Agreed. In addition to Barry, I'd say Raja Bell has some value, but that's about it for the names they listed above. I hope everyone is right about the Chronicle writers because I get from the tone of the article that the author has reason to believe that the Rockets are not looking to bring in any big names. They really should make a push for P.J. Brown, but I think the author is right about Brown possibly being out of Houston's price range. While Brand and O'Neal will be the big free agent names at power forward, P.J. Brown could end up being viewed as the best bargain. If several teams take that approach, there could end up being a bidding war for Brown outside of the Rockets desired offer.
The Jazz will offer Andre Miller more than $4.5million and I think Miller wants to play for the Jazz anyway.
Ward is a good three point shooter, but I don't think he's that great of an assist guy, certinaly not what you would want as a starting point guard. I really don't even like him as a back up. So unless they can get him for next to nothing, I wouldn't pursue Ward.
Well, it looks like this is now off, as Kohl is now saying he's not planning to sell the Bucks. I suppose Ewing's decision may be imminent...
I think Deuce Rings is right about Charlie Ward.He could have been a good backup point guard 5 years ago but hasn't played well for a long time.
Last season in only 22.2 minutes a game for the Knicks, Ward averaged 7.2 points, 4.6 assists a game, 1.18 steals per game, shot 37.8% from downtown, and he was number 7 in the league in assists to turnovers. What else do you want from your back up point guard? If the Knicks buy out his contract, I would love to bring him in, are you telling me you'd rather have Moochie than Ward?
No real big deal anyway. We have heard rumblings that indicate the Rockets want to upgrade at power forward, but we would have to wait to learn if any of those proposals pan out. Just having a game plan at all, and a coaching staff ready to put in the time to study opponents (re: watch tape, take extensive notes, etc) will help us tremendously. A coach unafraid of telling his players how to play, what to do, rather than acquiring a bunch of individually gifted but team-disoriented players, will work wonders. Still, we do need to bring in a smart veteran or two, and, if possible, upgrade at the 4, as they are trying to do. Whether or not such a move will blow up our collective skirts, we shall see.
The only names I liked out of that whole article was Jon Barry, Jim Jackson. They bring size and shooting to our guard spots. P.J. also improves our inside defense/post play. But the rest. No. We don't need anymore sub-6'3 guards.
No I'm not suggesting that Moochie is better than Ward. I would rather have Kenny Anderson as a backup to Francis.The Celtics missed him after they traded him.
Like, I said, backup point guard. I challenge you to find a backup point guard who does better than 4.6 assists while only averaging 22 minutes per game. To put it in perspective, if he played as many minutes as Francis, that would translate to 8.5 assists per game and only 2.6 turnovers. That would also make him 10th in the league in assists per 48 minutes.
Please don't hype of Charlie Ward. I have had to watch this guy play for too many years. He is not that good of a point guard. He isn't fast, nor a spectacular passer, and isn't that good of a shooter. I'm surprised everyone thinks Ward can bring something new to the table. If Ward was that great, why were the Knicks going to rely on Frank Williams to save their butts in the point guard position? Point is, bringing in Ward isn't a bad idea but it isn't going to change the outlook of this team.
The idea of Mooch playing behind our starting PG has most of us reaching for the nearest bus to walk in front of... based on last season. I hope we can throw him and his contract into a deal at some point. In the meantime, let's find someone else if we're going to get another one. Ward doesn't interest me. Nice post, Hottoddie. You have some interesting names there. And thanks for the read.
HP, amen. Btw, the guy I most want is Andre Miller. I'll be satisfied with the offseason if we can get him. Too bad Feigen doesn't even mention him.
Or Odom. That's who I'd want, and I'd resign Posey. Odom is just soo versatile, if the guy didn't have these injury bugs and drug things, he'd be a max free agent...instead, he's not even considered on the radar. In the hard edition of the Chron, Feigen "classified" the "top"free agents. He had Speedy freaking Claxton and Stephen Jackson on the list (over Maggette?!), but no Odom, or Posey. He had Arenas over Miller, and even managed to include KT on the list. I wish I had it in front of me, there were some other real head scratchers.
I wonder what the mailman (Malone) wants to play next season nd how much does he want to get play? He can add maturity, depth and experience from the veteran.
i have it. claxton and stephon jackson were not on his list. only Arenas, Miller and Kandi were ahead of Maggette in "the next stars" list; you could argue that's fine. I didn't really look at that as a ranking, though, since he had them split out into Superstars, All-Star and Next Stars as it was. you're right though; Odom was noticeably missing. I think the reason Posey wasn't on it was because it was about other team's free agents.