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Chronic: Sunshine state of mind for me, and a few topics to debate for you

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Rockets34Legend, Aug 5, 2007.

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  1. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Member

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    Didn't see this posted anywhere....

    http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2007/08/sunshine_state_of_mind_for_me.html

    Before Fran headed to the beach, Steve Francis signed in a stunning turn of events.

    Not that I'm complaining, but as I head out of town, Chuck Hayes signed the deal certain since the season ended.

    Chuck is a fine guy and a better player than people seem to remember, but he does not generate conversation quite like Steve, who remains as much a force in that regard as ever.

    Fran will be back next week, and I will post comments when I come out of the sun. I might not answer as many questions, but we'll do what we can.

    I do leave you, however, with some topics to consider.

    I still think Dikembe Mutombo will sign. I was wrong this morning when I told Matt that the Rockets have offered $1.83 million. I got that figure from someone assuming that number in a conversation about the Rockets' luxury tax situation. For now, they have offered $1.2, the veteran's minimum. If they have to, they will have a tough decision to make about going to the $1.83 figure. Also, I said the Celtics were very interested, but had not made an offer. That was true at the time, but they have since made their offer, also the veteran's minimum. I'm hearing there is a third team showing interest.

    Here's something else to kick around. The Rockets have been spending as if on a Cinderella Liberty. That is not generally their way, and not likely to continue.

    They bought a second-round pick last season, bought two more this year, took on the contracts of Justin Reed and Jackie Butler to get deals done for Mike James and Luis Scola, sent the Spurs between $1 million and $2 million in the Scola deal and spent all the rest of their mid-level exception to get Francis.

    Assuming Dikembe at $1.8 million, signing Carl Landry and waiving Bob Sura, the Rockets would be $2.8 over the luxury tax line. Counting the money over the tax, the tax and the escrow money they would no longer receive, that would be a hit of roughly $10 million.

    Daryl Morey will obviously try to reduce that, but when Les Alexander sent him after Francis, the decision was made to go past the tax number and not make a subsequent deal that would hurt the roster in the name of tax savings. That will make saving the money very tough, though Morey will go after that.

    With that in mind, I still believe he'll find a home for John Lucas III, and it will probably be in New Orleans. But they have to find a third team to take on a contract to make the deal work.

    As for Rafer Alston, the Miami thing is not entirely dead, but unlikely after the Heat signed Smush Parker. The Rockets, though, are not as eager to move Alston as the commentators on the blog. They would seem to have too many point guards to keep them all happy, but Alston is different from the others.

    Teams have played three point guards. The Rockets could do that for awhile. That would hold off Aaron Brooks a bit, and it's really not what the Rockets want. But it does not look as if they will make any deal that moves Alston, last season's starter. They seem willing to wait for a deal that does more for them than trim a point guard from the list.

    Finally, back where we began - with Chuck. The contract is four years, with the last at the team's option. It begins with a base salary of $1.5 million, with another $200,000 in incentives considered likely to be met. There are other incentives, too, that would be less likely.

    For some reason, many seem to have forgotten what Hayes brings, focusing on what he does not. The Rockets still are counting on Luis Scola, but Hayes does things that are always useful. Drawing charges, getting loose balls, rebounding at a high rate, defending well.

    We know that in others ways, he is limited. But when he started, the Rockets' starting five had the best plus-minus in the NBA, and a very strong record. I don't think he'll be starting again, but he's a good signing.

    At least he, Dikembe, Rafer, even Les' spending spree should keep things moving for a week. I'm heading to the beach, but I'll mix in some time hitting the approve button on the blog. What vacation would be complete without that?
     
    #1 Rockets34Legend, Aug 5, 2007
  2. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    You didn't see it but this blog has already been posted.
     
    #2 A_3PO, Aug 5, 2007
  3. pillage

    pillage Member

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    Morey is really smart, I'm so down for moving Alston, but if the right deal isn't around, why rush into it? If there really is that much interest, I'm sure it will only go up during the trade deadline.

    PG - Francis, James, Alston
    SG - Bonzi, Head
    SF - T-Mac, Battier
    PF - Scola, Hayes
    C - Yao, Deke, Butler

    D-league - Novak, Landry, Brooks

    Positives:

    - Alston would be an excellent 3rd string option.
    - The closer to the trade deadline, the more desparate teams will be for him.
    - The trade we got later > trade now.
    - Brooks will get more minutes in the D-League than in the NBA.
    - Maybe having Alston around would actually be a very good thing for the team (which would only increase trade value).

    Negatives:

    - No trade means no PF to help Scola get accustomed. (Would love to get Foster, but if its not available, its not available).
    - Brooks has NBA talent, but with Alston around, he'll have no minutes.
    - Brooks would arguably be more affective playing an entire season with the Rockets over just after Alston leaves.
    - Luxury tax issue.

    It's close but if the right trade does not come along I think the positives outweigh the negatives. The main negative is Brooks not being on the team. But he was only going to play 10 minutes anyway. If it means having to watch Alston take those minutes for half a season until Morey can get the best deal possible - I am willing to be patient.
     
    #3 pillage, Aug 5, 2007
  4. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Member

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    Where? Looked back 3 pages and I didn't see it.

