trading T-MAC is the dumbest thing anyone could possibly do, its not happening dont even bring it up, the whole team started getting along great in g ames before yao got injured, look forward to next season, the only upgrade we want to make is at the 3 or 4 and look for a solution to our PG
Why? Seriously...why? Have you seen a list of players who make more than $10m annually? Here are some current annual salaries... Finley (f. DAL) -> $21.5m Marbury -> $21.0m Kidd -> $19.7m J. O'Neall -> $19.7m C. Webber -> $19.6m S. Francis (f. POR) -> $16.4m Rashard Lewis -> $15.6m Ben Wallace -> $15.5m Micheal Redd -> $15.5m AK47 -> $13.7m L. Odom -> $13.5m Z. Randolph -> $13.5m V. Carter -> $13.0m R. Jefferson -> $12.2m Wally Z -> $12.0m Peja -> $11.9m J Rich -> $11.1m David West -> $10.7m Tyson Chandler -> $10.1m $10m "Close but no cigar"... Rip Hamilton -> $9.8m Bobby Simmons -> $9.3m Borius Diaw -> $9.0m Josh Howard -> $9.0m Adonal Foyle (f. GS) -> $8.9m Tayshaun Prince -> $8.7m E. Curry ->$8.9m TJ Ford -> $8.0m R. Nesterovic -> $7.9m G. Wallace -> $7.5m The long-winded point is this. If you're not in the Lottery and you absolutely need a PG to compete with the teams around you, you will take the risk to pay a proven commodity like Ben Gordon $10.0m/year for Year 1. Houston is one of the few teams that wouldn't pay Gordon that kind of $.
I made this assesment because his talent/skill level is pretty even with his athelticism which in my terms means he's plateaued. He can become a better more consistent shooter. he can become a better ft shooter also. other than that, he's not growing or getting longer. he will struggle vs longer atheletes. Okefor is a pretty good mid range shooter on a team that has him 1a option. people talk about spreading the court for yao, which i dont agree with. The best way to spread the court and become better offensively is with better players. Cato started along with Yao. Duncan and Robinson played together. Its not a problem because i guarantee u this, thi hi/lo game would be awesome, no one would drive to the basket so u could pressure more defensively and when Yao needs to come out, u could slide emeka over to center and bring landry in. Now u still have your presence. To me this is kinda typical of what i'm talking about. The rox fans are the only people worried about spacing the court when the goal should be getting good basketball players. The lakers and suns arent worried about spacing. Know Why? because the best spacing u can have is really good players that have to be respected offensively. Yao gets crowded when hayes is on the floor because no one guards him. When Scola isnt hitting his shots, teams pack it in because he's a try hard post player, but struggles against the long guys. U put Brooks,Shane,Tracy,emeka,and yao on the floor and back them up with landry,udrih,childress, and whoever else on the bench, u now have a bigger more versitile team.
Yes, because they aren't r****ded like Chicago and NYK and won't waste money frivolously? Have you even see Gordon play? He's a streaky shooter just like Rafer and his passing ability isn't any better. Why would you pay 5 million more for such a MINOR MINOR upgrade. Get real.
If the Rockets can't get a PG, they should go after Matt Barnes or Mickael Pietrus. They'd be great fire power off the bench...Pietrus would add blocking and rebounding to the perimeter rotation. It seems everytime I see Pietrus he gets a nasty block and tip in dunk. He goes for the dunk and can jump...like Landry playing guard.
I hope this is a joke. Stephon Marbury should have a type of cancer named after him. He's stupid. He's selfish. He exemplifies the word 'loser'. He's made every franchise he's been on worse, not better. Seriously, I'd rather see them sign Matt Maloney. I would definitely be interested in Matt Barnes. However, I really don't think he could beat out Battier for the starting SF spot and so he'd really just add depth. It's kind of amazing that after years of having a glaring hole at every position that could always be easily upgraded with the MLE, we're finally deep enough that upgrading this team isn't easily done with an MLE. Sure, we could still use another PG, but unfortunately we're not likely to get an upgrade over what Rafer gives us with the MLE. In fact, almost all of the free agents I find myself considering as options would just be back ups on our squad. I suppose it's a nice problem to have.
