I'm surprised that this hasn't been posted yet but if I missed it sorry. Essentially he said that they are working on the point guard situation the most diligently but will probably not sign a free agent because of the money.
He also said that he was pleased with Lue and implied that he could be the guy. He praised JJ and his offensive game, therefore leading me to believe that he is just looking for guard to distribute and not be burdened with scoring duties. He also said that "chemistry" was important and that they were looking for the right fits instead of the best talents available.
interesting.... i actually hope Rox keep Pike since he doesnt have much trade value anyways.. btw, where did u get this info from?
Thanks for the update. I agree that PGs in FA is just too expensive. Interesting to see that the ones still out there (James, Jones, Sura) are still considered too pricey according to CD. If we are to get one via trade, it would be interesting for someone to compile a comprehensive list of backup PGs around the league to see what the most logical choices might be.
about a month ago we were very close to getting Ollie for Pike... if we dont want to pay the high value for a FA point guard then look for one of our players, or two, get traded for a PG that "will do" just before the AllStar break.
The fact that they are confident in Lue shows that they arent going to 'rush' this PG search. If they are that confident then they will take things slow. They will either find the right guy or will go into the regular season with Lue as the starter. I wouldnt be surprised if we dont know about our PG starter into perhaps September.
done...I posted this in another thread... Considering current contracts, the below PGs are the ones I would pursue via trade... Jamal Tinsley ($1.5M 04-05, $2.3M QO 05-06) Antonio Daniels ($2.2 M 04-05, $2.2M PO 05-06) Earl Watson ($1.4M 04-05) Raul Lopez ($1M 04-05) Speedy Claxton ($3.3M 04-05, $3.6M TO 05-06) Marko Jaric ($2.1M 04-05) Keyon Dooling ($3M QO 04-05) Bobby Jackson ($3.1M 04-05, $3.3M TO 05-06) No surprises, but other FA's to consider include... Damon Jones Mike James Charlie Ward
Translation of CD's comments: Les told me I can't have any more allowance. So try and find a PG for Piatkowski or Juwan Howard or Mo Taylor. If they weren't even mentioend, we are in deep doo-doo as far as backup centers.
Why isnt he pursuing signing Dampier for the TE? I think his contract is right around there and he would be a great backup center that could also play some 4. Or how about Snow and Dalembert. I think the number one mistake would be to let the TE expire because most teams would like some cap relief and there are a lot of players out there that we could use. Doesn't the TE allow you to receive a traded player for cash?
Actually it's probably more like "let the TE expire; we can't add more salaries". The Rockets' payroll is close to 50 mil. for next year already. I don't think that Les wants to add any more to it. I'm not saying that Lue sucks but he's not starter material (he even said so himself). Besides, we can't start new season with just one capable PG (Wilks doesn't cut it). If they don't want to use the TE, they should look to trade salaries for salaries. The problem is that the Rockets don't have many tradeable assets. I would tangle with Pike and A. Griffin and see what we can get. At the worst, they can always sign one of those ex-Knicks for JVG discount.
So either they're not interested in Damon Jones or he's asking for some outrageous amount of money? But, then again, who isn't?
in all seriousness how much could damon or mike james be askin? it cant be that much. Or are we that cheap. Who knows.
The Carlos Arroyo signing baffles me...$16M over 4 years...that's a steal in today's FA market...Not to sound like a broken record (broken record), but his agent should get fired.
