Those are very poor reasons to not resign Yao. As BlameTracy mentioned: marketing issues aside, he's still worth every dime we pay him. He's extremely efficient and can get you 20 PPG on only 13 shots. There aren't many stars capable of that type of efficiency. Sure, the officiating is inconsistent and frustrating. Still, using that as your basis to not re-sign one of the NBA's biggest gold mines is very puzzling. We are, however, in position to face tough decisions in regard to re-signing Yao, Artest, Scola and Wafer. Ideally, Yao doesn't demand the max thus leaving us more flexibility in the future. I think there's a chance he could be persuaded. Deciding what to pay a 30-year-old Scola is going to be rough too. He's obviously worth WAY more than the $3M he currently makes -- the question: How much more? Artest is another wildcard. How much will he demand? I wouldn't give him a dime over the $7-8M range he's making off of his current deal. Artest is valuable player to us but we need to make it a point to not overbid for him. Hopefully, Wafer won't get any wild ideas either. The 3-yr/$9M contract Landry received seems to be a fair offer for Wafer.
I admit I'm not sure who to go for, but I'm trying to look at a better fit for the team than Ron. I don't think that is likely to happen.Glad that you brought up the point about probably not having to pay Luis too much.
The only people who think Yao is a superstar are Houston Rockets fans (and even not all of them). The fact is that he is not a superstar. He rarely makes clutch plays at the end of the game. If we are down by 5 points with 5 minutes left, odds are we are going to lose, even when playing at home. That being said, we really need to resign Yao. Problem is that I am not sure he will want to sign with us. We are not going to get anything better than Yao in free agency. Please stop dreaming about 2010 because we can only lose in that year.
First off, don't ever worry about getting flamed. As long as you're objective and put thought into it, who cares what some sensitive only fans think? The moderators will never ban you for this, so don't worry about that. I think yao is a all star type player. Many on this board think he's a superstar which he's not. His limitations in both stamina and personality keeps him from being higher.The rox management probably know this also. The brass either needs to trade yao and stock up or trade other players to get better. They will probably go the latter. If that's the case, I have some suggestions of who should go. Scolandry must go. Not both, just one. Neither can make up for yao,s lack of speed, quickness. Both are on the small side and both are terrible defenders. Both are very productive and cheap which is a bonus. Like someone said, they need a athletic, rebounding, long 4/5 type of guy. Look how cleveland conpliment Big Z with wallace or varejo. Dream scenerio would be Bosh. Another option would be Tyson Chandler whom they tried to trade earlier for wilcox and filler. A cheaper option would be trading for Turiaf or signing Chris Anderson. They need slashers. This is a motion,cutting, triangle type offense. They need guys that can function playing without the ball, reading and recognizing angles. Of course there will be times when the pnr or just a post up with yao will be in order, but for the most part, they need guys that fit on the wing. Deng, jefferson, butler are wingmen who all fit. Jefferson and butler played well in the princeton under george and scott and deng played well in the skiles/del negro motion offense. Battier is a good bench player, but he doesn't move or cut enough. Artest doesn't do it enough either, but his offense/defense/toughness is enough to warrant his spot. Wafer is young, but fits the profile, barry is old and never shouldve been signed. Persoally, I would target deng because of his age. Butler is the best of the 3 and is still young enough and jefferson is the most athletic. Any deal to get one of the 3 will cost battier,scola,hayes, or some combination.
I would like to see Camby as a 5/4,or David Lee.Both unlikely,but Chris Anderson would be realistic if the Nuggets don't re-sign him. I like Jefferson,and Butler,Deng not as much. I like your points about having players who read,react and move well,however we don't have capable passers on the team who can get them the ball efficiently. Having guards who can create their own shots and for others would be ideal.
Saleem, I like deng because of his size, age, and production. I like butler because he's tough like artest, good defender, and better offensive player. Jefferson attacks the basket more both in half court and transition, he's also a good defender. Of the 3, I like dengs mid range game, butlers toughness, jefferson slashing. Deng (10m), jefferson (13m), butler (10m) are all attainable. Chicago is eyeing 2010 and might clear more salary. They're under enough now to just take mcgrady's contract. They might want the rox to take salmons contract too, but that's cool cause he's a bargain at 5m. Jefferson will probably cost battier, scola, and barry. That depletes the team some, but they could use the mle and split it on barnes and anderson or barnes and petro. Butler will also cost battier and scola. Again, they could use the mle on petro,anderson or wilcox. Or use hayes and barry to get turiaf. There are options and they might have to give up some guys, but tracy is done, and they need another all star caliber player.
I admit I'm partial to slashers,that's why I like Jefferson out of the 3 the most. Getting Salmons with Deng is not a bad idea,since we might not get depleted if we only give up Tracy. I'm not keen on Wilcox or Petro(lean,athletic types who don't do much),but I do like the Birdman. Hayes and Barry won't be enough for Turiaf(I would go for that).
