Kinda already knew this but in case you wanted to read the article http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/2006/11/kg_on_the_move_just_not_here.html November 26, 2006 All is sweetness and light in the land of the Rockets right now. Tracy McGrady is channeling Magic Johnson and being the ultimate playmaker then the Rockets are cruising along at 9-4 and near the top of the Western Conference. That said, they'll play nine of their next 13 on the road and many of them against teams at .500 and above. That means there will be some bumps and we'll surely hear panickly complaints from some corners that the Rockets will need to make a deal. Just get out of your head right now any thoughts of Kevin Garnett coming to Houston. Yes, Garnett seems to be getting antsier in Minnesota. Yes, the Timberwolves could be closer to pulling the trigger and rebuilding. But the only trade bait the Rockets have to offer is a package that would include T-Mac. That won't happen. First off, the Rockets are in love with him. Second, the Wolves don't want to take on another high salary who is 27 years old with a chronic bad back. The Bulls could off up some of their roster of young player along with some first round draft choices. Then there are the Lakers, who would likely have a limousine deliver Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum -- or both -- to the airport in exchange for KG. It's a nice fantasy. But stick with thinking you'll break the casino in Vegas at the All-Star Weekend. KG's not coming.
Fran Blinebury is a fish out of water. His NBA articles lack perspective, meaning and relevance. He has no insight on the NBA, so he starts making up stuff to appease the fans and sell more newspapers. When you read some of his comments, you'd think he pulled them out of Clutchfans. A lot of speculation and not enough reporting.
WOW what a scoop, in other news Blinebury reports that LaDainian Tomlinson is not to be traded to the Texans.
I don't have any belief whatsoever that the Rockets would be a player for KG if he became available -- as mentioned, the Lakers (and probably moreso the Bulls) have many more assets to work with -- but when the Houston Chronicle drops this kind of stuff and tone, you can't help but have a flashback. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=78202
I dont see the Rockets moving T-Mac for Garnett. We need to build around "Yao" and Tmac is a better outside fit than another inside guy in Garnett. However, if Garnett is being moved then perhaps the Wolves will do a firesale on some players. The Rockets should get in on that. Especially if Mike James is available, or perhaps Ricky Davis.
I am so sick of hearing these potential deals. We're loaded now for a championship. What we need is to build our chemistry. No more big trades!
I love KG but the problem I see with getting KG on the Rox is that the kind of players KG needs to make him great are the kind that Yao needs, a bruising physical inside player to take pressure off of the inside and good and complementary outside players to get him the ball and spread the floor so he can work. If the Rox had KG then either he or Yao would have to give up part of their inside game to help the other. More likely KG who is more versatile but that would be wasting many of his other talents. On the other hand though it might be cool to see some of the double low post sets that the Rox did in the Twin Tower days. Anyway I agree with most of the posters and Blinebury in this case. It would be great to see KG in Rockets Red but isn't going to happen.
I wouldn't consign TMac to Minnesota. I lived in Iowa. Minneapolis is better than Iowa, yes, but COLD, COLD, COLD. And the team is going nowhere. The way TMac has been playing, I wouldn't trade him at all (keep up the assists, TMac!) But as Clutch points out, no one is untradable. (Except for Yao, Dwyane, LeBron, Showbe....OK, SOME players cannot be traded. Most can.)
KG *NOT* to be traded to houston?! what a scoop. i wonder who his inside source was on this. by the way... this just in: Rockets refuse to trade Yao even though no team makes an offer. I can't reveal my source, but trust me when i say it won't happen.
