OK. I've said it in chat... we could have gotten more. There... that's what's wrong with this trade. We could have unloaded Howard or gotten a 1st rounder.... there I said it. I'm not happy about that part of the trade. But there are times when you have to settle... especially when it makes your team better. If gay develops in 3 to 4 years... we as rocket fans will be lamenting about the two ships passing in the night (anyone remember that with dickerson/mobes and hakeem?)If he developes in a year or two... he will need the ball to be effective. If he doesn't then we will have drafted Robert Horry... which would be a ripoff with the 8th pick too. He won't be better than Mcgrady, but he'll do all of the same things... just not as well. But I'm not going to bash him... cause I think he WILL be a nice player... just not that nice. Here's my take on Battier. Did anyone notice the horrible decisions made when T/Y were off the floor last year? Battier is a smart player who doesn't have to have the ball run throuh his hands every possesion. He's a big guy who allows TMAC to take a rest and not cover the other teams best player (ie Dirk) every minute he's on the floor. He can shoot the 3.... and more importantly he can shoot the 3 and be on the floor at the same time as TMAC/Yao and any other 3 pt shooter we have on the team... (read Luther). We've wanted a shooter... but we always considered by adding a guy who would take minutes away from alston/head/whoever else. Battier will be on the floor at the same time as these guys and he's a better 3pt shooter than any of them. He's been a legit 10/5 guy and could really see that increase if he gets open looks. He's a tougher guy. We really didn't need to pick up another player who's timid/soft/dissapears etc. Our salvation won't come in the form of a 19 year old who takes 3 years to develop. It will come from a vet. Alston TMAC Battier Howard Yao That's certainly not a bad starting 5. If anything... I would say Howard is still the weak link on the team, but if he can hit his mid-range jumper again this year... he does still provide nice spacing. Tmac and yao can play a nice two man in and out game... with head at the top and Shane in the corner... that's nice spacing with howard finding a niche in the mid range area's on the floor. I think he's a legit 3rd scorer. If we get 14-16 out of him look out. Even if we don't... even if we get say 12... if his presence on the floor desuades teams from doubling down on yao or tmac... that my friends is a good thing. And finally... maybe yao won't get stuck running all over creation on the defensive end of the floor. Maybe with him on the floor Yao can stop the stupid rotation. It wasn't the huge leap foreward that we wanted. But it was at least not a lateral movement. It's a step in the right direction... and no i'm not drinking any coolaid... -the Rockets hadn't had time to mix up a batch when I came to this conclusion- unless its my own batch. I think we'll be pleasently surprised. Call me an idiot... but I think the Rockets are now fewer pieces away... If only it was Howard in the deal... then we could actually go sign somebody. And even I was growing tired of Swift's Catoesque effort on the cort for 80% of his minutes. Mike
I think Battier will be a good fit. I tust management, although I cringed tonight. This is going to work though. Everyone needs to have faith.
I still haven't fully analyzed it yet but one thing that has scared me is this... Tracy will make 27 million in his last year... Yao is maxed out... I think if we would have kept Gay, we would have lost him eventually... bout to load something and see where my mind goes.
well, i'm finally warming up to the trade. although it's is hard to get rid of the visions of Gay plums dancing in my head.
I was at the draft party with my buddies and when they announced that Gay was traded to Memphis for Shane battier, i was excited. Why?? because we need help right now. We can't wait for a potential to become a T-mac when we already got a T-mac. We need to win right now and shane is a great acquisition. He can be kind of a Tayshaun Prince for us. EVEN CALVIN MURPHY TOLD US AT THE PARTY THAT THIS TRADE IS VERY GOOD. YA HE GOT UP AT THE STAGE WHILE PEOPLE WERE BOOING THE PICK AND HE SPOKE ABOUT HOW THIS TRADE WILL HELP HOUSTON WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! IT WAS GREAT SEEING HIM AGAIN. The stupid trade part started when i was coming back. I heard that the trade was 8 and stro for shane. I went crazy. That is so stupid. I hope we have more players or picks involved because for sure we can get more alone for the #8 pick. I hope rockets make the best decision and realize that they are being robbed. They need to get some more back in this trade.
He will make 23.239 Million in 09/10. Ming will make 15.7. Grand total for two players: 39 million. That is 26 million away from the total last year.