As much as Scola and Landry may not complement Yao on the defensive end, they do the opposite on the offensive end. Both can hit the mid range jumper which will be there anytime their man doubles down on Yao. Scola can also post up relatively well which gives Yao a break from banging down low the whole game. True guys like Chandler, Anderson, Wallace and Varejao would improve our defense, but they cant shoot at all and that would kill us on offense. And year in year out, this team is strong defensively but seems to fall into offensive spells that kill them during games. I dont see how trading out Scola or Landry to bring in one of the guys you mentioned helps us there. Aside from Bosh of course and that is unlikely. Your wing players are interesting options. Deng has some injury issues that would be worrisome. Jefferson and Butler would be great but losing Scola or Landry to get them would leave us very thin at PF. Unless you are ready for Chuck to play big minutes, im not sure if that makes us that much better.
I like Luis and Carl but if we could get David Lee while retaining one of them,that would be fortunate for us since he can play as a 5/4.I admit that the likelihood of that happening is low. Adding Anderson may not be that expensive if the Nuggets don't re-sign him(Don't see them letting him go though).I didn't factor in Deng's injuries because I was hoping to see him recover soon,but you are right about this point.
Yao is done by 2012 at the latest, if not earlier. I am personally amazed he has made it through this whole season, especially with the minutes he has been logging lately. I think we need an elite guard again that can take the pressure off Yao. That is the only way we can keep him passed 2010, otherwise we are just delaying the success of the franchise another 5 years. No chance we land LBJ or Wade, so the Joe Johnson idea may work. Im all for changes cause we arent going to win it all unless we get Yao the help he deserves.
Trade T-Mac to GState for Jackson, Crawford, and Randolph. Gstate will do it because they're rebuilding and would love the cap relief. Rockets get a player to replace McGrady in Jackson, a combo guard who is a terrific outside shooter in Crawford, and a big man (like the type leebigez mentioned) to either backup or play alongside Yao in Randolph. As long as they remain healthy, this proposed team will be an instant contender: Brooks/Lowry/Crawford Jackson/Crawford/Wafer/Barry Artest/Battier/Wafer Scola/Landry/Randolph Yao/Randolph
Why does everyone love Wafer he is a major weaklink on this team. We have 2 stupid ballhogs in Wafer and Artest. At least Artest shoots better. Wafer has some hops and can hit an open J but when crunch time comes around he thinks he is the goto man. He plays stupid time and time again. Every game we seem to have that spell of inneffectiveness were we go on a 5 minute drought... and almost always seems to be lead by Wafer and artest. The teams that are beating us aren't having those stupid lapses. I love the way the kid attacks the basket I wish Tmac had half his heart. But he is just an average finisher. You have to know when it is a good time and a bad time to attack. Wafer thinks everytime he has the ball it is time to shoot. It is not and he will never get that. How could he force a shot up when Barry was wide open ahead of the pack. How could he drive to the basket against 3 lakers when Yao is getting position on the post. Wafer was a great pickup for this year. He helped when Tmac was playing like a wuss. But make no mistake about it there is a reason why no one picked him up this year when they had all the opportunity to do so. Wafer was available because he is a scrub with heart. He took advantage of an opportunity and probably will earn a spot on someone's roster next year I just hope it isn't ours. We desperately need a great 6th man on this team and that man isn't wafer.
To get a all star caliber wing or near is worth scola or landry. Like I said, I doubt new orleans would trade Chandler in the division, but they were willing to trade him for cap relief earlier. As a good thing, the rox can offer some cap relief in the form of tracy,scola,hayes,barry,and cook. Chandler isn't a guy that needs the shoot to be effective anyway. He can get 10 pts off running the floor, offensive rebounds, and alley oops. He's a really good rebounder and can defend also. The other option would be something like Turiaf and Azuibukke for shane. That still allows the team to move the other expirings for a quality wing player. Cook-3.5m, Scola-3.1m , barry 1.9m and hayes 2m, that's about 10m in salary right there. That can get you a 12m a year player. The hardest thing for a gm to do is make a honest assesment about your team. Dumars tried, but he screwed the team up. He wanted a star type so against the elite players, he would have a guy that could carry a team through a stretch. Not only that, he knocked the team out of balance. Its ok to have 1 team you don't matchup well with like the ring rox (sonics), but this team doesn't matchup with utah,la, and you almost cold throw portland in there in a year or so. They're going to have to make a point to close up some of the problems this team has. I actually think if healthy, Kaman could play next to yao like cato did. If Bynum and Gasol could play well together, don't tell me yao and kaman couldn't.
I'm beginning to wonder not only how much different the Rockets would look in 2010, but the whole league. Then again, theres always the possibility 2010 doesn't turn as big as planned. I saw a mention of Caron Butler earlier, and I really like him for the 2/3. I think Yao should stay, unless we could spin it to get a Top 5 player somehow & a draft pick, then spin that around in addition to some added players and trade for a Top 20 player. Hey, thats what we had in 2005 with TMac / Yao, right? I'm just ready for a 3rd (& 4th) Rockets championship!
So you're going to make countless posts indicting Battier yet you're going to propose an absolutely brutal trade scenario like this? Not only would these players not fit but we're talking parlaying $23M in expiring salary into $50M+ of length salary that kills any future cap flexibility. This is terrible.