We should probably start a new thread on this, but I've got a lot of questions on this. What would it take (or more important, what are we willing to give up) to get James? I think the Rockets have trade assets to work with this season. The T-Wolves have Foye and a 22-year old Rashad McCants (though he just had microfracture surgery). They're still 6-6 so they may not have a firesale, but if they do decide to rebuild and go for the Greg Oden gusto in what looks to be a deep draft (we already know they have three-point chucking Lotto Race extraordinairre Mark Madsen waiting in the wings), what would they take for James -- a contract and a draft pick? I don't think you can deal Rafer for James since the Timberwolves don't need a PG and a deal like that happens once in a lifetime (ugh) -- plus we're 9-4... doubt we rock the boat that much. I don't want to deal Luther or V-Span, but I also don't think those players fill needs for Minnesota. Does Juwan Howard and Steve Novak get it done? Mind you I don't want to deal Novak either, but is Van Gundy ever going to really play him when his strengths will probably never include defense? I definitely could see JVG endorsing dealing a rookie or two. I guess it depends on what the T-Wolves could/would get for KG. Wondering if they could get Tyrus Thomas (who looks short to me), Andres Nocioni and Ben Gordon? Gordon, Foye, James, Hudson, Jaric ... they'd have to move some guards. Just random thoughts... we'll see what happens in the league once December 15th rolls around.
If I were the Wolves I would want the Deng-beetle first, or maybe Nocioni at a minimum. Gordon I don't think I'd want so much. Although with Garnett's huge salary and the Bulls' commodities being so low salaried, it seems like it would be hard to make it work. They'd have to take on a large crap Bulls contract in return.....Mr. Headband? Your upper midwest tour continues.......
We'd probably have to come up with some cash to offset the G.D. trade exception on M.J.'s contract. That'd be ironic. It'd be great to have him here. I'd hand over Bonzi but I don't know who else. And I can't say Minnesota would want to rent Bonzi for a year when they already have a head case in Ricky. And I'd look for a serious answer to the backup 4/5, an outside shooter, with whatever other players become expendable in such a deal.
Something to keep in mind....if the Wolves move KG they probably will move him for a package that includes 1 or 2 solid players (Gordon, Thomas), a 1st round draft pick and perhaps an expiring contract (PJ Brown). The Wolves will not only want to get some young prospects but perhaps also lop off the dead weight contracts. Guys like Blount and Jaric are begging to be moved in serperate deals as part of the blow up. Would the Rockets take on either contract in taking Mike James? Maybe Mike James+Jaric for Juwan Howard (less years than Jaric) and someone else (Sura)? If the Rockets are looking for size at backup C, perhaps Blount is someone to consider. Or maybe the Rockets can get into a 3 way deal. The Heat are looking for a PG. Maybe we can ship off Alston to the Heat (where he used to play) and then the Heat can send the Wolves someone they could use and we could get Mike James. Something like that.
I just don't get this, your team cannot win, and you cannot get your team to win, now that's everyone else but your own fault? I don't want to get into the "KG is/is not a star" argument, but the factor is the guy is not a winner, he hasn't made the Wolves a winner. That team has been built around him with different type of role players over the years, but he has never been able to get them deeper into playoff.
Underachieved? Yes. Not a winner? Don't know about that. The team has had a revolving door of players put around him (maybe part of the problem), but not exactly a boatload of talent. Gugliotta made the all-star team there one year, but I think that was KG's sophmore season. The Marbury-KG combo looked promising, but the Wolves would have been better off keeping Ray Allen, and swapping Marbury for Terrell Brandon gave you a pretty good player for a few seasons until injuries plagued them. The Malik Sealy impact was out of KG's hands, as was the Joe Smith contract fiasco. Wally was a decent player, but never great. Above it all, the T-Wolves just never had the right assemblage of talent all together at the right time. When they finally did get multiple pieces all together - KG, Cassell, Latrell, Wally, etc. they advanced...but ran into Shaq/Kobe. And Shaq/Kobe at that time could probably beat anyone on their own, but as with all great championship teams, their role players were also good, and played their roles perfectly. Big men have never been "clutch" - it's just not even really possible if your not a guard. It's hard, frankly, to think of any champion of the past 20 years that didn't have clutch guard/small forwards players. Even Hakeem had clutch performers during our runs. It's not suprise, then, that the Cassell/KG combo had the most success. Just saying, KG could easily have been drafted by a different franchise and have 5 rings right now. It has less to do with his skills as a basketball player than the talent and organization around him. I wouldn't want the Lakers to get KG, that's for damn sure. He's twice the player Lamar is, and Bynum, though a promising talent, has slowed down as of late - he is clearly a player for the future. The Lakers would be trading the future for the present - and as that is our Rockets strategy, it would just make it that much harder. I think Golden State could also potentially be a player. They've got a lot of "talent" that never seems to gel.