Pietrus on the floor with McGrady and Battier would definitely be interesting. Pietrus, with his length and quickness, can give a point guard fits defensively. I remember him defending Francis several years ago, gave Francis a very difficult time. I think he can defend the point position. And then you would have McGrady at the top offensively with Battier and Pietrus on the wings. Pietrus can shoot it a little and he can definitely slash/cut and finish. I'd be more interested in him than in Barnes.
eh, I'd rather have Kelenna Azubuike. In virtually the same minutes, Azubuike puts up the same numbers as Pietrus but shoots better from 3. Azubuike MIN: 21.6 FG: .450 3PT: .369 (.387 career) FT: .712 REB: 4 AST: .9 STL: .6 BLK: .4 TO: .74 PTS: 8.6 EFF: +9.27 Pietrus MIN: 20 FG: .443 3PT: .355 (.351 career) FT: .674 REB: 3.7 AST: .8 STL: 1 BLK: .6 TO: .73 PTS: 7.1 EFF: +8.79 Pietrus is an overrated defender. He has shown flashes of great defense in the past but he hasn't played that end of the court in three years. He'll give you a few steals but that is it. Not to mention Azubuike would come at a cheaper price tag that would fit what the Rockets are looking to spend considering they want to spend money to keep Landry.
I beginning to have a fear of us signing Kwame Brown. He's big, long, and athletic and fits a position we need.
First, everyone on the list doesn't play for either NY or CHI. There are 27 other teams outside of them and the Rockets competing for TALENT. Secondly, I have watched Gordon play and wonder what on earth you are talking about. Ben Gordon is so far above Rafer Alston it's not even a contest. If you think Gordon is an MLE player you have some serious logistical flaws. Gordon is faster, younger, stronger, 1" taller, a better finisher in half-court and transition, and supremely more confident than Alston. Forget the passing PG BS...Gordon is Bobby Sura with Lottery PG skills. Lastly, if you don't pay the going rate for talent, you'll have a roster of MLE players. And that is what they will always have under Morey.
I've watched Gordon a ton and was even at the Rockets game that he played and he was a transparent player at best. You obviously fail to mention the he plays in the EC and all his breakout games are against EC teams. Also for his confidence, he's not a consistant shooter (his important numbers, FG% and 3p% are barely better than Rafer's - MINOR upgrade at best. You think he's going to get 1300 shots a season here?) The only thing I agree with is he's probably slightly quicker than Rafer, a marginally better finisher, and a worse defender. Please tell me if you think this is worth 5 million extra dollars because to me it isn't.
Gater- I agree with u on gordon. The benefit of having T-Mac and DD has mentioned it b4, the pg doesn't have to be a true pg. He can be in size and position name, but tracy is the pg. You get gordon to guard pg, but on offense he's the sg. I like it and have been thinking about it a lot. Gordon gives the rox a guy that can break players down off the dribble and is a great finisher. As long as they define the role, he'll be that consistent 2nd or 3rd guy. Unlike others on this board, I think the rox really need to upgrade the talent to elite level. The reason being is the western conference. I like the idea of getting a sure thing type of player. I made mention of Okefor earlier in this thread, but it would cost the Rox bjax, scola,head and maybe a 1st. One guy replied the rox would be getting raped. Now I like scola, but Okefor is better,younger, and more versitile. Just because they're rox players, people want to marry them. Its all about the ring not feelings. If I can get a 25 yr old Emeka who will give me 15-10-2 and not only start a pf, but also back yao up when landry comes in, I'm buying scola,jackson, and head plane tickets. Typical though, people fall in love. IMO, the rox aren't as close to winning the title as people think. I mean making the playoffs is great because of the injuries the rox had to endure, but show me a top 10 team in the west that's going backward? Age wise, all the teams stars are the same age except n.o.,utah, and portland which are younger. Other than that, everyone else is going to get older at the same time for the next 2 or 3 yrs.I think the rox need a over the top type player and the injury safeguard. That over the top guy has to be able to be the 2nd guy when tracy and yao misses games. The rox don't have that guy, so they ask rafer,shane and other to do something they're not capable of sustaining. During the streak, rafer was hitting 43% of his shots for 17ppg and was considered to be playing out of his mind. How good and deadly would the rox be if they had a guy that could do that, but would be his normal output like gordon,artest,deng, or emeka? Wouldn't this team be feared by everyone with any of those players starting on the rox? Just a thought. After all, isn't that the reason morey got jackson to get a expiring contract to be a player in sign and trade?
If you're going after Okafor, I'd rather send them Landry instead of Scola. Landry and Okafor have more similar offensive games. Scola is unique.
What's so unique about scola? Okafor and landry are not alike. 1st off , emeka is a legit 6'9/6'10. He's a good defender on and away from the ball. Also he can legitimately play center while yao needs a break and the team wouldn't lose the presence. Emeka is a better player than both landry and scola. I used scola cuz if u want a guy like okefor, u will probably have to give him up.
