I have an idle mind tonight and am trying to build a list of 2nd teir shooters and bangers that might be available this offseason. . Realistically, we'll be looking to add/subtract role players. Shooters: Vashon Leonard, Eric Piatkowski. As between the two, I'd rather have Leonard. I'm not sure what salary he commands, but it can't be much. Bangers: I can't think of one decent 2nd teir banger that's available. Help?
A couple of shooter Free Agents that the rockets could pickup for backups would be Jon Barry and Steve Smith. I'm not really sure if Smith has been injured this year but he stats have been bad. Jon Barry would be a nice shooter that could come off the bench and take Moochie's 10-15 minutes a game. I'm not sure about the rest of you guys but I'm almost ready dump Moochie despite the contract like we did with Maloney. With out a doubt the best pickup the rockets could do this offseason would be to trade for Brent Barry. He is the exact type of player the Rockets could use at SG. I really don't see the rockets going after any 2nd tier bangers. They seem to be content with splitting the time with Griffin and Taylor and remember Griffin will be coming back next year with another year under his belt and more musle.
Pig Miller - banger Bostjan Nachbar - shooter Wait we can get these guys. Rudy T and the gang can always call Pig and Rudy can always yell to the bench Nachbar.
I would go for either Lenard or Piatkowski as a backup SG.Getting Jon Berry would even better but he might be more expensive. I would probably pass up on Steve Smith as I'm worried after the failure with Glen Rice. Getting a banger like PJ Brown might be difficult but I would like to have him with us if possible provided we don't trade Griffin/Taylor or Mobley.Francis and Yao are of course untouchable.
If it's between Piatkowski or Leonard, I would go for Leonard, much bigger and stronger than Eric. On the other hand, why don't we get both the Barry brothers!! Do they both play the 2? I thought Brent played the 3 and Jon plays the 2. If we can trade Rice, and dump T-Mo or Posey (preferably Posey), then we could probably start Nachbar at the 3, play J.Barry at the 2, and bring Brent and Cat in off the bench. Or hell, maybe we could just bring both the Barry brothers off the bench. Oh, and as far as "Untouchables" for trades, believe it or not, I think that because of his play this year that Cato should be untouchable. Cato has been our ONLY physical presence, and his rebounding when Yao's on the bench has been irreplaceable. I don't think P.J. Brown brings enough (and his age/reputation are factors too) to justify letting Cato go. The only way I would trade Cato is if we got someone like Sam Cassell, or some other sweet shooting 1/2/3.
PJ Brown is a great choice. He's 6'11, long arms and have great defense skills, probably one of the best low post defenders in the NBA.
Bangers: PJ Brown Tyrone Hill Charles Oakley (mostly locker room presence) Elden Capbell maybe? Shooters: Wesley Person Eric Piatowski Voshon Lenard We must get at least one of these players this summer.
A few players not mentioned yet: Derrick Coleman Tyronn Lue Shammond Williams Erick Strickland Lucious Harris I doubt the team will sign anyone significant.
A dose of reality - Basically, all the Rockets have left is the MCE. If the Rockets are able to sign Posey to a reasonable contract, they may use it. If Posey's signing pushes them near the LT, they won't offer the MCE to anyone. After handling Posey, the rest of the money under the LT level will also be needed to re-sign TMo. This may be a hidden reason why he doesn't get much playing time. If he does well, the Rox may not be able to keep him and remain under the LT. Most of the players listed in this thread will get better offers than the MCE (Campbell, PJ, Lenard, Coleman, John Barry). The only possibility I could see is maybe Piatkowski. IMO, the roster will be filled out with whomever is obtained for Rice's expiring contract as opposed to using the MCE. The only other change I can envision is an EC team making an offer for Cat (possibly with Rice) that is too good to pass up. Otherwise, it's business as usual.
Perhaps someone with your preferences would be more suited to a lifestyle in San Francisco or Montrose.
Actually, I would not be surprised if those players listed above DO get the MCE. While those players in the past might have warranted more than the MCE don't be surprised when teams that are afraid of the LT get a little nervous and ONLY offer the MCE to those players. VERY few teams are under the cap this off season and the teams that are, have their sights set on BIG NAME FAs. So after all that spending is done you have a ton of teams that are capped out and ONLY have the MCE available. I very MUCH expect those players (Campbell, PJ, Lenard, Coleman, John Barry) to get MCE from teams. That same thing happened this last summer. Guys like Jim Jackson, Rod Strickland, Travis Best and Keon Clark were sitting around waiting for someone to call them. As for the Rockets, whatever FA moves they make might be inconjunction with whatever TRADES they make. I see the Rockest making a trade for the piece(s) that they most want and then use their MCE to mask whatever area was weaked in a trade. As an example. Let's say the Rockets trade Rice/Griffin for Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The Rockets would then probably NOT re-sign Posey (as SAR would be the starting SF and we would probably re-sign T-Mo as well) and then use their MCE for someone such as PJ Brown to back up Mo-T filling the void left from Griffin. Chris
