Not sure you're on the money here... They guys who signed with us for less did themselves no favours in their time here. It's not like their play was half decent (Stro sucked, Wells showed up fat and didn't play in his first year, Mobley is debatable - but I think he got a pretty reasonable deal for a 6'4 streaky SG. And for the record, JLIII is a minimum contract player. The only 'track record' that our front office has gained is that it won't tolerate underperfoming stars or bad attitudes. And if people want to sign on for a championship, they should be calling Morey stat. The only thing holding us back is the lack of a 7'6 Chinaman at the moment. The Spurs remain the benchmark, and we matchup pretty damn favourably with them when Ming is in the lienup! Which FINALLY brings me to my point on free agency: I don't think we need to panic and try and bring in a 3rd superstar. But we really need to add 2 or 3 peices to the puzzle. The first is the 'insurace' peice against Mings injury - finding a backup C who could offer us some offense in the post. I'd be looking to make a move for Zaur Pachulia. Failing that maybe hit up NJ to get Krstic AND Diop in some sort of trade. Failing that, just tell Diop that 'uncle Mutombo' needs him to continue the work, and sign Diop. If we can only get Diop, then Chris Mihm is worth a shot too! The second peice is the 'offensive sparkplug': that is, a 2/3 who can shoot the 3. Basically a taller version of Luther Head please. Perhaps James Jones? Or maybe we sign an offer sheet with Azubuike? If we're desperate there's always Ricky Davis - but you've got to wonder about his attitude! If that side of things is worth a shot, then he's certainly a multi talented player who is still only 28 years old. The final peice is the hardest: the consistent PG. I can't see an upgrade to Alston happening - if you look around the league there just don't seem to be enough options of PGs who protect the ball, hit the three, and play above average defence. The only one who jumps off the page is Calderon - but I'd rather fix the other 2 positions before wasting time signing his offer sheet (and having it matched). Assuming that Mutombo is gone for next season, I'd love to trade for Pachulia, sign Diop and James Jones. I'd settle for picking up Diop (half MLE), Mihm (min?) and Davis (or Az?) (half MLE). We could then eat our own 'non-guaranteed contracts' and assess whether the draft picks are worth keeping. Alston, Jackson, Brooks, Francis McGrady, Head Battier, Davis Scola, Landry, Hayes, Novak Ming, Diop, Mihm That's at least a useful roster which would cope pretty well with an injured Ming or McGrady.
I think Jackson will be the first one to go this offseason due to his large expiring contract. Hayes , Head, and Novak can also be thrown into some kind of a trade bait.
Good points. However, my opinion is that the backup center is the least of our concerns because: 1. Without Yao's injury, a backup center isn't hardly gonna get floor time. 2. There will be a backup center available from the pile of bigs in the NBA. You already named several. Mihm has very good offensive skills. Playing minimal minutes, it would be hard to see him get injured or both him and Yao get injured. Kwame is a free agent. Diop is a free agent. Raef will be a free agent at the trade deadline. Deke may be back. Not to mention backup bigs that Josh Powell or other possible trade scenarios involving guys like Zaza. There's plenty off options at the 5. In my opinion, we have to get these two things first: 1a. a swingman capable of playing 30 minutes a game in the rotation at both the 2 and 3 backing up McGrady/Battier so that we always have two of those three guys out there. The swingman has to be somewhere between 6'6" and 6'8" with the ability to get some offense and not hurt us defensively. He's either got to be able to shoot it hot (Mike Miller) or get to the hole and cause mayhem with his penetration (Maggette) or some combination of both. We've either got to get him in the draft or we've got to trade for him. It is vitally important that we get a guy that can create his own shot though, so it's got to be a taller, more rangy type player that can get the jumper off over guys or has enough strength and bulk to get to the paint and get to the line. WE CANNOT TRADE SHANE, unless we are able to get an upgrade to him, which would be a swingman that can both defend close to Shane's ability and score much better than Shane (Marion/Artest). IF WE DO TRADE SHANE for an upgrade, we still have a hole at the 2/3 and need the third swingman to eat up 30 minutes and give us some production. We cannot run out Luther and BJax again with them being so one dimensional, old, short, etc., and have them firing up double digit shot attempts alongside Rafer's already double digit shot attempts. 