^^^ That JVG bought 30-50 tickets and will be give to fans attending. I didn't hear it correctly but he mentioned that it will be kinda like Rockets Rowdies. So basically free tickets for 30 to 40 people.
I totally aggree with you, Mike. This was the right direction but we had a chance to get more. I think this chance haven't lose yet. Maybe before we finalize the trade we can get a future 1st round pick more.
exactly. my first reaction to the trade was "wow shane is a great fit." then it hit me that we were giving up a bit much. i figured "there will be a fiture first thrown in there and all will be ok." well i come home to hear that stro is being given away too! now there is a rumor that stro is being switched with Jho. I'm ok with that, it's almost a decent trade. if we get the rights to alex johnson, or a future pick to go along with battier for jho and gay i'll be ok with the deal.
There are problems with the trade on multiple fronts. 1. As mentioned, it was just a bad trade value-wise. Had to have gotten more. 2. Shane's strength is defense. Yes, he can hit an open jumper, but this is the NBA. If his strength was offense, he'd be scoring more. The Rockets weakness is offense. 3. Shane is effectively a SF. T-Mac is effectively a SF. Though they both may be able to slide over offensively to SG, I doubt either one would be as good defensively playing that position. 4. The Rockets lack athleticism. They gave up an unknown commodity, but one who was without a doubt an athletic improvement. Add-on the fact they gave up Swift, who though boneheaded, was the most athletic healthy player on the team last year, we are no truly suffering in that department. 5. The win now mentality is great...IF it actually helps you win now. I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one, but it is hard to see how this move helps us win a championship in the next two years. If not, you aren't winning now, and you'd be better off drafting potential.
But what does Gay do for us? He is another Tmac/swift. He's not as good as Tmac, and may be no better than Swift. I'm not selling you on the idea that it was a great trade, only that it is not a disaster. Now if it is Howard we are moving this becomes a GREAT deal... since we lose his contract and free up alot of space, with the potential to add vets who can really adress our shortcomings. Its not so much about how much Battier scores... as it is his threat to knock down the open 3 that excites me. I mean I don't think 12-14 points is out of the question, and that fits the bill of our 3rd scorer we need. Now if you bring back somebody like James... to come off the bench when tmac is out of the game you should be able to keep a legit scoring threat on the floor most of the game and see our scoring rise up. Battiers ability to guard several different types of players makes him invaluable... because while we were a good defensive team last year... we lacked lock down defenders not named Mcgrady (who i don't want chasing around the opponents best player all game) and bowen (who i don't want on the floor for more than about 5 minutes a game if that). With Battier he can take some of the pressure off Tmac on the defensive end of the floor, preserving some of his energy not just from game to game but throughout the season. Again its not a great deal... but it is something we can build on.... and if its Howard in the deal that really gives us some flexability we need to fill gaps. Mike
Rocketmike,I'm not trying to disagree with you but how can we get any flexibility by moving J. Howard instead of Swift? We have no cap space at all.
I think (and maybe i'm wrong i'm no capologist that's for sure) that Howard's cap number is in the order of 8 million this year while swift is around 4. Am I wrong on this? Battier has to be around 4 million or so... which means we're freeing up 4 million a year... and that goes up next year and the following year (to 10 million cap hit I think) in 08/09. If we're saving approximately 4 million a year from swift to howard that definately frees us up. Maybe we have more stuff to clear... but we get going in the right direction. And if anyone has better info please fill me in on the cap numbers. Mike
But depriving your bench of the only semi-decent player isn't good. I just think it's too steep of a price to pay to get Battier. Swift for Battier alone would have been nice. Gay for Battier straight up as well wouldn't have been this crushing a blow.
Battier fits perfectly on to this team. Sure we lost athleticism by trading away Gay and Battier, but we also gained intagibles that Battier has and every coach loves. He brings back what we were missing in Sura last season: toughness, leadership, and hustle. So, I don't think it is that bad of a trade as people are saying it is.
i bet it was all jvg that wanted swift gone instead of juan... i'm pretty sure. even though juan is a good leader and veteran, hes getting old and has like 3 more years, and is eventualy going to break down like mutombo, except with more money. hes going to be spoon. we have to trade his big salary for someone thats worth it.
