Now that the Rox have a back-up 5, (as well as three back up 1s,) what will management do about having four 4s? Plus, there are two roster spots 'open', allowing for 1 - 2 or 1 -3 type deals. Does Spoon get moved in a deal for McInnes (with Newbie)? Does Juwann wind up, ultimately, in Chicago or Minny or Seattle or Sac or Miami or ??? What do they do?
We shoujld go for Rodney White. Yes, I heard what happened with him. I don't care, it only means his market value is down now, and will go up later. He could be our future 3, he's got all the tools to be a great defender, is already a good scorer, just needs to improve his 3-pt shooting.
They don't have to do anything else. Two 5's, four 4's & four 1's add up to ten players. With the 15 man roster for this season, that leaves five spots for the 2 & 3 spots. Since everyone else can play the 2 or 3, that doesn't seem to be a problem.
I seriously doubt they make any more moves after the Mutumbo deal. I'm guessing they want to see what they have with this group of guys.
Why do you think the Rockets still need to make more moves? When the Mutumbo deal goes down, I think our roster will be set. We have a much better bench than we've had in a long time. Besides Taylor/Spoon, we don't have that many bad contracts, and there are probably no takers for them anyways. And Spoon for McInnis? Come on Xiki, you know better than this. Ward-Lue TMac-Sura JJ-Nachbar-Padgett Howard-Taylor-Spoon Yao-Deke That is a solid team with depth, no need for the Rockets to make more moves. Unless, obviously, some miraculous trade offer is made to us, our roster should be set.
Do we HAVE to use the two roster spots? Pike makes around 2.9M next year, Griffin 700K, and I believe Wilks will make just under 1M? That completely covers Mutombo's 4.5M, and aside from that, we get out of Pike's final year which pays him 3.3M I think. So to me, we've just freed up money and space... I think we should sign someone. To be completely honest, I think this squad is superb. I'm extremely happy with it. However, it's always good to have depth, especially considering our role players are all relatively old (Howard, JJ, Ward). Looking at the remaining FA's, I would love it if we: - Signed Peter Cornell to a partially guaranteed contract. Nothing big. He sists on the IR just in case something happens, we pay him peanuts. - Sign Hubert Davis on a one year deal, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 700K-1M. We lost Pike, and I think it would be wise to have a tall shooter on the bench. he's experienced and is amazing from 3-pt range. The two togethr would cost around 2M, which is still 1M short of what we're saving by getting out of Pike's final year. Yao/Mutombo/Cornell MoT/Howard/Spoon/Padgett JJ/Boki/T-Mac T-Mac/Sura/Hubert Davis Ward/Sura/Lue Unless ofcourse, Gaines really is a good shooter... I've hard people say he was a very good shooter in college. I wouldn't mind waiting for rookie camp (first 3 days are rookies right?) and seeing what he can do before we make these little moves.
No more moves? I think we need one more backup C after Mutombo. The man is 40+ years old and he could easily miss 5+ games. You don't want to have Howard or Taylor play C in the west.
I'm not sure I understand that logic. Here's a rundown of the other teams and their starting and backup centers: Dallas: Dampier/Booth/Eschmeyer/Bradley New Orleans: Magloire/Chris Anderson San Antonio: Nesterovic/bunch of power forwards Memphis: Wright/Tsakalidis Denver: Nene/Camby Utah: Boozer/Borchardt/Collins Phoenix: Voshkul/Hunter LA Clippers: Kaman/N'diaye/Josh Moore LA Lakers: Mihm/bunch of power forwards Golden State: Foyle/Davis Sacramento: Miller/Ostertag Seattle: James/Potapenko Portland: Ratliff/Stepania/Pryzbilla Minnesota: Olowokandi/Ervin Johnson There isn't a single guy on that list that is in the same league Yao as a starter. Dampier is solid defensively but no threat on the offensive end. Nene is playing out of position at center as is Boozer. As for back ups, most of these guys are either moderate bench players or power forwards. Dallas is deep at the position, Denver is solid if undersized, Sacramento is solid if unspectacular and Minnesota is solid. But, no surprise there. All of those teams will be in the hunt for a playoff spot. San Antonio is the only legit contender without real depth at the five. If anything, the west is the ideal spot for athletic fours playing the five spot. Put a guy like Taylor on Ervin Johnson or Calvin Booth, for example, and you get a big time quickness mismatch. And since neither of them play much offense, Taylor gets to rest at that end of the floor. To me, our biggest question marks are at small forward and point guard. I think we can be adequate at the point once everything shakes down with the three guys there. But, an undersized two guard and an unproven player like Boki at the three (mixed with Sura or McGrady sliding over on occassion) seems like a significant weak spot, but most teams have them.
Not that they're in the same league as Yao, but you left out Brian Grant, Vlade Divac, Mehmet Okur, Podolkzine, Wilcox, and Darius Songaila. However, I'm pretty sure that Mutombo can contain 90% (or more) of those C's while he plays. In fact, he does a decent job on Duncan as well. He may be old, but defensively, he's up there with any C in the league, especially since he won't be playing much and that will keep him fresh.
Quickness is not the most important asset for a center. Height and strength are. A 5 need to hold low post position on the offensive end and protect the paint in the defensive end. He have to push opponents 5 out of the paint and get defensive rebounds. Taylor can use his quickness at the 4 but he cannot play the center.
can will guard the athletic 4s with Shooting range... ie undersized shooting 4s i think we know Howard, Mo, Spoon and Padge is one too many..... but the more important question is which team is stupid enough to take MoT or SPoon off us.... personally i think Howard could be a nice match with Ming not sure though that we are athletic and mobile enough at the 4 and depending on Yao D and rebounding is we have enough grunt....
The point is not whether Taylor can guard opposing backup centers. It's whether he or Howard can provide a presence in the paint to deter the opposition from getting to the basket. And I think the answer to that. As for Taylor resting on the defensive end, he does that no matter who he's guarding.
As long as we use the swarming zone defense to our advantage, we'll be ok. Yao's a great passer. And I guess T-Mac has some offense. I heard.
I think the roster is set until the season starts. If something happens during the season, we have the trade exception. If Ward/Lue/Sura doesn't work at PG, we can get a veteran guy like Eric Snow or Frank Williams. Since the trade will leave us a little bit thin at the swing positions (Remember; there's no guaruntee that Boki will be able to make the rotation) I would be interested in a guy like Jumaine Jones, who could bring some energy off the bench. The Lakers have a ton of swingmen, and didn't really want JJ in the first place.
Not a prediction, not a trade 'thread', just wondering -- after all, JMc is unhappy with the 'Snow' fall and Cavs were burnt on Newbie...that's all.
And what about 'chemistry'? Howard and Taylor have to be looking for 30+/night while Spoon still wants in the game. Padgett? Why did he resign -- unless there were no other offers? I believe a move is requisite. Lue and Mo for LaF? Why not? Boston needs a starting 4 and reports are Raef is still time away from consistent minutes over 20. With the ability to play the 5 he might be an ideal 4/5 - 15 - 18 mins/nite (until his knee is 100%). Or a development project type for any position to 'free' minutes for guys who 'need' minutes.
I think after Deke we will sign some 7 foot stiff and then try to move one of our PFs. We have 4 PF's i think at least one of them is going to get moved. Also i dont think Lue will be happy being a 3rd string PG.
Jeez Jeff do you know how many players you missed on that list? ... Anyways, I dont think we'll have any problem with PF at the C...there is no Shaq. So who cares. Okur can shoot some 3's and that's about it.
