brooks, battier, jackson, head, 1st rounder for gordon(re-signed at 8-9 mil) and hinrich(10 mil) would work salary wise. The contracts equal a bit over 15 mil on houston's side, so with the 125% rule, you could take back 18-19 mil(ie the re-signing figures I had for gordon). If you replace battier with alston but add say novak to the deal you could pay gordon up to 7.2 mil.
Just a crazy thought on my part. I'm sure there are good reasons why this wouldn't work. It would be nice to have Hinrich at the point and Gordon's scoring.
Gordon can flat out give you buckets. I'm not really concerned with the other aspects of his game. This team needs a guy who can get his own shot. Gordon is as good at that as all but a handful in the league. He should have taken that deal but somebody will pay him that much or damn close for his services. He is the mini-Microwave.
The guy was coming off a season where he averaged 21.4 points, 3.6 assists, and 3 boards on 46% FG, 41% 3 point, and 86% FT in only 33 minutes per game. It's not like he was some scrub, he was flat out one of the most dangerous and efficient scorers in the league. He took a dip this season due to some injuries and the horrible team around him, but he has it in him to score 20+ points on 45-40-90 %(Reggie Miller-like efficiency) for several years.
Ben Gordon would be a great fit in the Rockets system. That would be our 3rd scoring option who would prosper with Yao in the post.
No chance, but I would love to have either of them on this team. I don't see them just giving up Gordon for expiring contracts, but I think Hinrich is a very realistic target.
Gordon was stupid to turn down that 50-mil contract, that should be a given to anyone. Here's a shooting guard in a PG body who plays no defense, has no play-making ability, lacks passing skills, and most importantly, who has already hit the ceiling in terms of his potential. He doesn't necessarily make a team better, and he can only be a role player on a good team. Doubt he'll see that big a contract ever again.
In a Marc Stein article, he said the Bulls wanted to keep Hinrich and move Gordon. I think Gordon might be good for the Rockets. He also might be a Sam Mack.
As infuriating as Luther Head is at times, when he actually plays well (those random times), he is a great addition to this team. You forget about the fact that he us undersized, a poor ballhandler, etc. Which means that Gordon would be a great addition. Fantastic. He plays "well" (at least, Luther Head type well) all the time, while playing great sporadically. He is also undersized but has 15 pounds on Luther. Anyways, not supposed to be a Gordon vs. Head comparison, since that is crazy - Gordon is so much better. Just pointing out, imagine those games where Luther came out and actually scored mid double digits...you'd get that every time from Gordon. That'd be freaking awesome. Earlier in the off-season, my preference would have definitely been to move Battier for some kind of serious offensive 3rd star. The logic being that you're not going to get anybody of quality without doing that. But if you can get Ben Gordon, who is already well versed at coming off the bench, but could start if necessary, AND still keep Battier...with the addition of Barry...then you'd finally be talking about a team, if healthy, that is a SERIOUS SERIOUS threat to win the title. Alston/Brooks T-Mac/Gordon Battier/Barry/Green Scola/Landry/Hayes Yao/Deke/Dorsey Imagine a lineup with Gordon, Barry, T-Mac, Scola and Yao. That'd be a ridiculously potent and balanced offensive scoring lineup.
Just a much better team than last season, if healthy. Far more scoring punch and still an outstanding defensive team. The only glaring weakness I see, at least from my perspective (ignoring whether that lineup stays within the cap... not my "field!"), is that we still have Alston as our starting point, with a still unproven yougster, albeit with potential, as his backup. Seems like we would still need a move to shore up that position. And would like to see that "long, athletic wing who can defend and score" to take minutes away from McGrady... one that has experience. Otherwise, I think that would be a much more balanced team. I like it.
