I just wonder if he'll have the space/opportunity to post up when Yao is in the game, though. In any case he's a great pickup, I'm totally jazzed about the defense and rebounding. He's going to be a better starter than Head or Snyder would have been.
MJ's 4 year contract + say 15/5 or Bonzi's 1 year rental use and say 12/7. Simple, MJ. However, I'm not dissapointed with Bonzi coming, I'm loving it too!
I think that's more concerned than it should be. If Yao has the obvious mis-match, which he usually does, but if Bonzi takes on someone he's confident he can score on, I'm sure one of them will step out on that play, depending on who has the ball from that play.
There's a reason why Mike James was priority 1 and Wells was an afterthought, and it doesn't have to do with salaries. Hell given that Wells was only available because he shot himself in the foot, they wouldn't have been mutually exclusive either. If battier becomes a PF - we need a backup for tracy even if James is on board, and a complement to James in the backcourt not named rafer.
Honestly if you told me at the start of FA we would add Mike James or Bonzi Wells I would have taken either in a second. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, but each is much superior to our starting PG and SG alternatives--so at least we knock down one major position with a major upgrade and add a major 3rd scoring punch either way. So I have very happy we lucked into a 1-2 year deal for Wells at less than 3 mil a year. Key word is lucked. I don't think we thought we would be in the picture for Wells, remember Sac offered more than full MLE$. Wells 1st management team just totally blew it. In fact I think if we thought we had a chance at Wells even mid FA period we would not have been splitting up our MLE for unprovens like VSpan, JL3 and Novak--that could have easily cost us Bonzi Wells but fortunately didn't, and resulted in our peachy, before FA season unfathomable, contract for Wells. This was a time being lucky was better than being decisive and planfull.
Bonzi is more team player than Mike. MJ is a point guard that does'nt distribute the ball a lot on the floor. I'm happy on our new acquired player. Thanks Rockets!! It's gonna be a one hell of a season.
Bwahahahah, yeah Bonzi Wells is famous for his team-first attitude and loved and respected by teammates and coaches everywhere he has been.......
From a pure basketball standpoint, I prefer MJ over Bonzi. James fits the team much better. He's a better shooter with more range, and a better slasher. Bonzi's back-to-the-basket game isn't as big a need for this team because of Yao. But from a talent to cost ratio, if V-span gives us anything this year, then it solidly goes towards the Bonzi + V-Span side and continues to tip the better that KillBill performs.
It's all been said before. Our shooting has not improved with this addition, but our defense and rebounding has leaped considerably. Mike James would have been a good addition anyway, but we are very fortunate that teams were wary of Bonzi because now we have a talented player, auditioning for the rest of the league. He'll bring his best, and we'll reap the benefits even if it's only for one season (i think he'll opt out). I'd like to see alot of Bonzi on the floor when T-Mac and Yao are resting, he should start no doubt, but if we allow him a bit of space in the post and make him our number one option for parts of the game, it will help the locker room harmony and give our stars a good chance to breath. I love the Blue Collar workers we have added to this team, Bonzi, Battier and with Hayes already there, we've got some toughness that we didn't have last season. A good pick-up, i can't wait for the season to start!
i don't recall mj doing too much slashing, at least not without getting blocked anyway. and his "me first" attitude is not what the rox need. he would have hurt us defensively starting at the 2 or would have been bitter about coming off the bench as a 1.
The reason has everything to do with salaries. The reason is that Bonzi was supposedly out of the Rockets' price range at the beginning of the offsseason. Kings offered him $36 mil, my guess is every executive thought Bonzi will get at least that much. Mike James was a realistic target since he was getting no more than MLE offers and said he was interested in Houston. I remember Rockets expressed some interest in Wells (just like they did with Antoine Walker last season) before each of them got bigger offers. Really... nobody saw John Salmons coming out of nowhere, making Bonzi available at a cheaper price.
I'll let Sam "I hate Rafer Alston with all my heart and soul" Fisher handle that argument. As for James' "me first" attitude, we just signed a guy with a lowball offer who's intent on showcasing himself for next offseason. In terms of attitude, at worst it's a wash.
I wouldn't worry about how Van Gundy uses Wells. In fact, VG loves posting up guards. Back in his Knicks days, he posted Houston, and Sprewell on a regular basis. I think it's a great move, even if this is simply renting Wells for a year, that's another year for VSpan to learn.
that's the funniest post ever, its such a stupid comment you can't even be mad. bonzi a team player? the guy was an infamous trail gangster. anyway I've always like bonzi's game but the mike would have been an easier fit because what the rockets really needed from james was outside shooting, which they aren't gonna get from bonzi. however, now you have legitimate guy who can play three when tracy sits, and he can help on the boards when battier is being out manned at the four (sorry couldn't help it) gater brings up an interesting point, will jvg allow him to play his game? that's the key. will jvg also be creative enough.
Come on, in the worst case if Bonzi does not develop chemistry with our superstars, we can still package 2/3 players in a trade before the deadline to some contenders to get good players in return. With James' trade kicker, hmm......
Gater, you have fallen off harder than Brittany Spears. The Kings wouldn't accept a sign and trade, period. Mike James wouldn't accept less than the full MLE plus a Carlos Beltran kicker. Bonzi fits the teams needs in more ways than Mike James. Your negative that Bonzi is only one year is actually a positive benefit. A motivated Bonzi should make a good Rockets team which will make signing a good f.a. next year easy. Plus, as someone pointed out in another thread, new marketing opportunities that will present themselves giving his new found pairing with Yao, may make re-signing much easier.
I've harped for two summers in a row on getting a backcourt scorer to fill in the slack after Yao & Tracy and now we get one. Bonzi's defensive intensity will also be a big help. I actually wanted him last summer more than this summer. Bonzi helps compensate for our softness at PF and I think he's a better fit. All we need is another big body at backup C and this team is ready to make a run.
