but is due almost $30M the next three years. Biedrins is only 21-years-old and has played well enough to earn himself a hefty contract. How much money can you pay for one position? Harrington was instrumental in their regular season run but has been pretty bad during the Dallas series. Who knows what could happen? Hell, the dude's been traded three times in three seasons and for A LOT less than what I suggested. Howard makes less money, his contract is not as long and he's still serviceable. Add Luther. Add to that the 1st-rounder with which they could combine with their 1st-rounder to move up or just stand pat, if they wanted to. I'm not saying GS couldn't get any better offers for Harrington. I'm sure they could. It's just an idea, but an idea that does indeed make sense for both sides, IMO.
If you want to make a splash, bring Ron Ron from Sacto. Could be had for Vspan and Sura's contract. He would take over the starting 3 spot and push battier to the bench giving us a real bench and a legit 3rd scorer who can handle the rock. His defense would make Gundy happy. ya he's a knucklehead but we need some toughness, we have enough nice guys to not let him get crazy.
We need to sign a PF for sure, hope chuck hayes will resign with us, and we need a backup PF who is reliable to start(can score as well as rebound) when Yao's not on the court. JH is unreliable at his age. For PG i really wish if one of our "rookies" can step up a bit, come on guys, we f-king have 2 PG other than rafer, just one of u, practise practise practise and show the coach that u deserve to play and stop getting benched! I'm not sure whether we'll resign jake or deke. Jake isn't a great backup and Deke is old. So i'll sign a center who can rebound and block shot. I'd take the strong one.
That doesnt improve the team 1 bit I would like the team to look like this next year: Pg: Francis/Alston/Spanoullis Sg: McGrady/Head/Strawberry Sf: Battier/Snyder/Novak Pf: Hayes/Howard/Splitter C: Yao/Deke/Cato Sign Francis and Cato Draft Splitter if he drops far enough, trade JLIII for a 2nd rounder and draft DJ Strawberry.
Ellis is not a good three point shooter. Luther could be provide a nice spark off of the bench in an offense like that. GS will likely lose one or both of Barnes/Pietrus. Both of those guys are their only perimeter bench players. They could use the depth.
Ok since we are playing the offseason game this is what i would do. 1. Trade V-span + Sura to Sacramento for Ron Artest. Ya i know. But this team needs a bench and toughness in the worst way. I think we have enough good guys on this team to keep him balanced, hell i would make Battier his accountabilabuddy and the two never go anywhere apart. On the court Artest is a top level guy and plays defense so Gundy will love him. He doesn't have a great outside stroke, but he is a capable ball handler and can put points on the board. Supposedly Sacramento wants to get rid of him for anything and Sura and Vspan leaves them with only Vspan's contract to worry about and he can provide some minutes behind Bibby. Artest to Houston would push Battier to the bench as the primary backup for probably 3 positions (2,3,4). The presidence i see is that Van Gundy likes toughness and knuclkeheads, he had a post choke Spreewell. Morey will be looking to make a statistical splash, and just basketball wise there probably isn't a bigger bang for the buck. The thinking would be that we have enough good personalities on this team to keep him in check and a coach that is used to bad attitutudes. His contract is just 21million over the next 3 years so not brutal. 2.Trade 1st round pick to San Antonio for the rights to Louis Scola The downside to this move is we have to use part of the MLE to sign him, if not most of it. Yet that being said this is a Power Forward(4) that can come in and play right away. He has the size and intelligence and experience to earn playing time. He is a Euroleague star and an olympic gold medalist. He understands teamwork and winning like almost every Argentine in the leauge. He would most likely check Hayes for minutes and probably end up starting by the end of a season. This is a player in his mid 20's that is coming into his prime, not a young kid looking to develop. 3. Trade for Marcus Banks from Phoenix. Phoenix signed this guy to a 5 year 20 mililon contract and regretted it as he didn't fit in their style of play. They have been wanting to unload his contract so bad they are offering some of their 1st round picks to a team willing to take him. He earns 3.9 million next season and with Sura already traded to the kings a combination of Snyder and Novak or simply resigning Tsakalidis to a 1 year deal for 2.82 million will get the deal done, then phoenix can cut him. We might have a trade exemption big enough from the Tsakalidis trade to get it done. We not only get Marcus Banks but a 1st round pick in this draft (i doubt its atlanta's pick) but it could be 24th overall. Banks isn't a great backup point, but he is better than anything else we have. He is also big, thick and is a GREAT defender at the point meaning Gundy will love him and he will earn playing time on this team. With the pick from Phoenix (#24) we could draft Morris Almond from Rice to bring more scoring and smarts off the bench. Yao-----Mutombo---Howard Scola----Hayes------Novak Artest---Battier------Snyder McGrady-Head-------Almond Alston---Banks-------Lucas This still leaves the LLE that we would have to maybe sign a vetran, possibly a steve Francis if he were bought out, otherwise this lineup looks alot better to me. There is a backup point, a bench and a real power forward who has size. The backup 2 and 3 would be dominated by Battier while Hayes would eat up alot of big man minutes and can play some center when Yao goes out as he has done before letting our team run. A second backup center wouldn't be a bad investment since Mutombo is getting long in the tooth but otherwise this seems like a team that could advance through anystyle of play and dominate on the defensive side of the ball.
