I would hope that Les would use the trade exception to land Stromile Swift in a sign and trade for a future draft pick or whatever so that we can use the MLE for Fisher or whomever. I could keep wishing, though.
Any chance of doing to the Grizzlies what they did to us to get Posey? That would be sweet. What's their salary situation? I guess Swift will be too expensive, but I'd certainly give it a shot. He had limited minutes with Memphis, right at 20, with 1.5 blocks, 5 rebounds, few turnovers, a good shooting %, and he can hit a damn freethrow. Of course, we'd have to make a trade to clear the logjam at the 4 spot.
I agree it's expensive and I agree it's unlikely. But mostly I'm speculating out of sheer off-season boredom and because I needed something to think about other than T-Mac. However, while Antonio Davis doesn't have much game left, he has plenty enough to give us 25 minutes a game as a back up 4/5 and while the 13 million is ridiculous, we'd actually be paying it to gain Chandler. I just thought the deal more realistic with somebody like him thrown in though I'd prefer Jerome Williams. Much more reasonable contract that is actually smaller than Mo Taylors.
Salary situation: about 32 million in committed salary, but that excludes three important players and their draft picks. They have Gasol, Swift, and Battier all looking at extensions. Gasol and Battier are more vital to the team, the former (a whiny beeyotch, by the way) probably asking for a franchise salary (starting around 10 million, not that he's worth it) and Battier probably about 6.0 mil to start. But the Grizzlies have stockpiled way too many players at the 1, 2, and 3 spots (they even added more in the draft). We might be able to pry away Swift with the MLE or with the TE + future pick. Swift could play backup center and power forward, and Mo can play spot minutes at the 5, too. I think the MLE will probably go to Fisher, though, and so I bring up the TE + pick idea.
Last year the Cap was at 43.84M and the new number won’t be known for a few weeks but we could already be over it. Rockets payroll after the T-Mac deal: 2004/2005 1. T-Mac 14.5M 2. Mo Taylor 8.45M 3. Weatherspoon 5.9M 4. Howard 5.4M 5. Yao 4.43M 6. Pike 2.7M 7. JJ 2.48M 8. Lue 1.65M 9. Boki 1.5M 10. Gaines 1.2M 11. Griffin 0.8M Sub Total 49.01M PG @ MLE 4.5M Backup Center 1.0M Total 54.51M The T-Mac deal will knock about 2.5M off the previous payroll but it looks like we'll have 13 players with guaranteed salaries. Does anyone see Les using the TE and pushing the team salary close to 60M, which would be well above the cap? I don't.
Mihm gets my vote, too. Second choice would be Jason Collier who should sign for the vet minimum. Both Mihm and Collier can hit the outside J, which seems to be requirement for JVG's O. Boki and the TE might get Mihm in a SnT from Boston.
You are not getting Swift. Not with the MLE and definitely not via trade. You guys can stop speculating on having Swift at the 4. Just please continue with your plans to get rid of Cato though...lol. If Gasol is not worth $10 million then I am guessing you guys will be offering Yao something less than that...right?
1. For his career he only averages 6 rebounds a game 2. The last 2 years including his current year he only averaged about 3 rebounds a game. 3. In 14 seasons he has played like a back up at best only averaging over 8 rebounds once, and 7 or more rebounds six times. 4. The last 2 seasons he barely averaged 40% shooting. Not good for someone that plays in the paint. 5. He will be 36 years old in a few weeks 6. Has averaged only about 14 minutes a game the last two years for a reason. He is certainly not some one that I want backing up Yao Ming.
My money is on Earl Boykins for our reserve bigman... You have to admit he plays BIG for his size. What a twin ...err ...tower dou with Earl at the 4 and Yao at the 5. Just imagine, Yao is triple teamed and he just dumps the ball to the weak side, Boykins is all alone and leaps into the air... ...in the air... ...in the air... ...and he dunks it over everyone! The crowd goes wild!!!
Hey, we can make you guys pay up by offering the MLE, ala Posey... hee hee. I'm sure some of our folks here could come up with some creative ways of getting him or making you guys pony up the salary. It's unlikely, though, since we're going to have two 4's that would be hard to move after the McGrady deal and have other needs to address. Wouldn't mind stickin' it to West a tad considering how the Posey deal went down. Just part of the business. Thanks for the info, ROXTXIA. Much appreciated.
I think his point was that Gasol was better statistically, but he needs to look beyond statistics and realize that Yao's value to this team extends far beyond what shows up on a stat sheet. (do you guys remember hearing McGrady say he wants to play with Gasol? because I don't!)
Pau's team also won more games. I don't know what else more there is than stats and wins. Yao is just a big ball of hype. Teams don't fear facing him. He does not dominate. He does not will his team to victories. He is simply a very good player. He will be a good compliment to T Mac. Yao and T Mac together are a nice foundation for a championship though. I have never heard him say he wanted to play with Yao either.
So I guess all that "Mcgrady will only sign an extention with Houston" was so that T-Mac can play with Weatherspoon, huh.
Well, he said it. Furthermore, teams make their game plan around stopping Yao. They develop their whole strategy around it. I've never heard Gasol mentioned as a feared player. Memphis has a better team all around. Tons of solid, talented players. Don't try to use the fact you guys have a better team with better chemistry as an arguement for Gasol over Yao. That's just silly.
That is Yao of last season. He only willed the team to a couple victories. (Francis is the one with the cajones.) Even without fearing Yao, teams certainly through a lot of double teams at him. Hopefully he will improve on that this year. During one of the usual Shaq/Kobe flareups McGrady was asked about Kobe's desire to play without Shaq. McGrady responded by saying he would love to play with Shaq and wouldn't mid switching places with Kobe so Kobe could taste what McGrady was going through. He added that both Francis and Kobe have it good, playing with such skilled big men. If I find a link to the report with the actual quotes, I will post them here.
Pau Yao 17.7 17.5 ppg 7.7 9.0 rpg 2.5 1.5 apg 1.69 1.90 bpg 48% 52% fg% 71% 81% ft% 31.5 32.8 mpg Exactly how is that better than Yao? Gasol in his third year, Ming in his 2nd. Sorry Memphis, but every GM in the league would take Yao to Gasol. Memphis had a better team, not a better player.
oh my god... he's saying pau gasol is better than yao. i actually thought pau gasol was the next big thing after his rookie season. remember his big dunk on duncan? wow. but now he's plateaued. not a franchise player.
only 31 minutes a night? lol... actually gasol might be 20-10 if he played more. perhaps too soft to get 10 boards a game though.
"Every time I answered, Yao Ming answered. He's going to look over you, passing out of double teams if you double-team. And if not, then he's going to kill you all day because he's so big. He's knocking down the 15-footers, so he's really scary. "You can't stop him from getting his position. Because he's that big, I don't think even Shaq can stop him from getting his position. The guy is big, has strong legs, and he's a beast." -McGrady after Yao's dominating game against the Magic
