No, I've already gone on record as being one who won't be surprised if they don't pick it up. But it ultimately won't be about his knee and instead will be about money.
I think you missed my point, I agree it will be about money, they might use the knee as an excuse. DD
This is too funny!!! I think if the Rockets do not pick up Hayes option, it is a sign that Yao is a sign that they do not think they have a shot at a championship next season. I think they will pick up the option. He is an important piece of this team. And even if they are over the luxury tax, they will probably try to get under the tax via trades. Chuck's contract would be relatively easy to get rid of in case we have yet another season with the injury curse.
Notice Budinger was the one who stepped in front of Pierce. Hayes swiped at the ball, and when Pierce stepped by, Budinger was there, then Pierce spun back into Hayes. Its not at all an individual game, especially defensively. Hayes and Budinger, hope they are Rockets for a long time.
Exactly. Personally, they know the value of Hayes, but to have so much money in intangible guys already like Shane and Jeffries etc...it is probably just going to be a money thing. DD
I just hope Morey manages to keep Chuck. I love the guy. Along with a couple of others, he's the backbone of this Rockets team. While he may not have the height we would like at his position, and certainly not the offense, he brings an intelligence and a work ethic this young team needs as a model for how you are supposed to prepare for a game. Dammit, how you're supposed to play the game. The guy has been playing hurt. Anyone who's been following the team and Chuck for a long time knows it, yet he still gets crapped on. It trips me out.
DD: Do you think it possible that one or more of Battier, Hayes, Jefferies might get packaged in a deal this of season?
Chuck was the hero tonight against the Jazz. A career high 18 rebounds and good defense against Boozer,Milsap and Okur is very impressive.
Yeah, Chuck is Bill Freakin Russell!!!!! (Without the Offense, leaping ability, Size, Rings, ShotBlocking, and Hall of Fame.) Gee, Screw Bosh & Stoudemire let's give Chuck the MAX!
In the grand scheme of things, 2 million dollars isn't very much. The minimum salary for him is 900K. Is saving about a million dollars worth risking losing him to another team. If we don't pick up his option, he would be unrestricted. You don't think a contender like Orlando, LA, Boston, or Cleveland would pick him up just as an insurance policy or for defensive situations. I guess it will all depend on our luxury tax situation next year after we Scola and Lowry.
Hayes is a great addition to this team, but the problem is that we have too many PFs next year. I do not know if we can retain him next year if we want to develop Hill.
Underappreciated... maybe by fans, but not those in the know Hayes likes the underdog role Students of game laud contributions of Rockets forward By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Nov. 13, 2007, 4:37AM MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kyle Lowry, the Memphis Grizzlies' blur of a point guard, caught Rockets rookie forward Carl Landry in a switch and immediately cleared out his teammates with designs of an unfettered flight to the rim. On the opposite side of the floor, Rockets forward Chuck Hayes saw the impending trouble and moved into the lane toward Lowry. As expected, Lowry made his move and beat Landry, then saw Hayes coming over to stop him. But Hayes had no intention of stopping anyone. Instead, he faked toward Lowry, and just as Lowry prepared to dish to a cutting teammate, Hayes backed off into the lane. As he intercepted Lowry's pass and the Rockets headed the other way, former Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, scouting the preseason game last month for the Lakers, said in that familiar rumble: "That's Chuck Hayes." With that, Hayes had received the greatest of compliments. Not only had he made a slick and heady play, preventing what would have been a rim-bending dunk, but no less an expert than Tomjanovich considered the play typical of him. The scouts and coaches know. They marvel at the way Hayes is used as a rare power forward who is not only assigned to cover brutes like Emeka Okafor and Carlos Boozer, but to chase Dirk Nowitzki to the 3-point arc, battle Tim Duncan in the low block, and switch off on point guards as they come around screens. Hayes clinched a playoff win over Utah last season when he stepped in front of Derek Fisher, drawing a charge with the game on the line. In this season's matchup with the Jazz, Boozer took two shots against Hayes and missed both. When Hayes started on Nowitzki, the Mavericks star missed all four shots he took. Regularly overlooked But such moments, like the play on Lowry, are not what Hayes enjoys most. The power forwards he faces have their moments, too. That is inevitable. "It comes with the position," Hayes said, particularly in a week like this, when he goes up against Okafor, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Duncan and Shawn Marion. But having been overlooked and underestimated for so long, Hayes has come to cherish those moments when swift guards see that linebacker upper body and those chunky legs and expect to blow past him. "I've always been considered an underdog," Hayes said. "Even though I have achieved my goal and made it to this professional level, I'm still an underdog. I take it as a challenge. "I notice when I switch off to a premier ballhandler, he tells everybody to clear out and tries to isolate me. But he finds out it's a lot harder than he thinks. That's a lot of fun." Hayes said he has accepted that he will always be overlooked. "When I'm at home watching TV, I tend to watch whoever has the ball, too," he said. "I don't tend to watch the weak side and see what's going on over the there. Basketball is entertainment. What I do sometimes is not the greatest entertainment. At the end of the game, it's very much appreciated. "There's a whole lot of other things in the game of basketball besides scoring." His coaches, from Rick Adelman now to Jeff Van Gundy before him, rave about the things fans rarely discuss. "They're missing his help defense," Adelman said. "They're missing how many times he gets his hands on the ball, steals and strips. He just is always in the right spot. He understands what our game plan is, and he's very quick. "With him and Shane (Battier) on the floor, this team has two guys who do all those dirty things for you. They are always taking charges. They are always in position to help. But Chuck is really important." Earning floor time Last season, the Rockets allowed teams an average of more than nine fewer points (per 100 possessions) with Hayes on the floor than when he was off. They actually scored slightly more with Hayes playing. So far this season, they are holding teams to 4.5 fewer points with Hayes playing. "He's so strong, and he's quick. You feel good about him," Adelman said. "You want him on the floor. "Obviously, he's not a great offensive player, but he's a better passer than we anticipated. Defensively and on the boards and with all the little things he does, he's the real glue for this team." Still, when the Rockets traded for Luis Scola, Hayes was assumed certain to be replaced. That could happen eventually if Scola develops more of Hayes' defensive and rebounding talents. For now, though, it's just another chance for Hayes to be underestimated. "I've heard that," Hayes said. "I've seen an article or two here and there. That's the life of an underdog. No matter if I did start in this league, went to the playoffs, did well, it's not enough. Until I leave this profession, what I do won't ever be enough. I understand that." He almost sounded as if he preferred it that way, even if Tomjanovich made it seem that the secret is out. jonathan.feigen@chron.com
And there were similar stories in the first month or so of this season as well. His performance has fallen off as the season has worn on, but there is no question that the Rockets organization appreciates what he does more than most outside observers and fans.
Maybe if we started Chuck instead of Yao when we played the Jazz, we would have advanced to the 2nd round a few years earlier. :grin:
I think the Rockets will bring him back. He has been there to make a game winning defensive play too many times in the playoffs for this team to let him go if it has real Championship aspirations. My instincts tell me Shane is on his way out. It's obvious Ariza is the organization's choice at SF and considering Shane's deal is almost up I think he is going to get packaged this summer.
I still cannot wait to see the Lowry-Ariza-Battier-Hayes/Jeffries-Yao lineup on defense at least a few times next year.
NOOOO! Keep Battier! I much rather see Ariza go from a basketball and financial perspective. Ariza has 4 more years left on his contract and doesn't gambles too much! We should keep Battier for the same reasons you said we should keep Hayes. He has also made some game winning plays in the playoffs as well!
