If T-Mo fine tunes his stroke, then I think the possibility of WANTING to get Lewis are slim to none.
Walt comes 5 mill off the books, and that means Les can comfortably spend the MCE. Our salaries our spaced neatly. Francis and Rice will only have a 1 year overlap at big money. By the time Eddie is ready to get an extension, Cato will be nearly off the books. This is a large MCE, like 6 years, 40 million. Rashard has a player opt out for this year, which I expect him to use. Look at Rashard's age, he's only 22. He can sign a 6 year deal, and not pass 30 when it's over. 40 million is more than enough to be comfortable, especially coming home, and who knows what levels salaries will reach in 6 years? Basically, when you get into 8 figures, he can be pretty comfortable, and still know he'll have another monster deal. Then it's a matter of if Rashard wants to come home, to a team with a nucleus right around his age (Eddie 20, Steve 24, Cuttino 27, MoT 25). We have the slot for Rashard to tandem with Eddie in the forward slots next to our guard tandem, while Seattle curiously drafted Radmanovic with their lotto pick to back up Rashard. I'm not saying that Rashard is a lock to come to Houston, but wounds can heal (and based on Rashard's interview with Bill and Calvin this year, they have), and Houston has a team that fits Rashard, and happens to be his hometown.
Ok, first of all, I love what Griffin is doing, and his acquisition, as oft stated, was the highlight of the last couple of years for me, Rox-wise... That said....hold on to your horses! The kid has had a good(great) couple of weeks, let's not start passing the baton just yet...He has yet to face a defence intent on stopping him first, as Francis does nightly...He has yet to have the pressure of carrying a team, which Francis has responded to...He has yet to hit the rookie wall, and have to play through it... I think Griffin is a perfect fit for this team...I, too, envision Stevie and Griff as the foundation for our future...and I think that, when you combine upside and production so far, Griffin is the rookie I would most want from this year's class...but let's not get ahead of ourselves...Francis has his faults, but he has also proven himself over years, and improved each year...We are still on the honeymoon with Griff, so let's let the newlywed blush wear off before we start supposing him as Francis' equal, or the like...As much as I like him, I am sure that, given time, he will both improve in some areas while revealing other weaknesses, and once that happens, and other teams start to focus on him a little more, they will strive to exploit his weaknesses and deny his strengths, a process which is actually easier to do to an inside player...Given time, he will adapt, I'm sure, but let's at least see a little of it before we judge it fait accomplis...
Rashard makes 4 mil now, its no way we can get him for less than 6-8 mil. They actually draft Radmonovich to play the 4, but since Baker is playing well, they'll push it back and he's an insurance policy for Rashard. I wish we had the cap money, but it would take some kind of 3 way to pull it off. Griffin could be as good or better than anyone if he put his mind to it and worked hard like Karl Malone. Has anyone noticed Garnett adding the 3 to his game? Thats a scary thought.
Rudy/CD are gods. [/B][/QUOTE] You're lucky that you wasn't with Nate Newton (your buddy) the day he got arrested for carrying yall weed supply.
