Premature, yes, but I'm bored with the same old "is Hakeem worth the air me breathes anymore" / "Mobley: scorer or ballhog?" / "To tank or not to tank" threads... Question: Should the Rockets consider the possibility of picking up a malcontent player in the offseason in exchange for some of our bulk...? Examples in Recent History: - We give Scottie Quitten to Portland in exchange for 6 players (3 pretty good players) and like it or not, he's producing for them... - Vancouver has to unload discontent Steve Francis, so we give them 4 players (2 above average players) in return... (TMass and DMac are essentially non-factors in this deal so far) - The Rockets bring in Charles Barkley in exchange for 4 players (2 above average players) These examples are all close to home, but it happens all the time... Should the Rockets try to gamble on a player who may or may not be stable, but who has shown the talent on the court? I ask this not to debate philosophy, but because I've noticed that a lot of times, in situations like this, the team who is forced to trade such a player is much more willing to accept quantity as opposed to quality. It seems to me that the Rockets are loaded with decent to above average quantity, but lacking in solid quality. Aside from Steve, who is certainly quality, we really do have a logjam of pretty good players... Thus the shifting lineups and inconsistant play all around... So here's my point. If somehow a big name where to vocalize discontent in his current setting, how would we all feel if the Rockets were to clean out some of the clutter on the bench to make room for such a player? The logic behind this is that, if the team we're trading with is desperate enough, we could easily hold onto guys we'd hate to let go, like Mobley, Shandon, KT, and Cato... And maybe we could muscle someone into taking Rogers (though I like him a lot), Wizard, Drew, TMass, or whoever else everyone seems to think is expendable here... In essence, we lost nothing, if these guys aren't being fully utilized anyway, and we just might get lucky... At any rate, it seems more logical that the Rockets could pull something like this off than to assume that anyone with the wherewithal to land a GM position in the NBA would be willing to part with a McGrady or Maurice Taylor for a couple of bench warmers on a sub .500 squad.... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain - [This message has been edited by DarkHorse (edited March 07, 2000).]
I believe it is a case by case basis. I would not want the Rocks to take just any "volatile" player. Dennis Rodman? No. Spree(American dream my ass)? No. Rider? No. No no no. Especially with such a young team right now. But a little gamble? Sure, why not, almost every personeell move is a gamble. Would i gamble on the tempremental Rasheed Wallace or Brian Grant? Hell yeah. Maybe a vet nearing the end of their prime(??? Dikibe or someone???) would be good too, to help Stevie along(but ending the star players growing together wish). It's hard to judge these kind of moves, but so far I believe the Rocks have made the right decisions although the Pippen trade didnt work out. Rockets will pick up someone volatile again though(CD loves the bargain bin!!) It's just a matter of when.
Agreed. We obviously don't need to be adding headaches for headache's sake. But what I mean is, should we specifically make it a point to keep our eyes open for a possible malcontent, in hopes of freeing him into our system for cheap...? That's different than just answering phone calls... ------------------ "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..." - Mark Twain -
Dude, whenever u say headaches I just think of Leon Smith. And I think the Rocks do look into those situations. It is a wise move. We just need to sit and wait for the next "situation" that happens,like Hughe's discontent, or Clipp FA anger, or Mason on the outside looking in, etc. When will the right player have the right downward spiral to force him to be closer to the Rocks? That is the real question. DH, can you give some examples of these malcontents?