1b. WE HAVE TO SORT OUT THE FUTURE AT THE POINT GUARD SPOT. I really don't care how or who but we've got to upgrade our production there. As long as we are going to run Rafer out there, RAFER IS GOING TO GET THE 3RD MOST SHOT ATTEMPTS, because ALL TEAMS are going to funnel the ball to him. Every team in the NBA is going to do their best to take away 111. If they can front Yao and force McGrady into the faceup from 3, they'll let him fire it. They are gonna sag off on McGrady, covering the drive and either let him fire it from long range or let him throw it to Rafer to fire it from long range. Just think about it, if you were any team in the league, what is the best way to make the Rox the least efficient. It's by covering the interior and letting them chuck away from deep. And the logical guy you want taking those shots is RAFER. We are trying to be an inside-out team but when opponents take away the interior early, they force us to be outside-in. That's why you've got to be able to knock down the shots, to force them back out to the perimeter to defend you, so you can then get all the creases for the cuts and backdoors. If you hit effectively from outside, the defense is in a jam. They're scrambling and they've got to give up something. But you've got to have guys on the floor that can make plays and hit shots. So, this summer a decision has to be made on the point. Is Brooks going to be the man going forward and is he going to develop into a 30 mpg guy or do we need to make a trade and bring somebody in? The PG spot has got to be upgraded. If we could do a deal with Chicago sending them BJax and Rafer for Hinrich, I would like us to do that deal in a heartbeat. It would be a HUGE upgrade in the backcourt. If we can send some expirings and our pick to Memphis for Miller and Lowry, I'm down with that. If we can send some expirings and our pick to the Clips or Maggette, I would be down with that. If we can send Shane and Luther to Portland for Outlaw, Frye, and Jack, I would seriously consider it. Don't know if I'd do it, don't know if Outlaw can really create his own shot. Don't think he can. Bottom line is, we've got to upgrade our rotation at the swing position with a scorer alongside McGrady/Battier and we've got to make a decision at the point guard spot. We have to have a new starting point guard next season, even if it is Brooks. I'm okay with Rafer..........playing with the second unit. He is a much shorter, much less potent McGrady. We don't need the two of them in the starting unit with Rafer duplicating McGrady's weaknesses and adding more of his own.
2 more yrs at 6.5m per. An avg mid level nba player. I think people try to correlate nba money with regular money. 6m per in nba is mid level money.Now if u work at burger king or ur a school teacher maker 50k, u can't understand it. The problem is u can't relate to someone who is the top .0001 % of there profession vs anyone that graduate college can become. That why I laugh when people call mike james contract horrible. The guy was making 4.5 m, which in the nba is a few clicks above mendoza line. The avg salary is like 2.5 m, and he makes 4.5. Why is that so terrible. It would do the entire team a disservice by not upgrading the talent. Coming back without that 3rd star and risking yao or tracy missing games is unwise. They are not just a avg player away. Get rid of that notion. Yao comes back which is good, but when his minutes are cut, his production will go down also. Then its back on tracy to do everything again. They need that 3rd guy to take the pressure of yao,tracy,shane,scola,rafer, and everyone else. Ideally, luis or rafer would be great 4th options along with shane and landry. Getting 55 to 65pts from the big 3(artest), then getting to 100 and maintaining the defensive team would make them real contenders.
if the players didn't all suck when we put them on the court our track record wouldn't look as bad. i guess that's not fair to mobley and bonzi bc they were good, but we only moved mobley bc we had to in order to get mcgrady, and bonzi only took less money to play with us bc he couldnt get any more money elsewhere. its not like we're betraying people left and right. stromile didn't perform and neither did john "steve nash of the summer league" lucas III.
Number one we got to sign Landry! I would say no to any player from Golden State. I think Finley or Barry would be excellent additions to our team as they are both still in good shape despite being old. They can add all the shooters we need. Finley can also penetrate. I think adding Kurt Thomas or Diop would be excellent additions to our team just for the fact that Mutombo is so old and he may not even play next season. Corey Maggete would also be nice if he can be had for not much. I would like Ron Artest because he brings both offense and defense. However I would not give up Shane Battier to acquire Artest. Artest is just such a wacko that he could end up sabotaging us. Brent Barry, Michael Finley, and Kurt Thomas would all provide good veteran leadership for our young up and comers and thats something only Mutombo and Shane Battier provide.
