if we don't get swift signed, there is always Malick Badiane. for as many knocks as swift gets, this guy could not be much worse if swift turns out to be a bust.
Believe me, he most certainly could be much worse. If Swift turns out to be a disappointment, well hey, we should still get 10-5. It's totally conceivable that Badiane could be a Jerome Moiso type. I'm optimistic, and I hope he will give us some energy off the bench in limited minutes, but we definitely can't depend on him being able to contribute. I really hope we can work out a S/T for Swift (though first and foremost, I hope he chooses to come here). We have a lot of needs, and it would hurt to burn up the entire MLE on just one of them.
What is the close amount of the MLE of next year? From the article of Cav hunting for Haslem, the coming MLE is around 33M for 5 years(staring at 5.5M and increasing by 8% every year). If that is true, Swift will get paid around 6.6M per year (that is already a decent offer for him). I do not think he can get any other offer over 9M. And any offer below 8M, in my opinion, can not beat our MLE. So it is very promising for Swift become a Rox next year.
Of course they wouldn't want to technically help us out but, if he tells them he is signing with us no matter what, it may force thier hand to do a S&T. Yes, I know expiring contracts are not worth much to them. But, pick(s) and/or taking on Wells or Williams along with getting expiring contracts back would give them ample compensation. They put five years into Swift and they would like to be compensated for the time and money they put into him. He is too valuable and still has enough "potential upside" to just let walk ESPECIALLY to your division rival. If he decides this is where he wants to be, Memphis has no choice but to decide whether they want to do what I stated above or make the Rockets use thier full MLE. Plus, we don't have to be the only team involved. There are teams who are looking for PG (Atlanta, Lakers, etc) and SG (Clippers, Denver, etc) help that a 3-way trade could be made where Memphis could rid themselves of Williams and/or Swift along with getting a nice player or two plus picks in return. Swift and his agent have the upper hand, not the Grizzlies.
the grizzles are about to dump a ton of salary, and I suspect that their late season collasp and subsequent sweep from the playoffs is a sign of things to come for them - I suspect they will not be considered one of the stronger teams next season - so you may need to factor that into your thinking
I do not like the idea of S&T for Swift, which means we need to pay him some decent amout over MLE (if the new MLE is around 6.6M/Year). So he will get paid over 8M, not taking into account some bad contracts we are forced to accept from Grizzle. For this amount, I would rather try to figure out a S&T to take Walker.
Git R Done! If Swift or Marshall pass on Houston, CD will look like a damn fool for passing on Wayne Simien.
I seriously doubt that... besides, I think if the Swift deal falls through, they are going to get Walker (that is why CD gave him the ultimatum).
If the guy couldn't play a full college season, what makes you think he's going to be able to stay healthy in the NBA, when he'll be taking about twice as much punishment as he did in college?
another blurb on Stro from the Memphis paper http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/football/article/0,1426,MCA_478_3916326,00.html Stro for Sale Soon-to-be-ex-Grizzlies forward Stromile Swift shopped himself around the NBA this past week. This is what he told the Houston Chronicle during a mid-week visit to the Rockets: "I think Houston is probably a much better city than (Memphis). Hopefully everything works out. ... I'm just enjoying the process and hopefully it will be over soon." Stro is probably right. Houston would be a better city for him. They don't know yet that he doesn't play hard every night, that some nights he's into the game and other nights he's just stretching his legs. ...
I don't know the link but think this is incorrect. The new MLE should start at about 5.1 mil with 8% raises. It comes out about to 5/30mil I believe. Cleveland may be contructing the Haslem contract 33M 5 years so that Miami has to give up their MLE for the right to match the contract (new CBA rule). Cleveland is under the cap and does not have an MLE exemption. If we land Swift for 5/30 mil that is a hell of bargain for a 25 year old PF who is a pretty sure bet to give you at worst 10-11 points, 5-6 rebounds and about 2 blocks. We are not talking "potential" here, Badine, who has never put up those kind of numbers even in semi-pro leagues, that is what you call potential. Swift can play in the NBA, he has proven it, worst case he is just an average player with some warts. That isn't close to be said for Badine, who may very well never play a meaningull minute of NBA ball in his life.
If Van Gundy wants Swift here badly, I think there’s a pretty good chance he’ll play Swift at least 30 minutes a game. And if Swift plays 30 minutes a game, I don’t see how his numbers would not go up from 10 and 5. I know someone here already posted Swift's numbers when he's given +30 minutes, but it was a pretty small sample, so I went ahead and calculated his numbers when playing +25 minutes. Out of his 60 games last season, he played 25 minutes or more in 20 games. That's a third of his games, so it should give us a pretty good idea of what he's capable of when given starter minutes. His averages: PPG: 15 FG: 47% RPG: 6.45 BPG: 2.3 MPG: 29 Just looking at his game log, the games that really seem to drag down his numbers to 10 points and 5 rebounds are those games in which he really is not even given a chance to make an impact. There are several games in which he'll play 15 minutes or less and that really is not enough time for a player to get into the flow of a game. Give him consistent playing time and let him go through his growing pains and he should make significant improvement next season. I've read people comparing him to Cato and Taylor, but the player he most reminds me of is Kenyon Martin. When given minutes, Swift averages similar numbers to Martin (15ppg, 7rpg). Similar size, similar athleticism, similar game. And Kenyon Martin makes the max. So if we can get Swift for the MLE (or even $7-8 mil/year), it would be a pretty good bargain. If he can be a poor man’s Kenyon Martin, he’ll be exactly what this team needs at the 4.
My review indicates that the bulk of those games that he did not get much playing time was due to his foul trouble.
Out of the 12 games in which he played 15 minutes or less, there were only 3 games that he had 4 fouls. The rest are 3 or fewer fouls.
it was me here: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=98676&page=3 the last half of the page had his stats and some game notes of each 30 + minute game Stro had last year. I think I'm going to look into the season before that too and see what i can get.
I count only 11 such games, and out of those he only plays a few minutes in 4 of them due to injury (or returning from injury)......but still you are correct that he only gets in foul trouble in really 3 out of 7 such instances, which is not the majority I had claimed. Nevertheless, it still remains that his foul trouble is a problem, as witnessed by the stat that he picks up 4 or more fouls in 25 out of his 60 games....in which he averages only 21mpg
i would be very surprised but pleased if we got swift. i have previously made the point that we should get players that are capable on the offensive end because van gundy can get them to play defense. swift's offensive numbers have surprised me (Kim's thread) and I think that would be a welcome addition. Also, getting swift would allow us to potentially not need Mutumbo. I'd still like to have Deke, but stromile and Jho could handle the front court in spurts. besides. the whole idea is to get Yao more minutes. In a way, not signing mutumbo would force Yao to sink or swim. given my drothers, I'd like ot have deke for the playoffs. but with swift, we might be able to make due.
That obviously isn't a top priority, but I had the same thought in the back of my mind as well. Swift can handle spot duty at center, and anyone else we'll potentially be getting cannot. Versatility is a good thing.