    If it's within another thread, how was I suppose to know?
     
    #4 Rockets34Legend, Aug 5, 2007
  5. davidkconover

    davidkconover Member

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    Alston is so much more than a third string option. How quickly we forget how good he is on help defense and all the steals he produces when he picks someone's pocket or cuts in front of a pass. How quickly we forget how clutch he tended to be from beyond the arc when we really need a basket.

    He is a better point guard that James (whom we traded for a reason) and Stevie (whom we traded for a reason). That is not to say he isn't a better baller than those guys. But he is better at running a team.
     
    #5 davidkconover, Aug 5, 2007
  6. daddy cool

    daddy cool Member

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    If alston is going to play he is going to have to learn to move without the ball,set john stockton screens,learn to not need the ball. The offense isn't design for a traditional set up man point guard,in this offense anyone can bring the ball up and start the O becasue it runs through the 4 and 5.What alston must do is work on his screen and roll offense with emphasis on making mid range shots. Alston is like a jason williams in a sense because of his traditional point guard skills. Jason was benched in adelman's system because of his inability to play screen and roll offensively and his ineffectivenss to contribute without the basketball.In this offense everybody is a playmaker and a point guard.
     
    #6 daddy cool, Aug 5, 2007
  7. seclusion

    seclusion rip chadwick

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    this is pretty accurate, and honestly I'm a supporter of trading alston (simply because I think it could make us better). keeping alston allows us to run a lineup of something like this:

    alston, francis, tracy, scola, yao
    james, bonzi, battier, hayes, mutumbo / butler

    or

    francis, bonzi, tracy, scola, yao
    alston, james, battier, hayes, mutumbo / butler

    both of which are pretty attractive. unfortunately it kills the playtime for luther head, who I think can still be very valuable to us. it also pretty much says, snyder is done.
     
    #7 seclusion, Aug 5, 2007
  8. Rocketeer

    Rocketeer Member

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    What about playing Steve at the two and you have a combo of PG in James and Alston?
     
    #8 Rocketeer, Aug 5, 2007
  9. krosfyah

    krosfyah Member

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    Rafer was running JVG's offense. JVG often said we are a 3pt shooting team. So JVG clearly asked Rafer to sit on the 3pt line and be ready for kick-outs. I don't fault Rafer for that. I suspect we'll see some different things from Rafer this season under RA, assuming he's here.
     
    #9 krosfyah, Aug 5, 2007
  10. pasox2

    pasox2 Member
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    They need to get under the lux tax by trading deadwood for a trade exception.
     
    #10 pasox2, Aug 5, 2007
  11. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    I'm not sure HBO will go for that.
     
    #11 Deckard, Aug 5, 2007
  12. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    Do a search for : Dikembe AND Steve AND Smush

    That would locate the thread it's in. Then either look in that thread or do a search again within the thread.

    http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=3065457

    But I guess I'll leave this one open since it's worth reading and people may have missed it in the other thread.
     
    #12 Dr of Dunk, Aug 5, 2007
  13. JuNx

    JuNx Member

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    I dont really see any of these players going to the D league

    D-league - Novak, Landry, Brooks
     
    #13 JuNx, Aug 5, 2007
  14. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Member

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    DoD, I figured since no one has started a thread on this and I was unable to find it for 3 pages, I thought I would start it.

    Unless you are keeping up w/ every post/thread in this BBS, you could only find it that way. I would of never found it w/ those search words.
     
    #14 Rockets34Legend, Aug 5, 2007
  15. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    I didn't know it was posted either... and yeah, you can find it using those search words - that's how I found it. :D

    That's one of the points of using search : so you can look for stuff without having to follow every thread. If you have an article you want to post, but don't know if it's been posted already, find 3 or 4 of the most uncommon terms/words in the article that usually won't be found together in one post and search for them with AND between each of them. That's all I did. :)
     
    #15 Dr of Dunk, Aug 5, 2007
  16. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    Chronic: Ug
     
    #16 KingCheetah, Aug 5, 2007
  17. mogrod

    mogrod Member

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    To me, you DO NOT trade Rafer unless:

    a) There is a trade that clearly makes the team better

    and/or

    b) Francis proves he is healthy

    If neither occurs, keep him, find away to play him, Francis and James every game; and trade Luther (just would be the odd man out). Later in the season, you trade Rafer or James to find a nice backup wing player or help at the 4.
     
    #17 mogrod, Aug 5, 2007
  18. kokopuffs

    kokopuffs Member

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    Good point about Francis. We still don't know whether his injury is something that will linger and hamper his play like Tmac's back. And if Francis goes down, Alston could at least hold down the fort.
     
    #18 kokopuffs, Aug 5, 2007
  19. blazer_ben

    blazer_ben Rookie

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    I hate trading a pretty good piece like rafer who i think can be effective under Adelman for many reasons for just the sake of numbers. it's crazy.
     
    #19 blazer_ben, Aug 5, 2007
  20. blazer_ben

    blazer_ben Rookie

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    I should also add that besides tracy, Rafer is our best ball handler and i certianly dont trust james or francis with the handeling duties. i say keep him.
    Give him 24 minutes a night and give james 24 to be he's backup.
     
    #20 blazer_ben, Aug 5, 2007
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