Baron Davis misses at least 20games a year. We already have a player like that we cant afford to have two.
I would like to add young talent. We need more athleticism. Not those old guys. I wouldn't mind adding a guy like Pietrus or Azuibuike or Barnes because they are young, can play the 2/3 and are offense off the bench. And they provide athleticism.
I prefer the rockets to keep all the expirings contracts and not to sign anyone. (unless it is for one year or a sign and trade that gives us more in expirings) Next year free agent class will be Huge, and much better than this one, this has a lot of wannabes and next year it will be real players.
Well part of that is also when a younger player sign for less, I think he's also looking for a situation where he will be developed. I don't think that's necessarily true for the Rockets. Also, if I was a star player, why would I be calling Morey when I could be calling the Lakers, the Spurs, the Celtics, the Pistons or heck even the Hornets? I'm just saying Houston is a must be destination for the younger players.
I totally agree with your perception of our team needs! The only reason I say that backup centre is our number 1 priority is because we ended up with Loren Woods (!) this season. That's not gonna fly - once teams have a big, they're hardly likely to help someone else out. Time is now to strike and pick up a couple of guys who can 'manage' the C spot should tragedy fall, and (worst case) they combine for 15 minutes a night to keep Ming fresh. I'm happy to trade for Pachulia, because he's a proven post scorer who can play 30+ minutes if needs be. Diop is ideal to replace Mutombo - but we need, need, NEED to upgrade the 'Loren Woods' roster spot. The more I think about it the more possible it seems to get someone like Mihm - who can play 0 minutes unless needed! At the PG spot it's quite hard to upgrade Rafer. Hinrich isn't known as a lights out shooter - although I'd be more comfortable with him shooting the rock than Rafer. Brooks IS the shooter, but not sure if he's ready for the big minutes just yet. Francis might just come back in some sort of shape and make a difference (1 bad season aside, he's a good scorer who gets to the FT line and makes them) On 1a: love the Mike Miller idea - but dunno if he's in our price range save for a trade. Ricky Davis might be - and he hit something like 150 threes this season (at around 40%). I think I'd pass on Maggette simply because he isn't a great 3 point shooter, and this team really needs something reliable from outside. And the outlaw/jack/frye concept is trading away a rotation player to get back 3 guys who probably can't start for us. Don't like it!!
Boy, I really hope we're the lucky team that gets to sign Diop, Mihm or Kwame Brown. Given that Yao has missed half of the season the past two years and Deke's retirement, who better to hand the reigns to?
So who are you looking at for help here? You do realise that we've been reasonably succesful since Yao's injury with Deke playing 15-20 minutes and the 6'6 Chuck Hayes rolling in at centre? Diop is (at worst) the 7' version of Chuck Hayes, and offers what Deke currently does (sans the experience). Which centres are you thinking will magically appear on the roster over the off-season? Oh wait - you're probably thinking that at pick 25 in the draft we'll get a serviceable big man who is long, athletic, can create his own shot in the post, run the floor, block shots and play lockdown D?
I think with salary cap issues we will benefit from this free agency class because there are too many players available for every position and that will make them affordable. We can not afford the big big names. Who will be available in 2009?
I've been a huge proponent of drafting Hibbert or any of the other centers in this year's draft. I've made countless posts about how unusually stacked this year's draft is with capable 7-footers. Couple that with the fact that you could add one of these quality big men for a rookie contact's price rather than tapping into our precious MLE, then you have the most logical route to pursue. I'd rather draft my own 23-year-old or younger player, develop him and coach him rather than pick up somebody else's garbage along the lines of Diop, Mihm or whatever else NBDL prospect you had in mind. ....and according to your rather ridiculous criteria of finding an immediate impact type of player, what makes you so certain that a Kwame Brown, Mihm or whoever else type of player would better fit that criteria than a Hibbert? Is there really such a talent discrepancy? Is somebody like Desagana freakin Diop really capable of creating his own shot, running the floor well or doing any of the other things you mentioned? No, not even close. If Deke does indeed retire, everything you just mentioned about him matching up with other centers is thus negated. As is any efforts of masquerading 6'7" Chuck Hayes as a center. That's simply not good enough if your intentions are to win basketball games.
