Could the answer to the mystery surrounding the Maurice Taylor waiting game lie in Toronto? Speculation has swirled around Portland trading Derek Anderson for the Rockets' "injured" forward, but what if the Rockets were looking further east? With depth problems at the 1 and the 3, Toronto might be an intriguing possibility, since they have a 1 (Rafer Alston) and two 3s (Lamond Murray and Eric Williams) unhappy and wanting trades. Alston wants an apology after latest benching Raptors a team in turmoil -- Now Eric Williams says he wants out Raptors suspend Murray for one game So why are the Rockets waiting to move Taylor? Eric Williams was traded earlier in the season and isn't eligible to be traded until Feb. 17. So could the Rockets be trying to land Williams? A great team player and defender with playoff experience, Williams would be a good fit and wouldn't mind trading PT behind McGrady for a return to the playoffs. But the salaries don't match. However, adding Alston and change makes it work: Houston trades: PF Maurice Taylor, PG Charlie Ward, PG Reece Gaines Houston receives: SF Lamond Murray, SF Eric Williams, PG Rafer Alston "TRADE ACCEPTED" Why would the Raptors trade three solid players for Taylor, who would play behind Chris Bosh, and change? Well, maybe they wouldn't -- talent-wise, the deal is lopsided in Houston's favor. But the Toronto players involved all want to be dealt, and the Rockets can sweeten the deal a little, offering the trade exception and a first round pick. This would give the Rockets great depth, versatility, and playoff experience: C: Yao, Mutombo PF: Howard, Padgett, Weatherspoon SF: McGrady, Williams, Murray SG: Wesley, Barry, Bowen PG: Sura, Alston, Strickland What's more, Alston and Williams (or Murray) would alleviate two of our biggest problems by letting McGrady and Sura get more rest. And remember, Sura's bad knee is the main reason we signed Strickland. The downsides are, first, it's a pretty unlikely scenario. Second, we risk team chemistry bringing in players like Murray and Alston, who have not displayed great attitude in Toronto and might demand more PT that a cohesive, winning team might offer them. And finally, trading away our trade exception and draft pick would end our chances of picking up next year's power forward (Wayne Simien?) in the draft. However, landing a starting 4 at the 22-24 spot seems unlikely anyway, and with the depth the trade would give us, I think we could swing a trade in the offseason if we decided our current 4s -- serviceable but unspectacular -- were inadequate. And who knows, if we made a run in the playoffs, our MLE might tempt a top flight 4 to come here for a shot at winning it all.
Sorry. The Rockets trade exception makes this deal possible now. By involving the trade exception, Toronto can break it down into separate deals, one simultaneous (Rafer/Murray for Mo), and then a non-simultaneous part basically in which the trade exception gets sent in a loop (TE to Toronto for Williams, back to us for Gaines/Ward). Players traded by themselves can circumvent the 60 day rules. Further, I want no part of Rafer Alston's 6 year contract, or locker room poison. And your Lamond Murray article is a year old.
Roeckts is waiting on nothing for Mo. They'd give him away for free. Too bad Mo's trade value is negative because of the contract, so nobody wants to take him unless Rockets take bad stuff from other team or give away draft picks.
One teams trash is another teams treasure (see EG in Minnesota) maybe that had to do with the price they got him for, but I've seen some trades to get rid of cancers that actually panned out well for both teams. MoT can play, he proved it when he was a sixth man - he just doesn't fill our needs now. He just needs a change of scenery and hopefully we can trade him for someone else that needs the same thing.
Exactly. The only way we rade MoT is if we get an equally bad player with a similiar contract. Hopefully we can just get one that plays a different position.
If that's the case, MoT would have been traded long time ago. The problem is Mo's contract is a killer to any team. Mo still can play ,but his play only merits half of the money he's getting paid right now no matter which team he plays for. So it's a negative to every team. I'm not bashing Mo, it's not his problem for being overpaid, but he has negative trade value, that's just a fact.
Beggars cannot be choosers- Mo's contract and the perception in the league that he is undesirable make us negotiate from a position of weakness. I know this will be unpopular to say, but we may be stuck with him until after next season when we could trade him in his last contract year. Review Mo's use value if we are stuck. The guy does offer some offense off the bench. Utilize it. I really hope we can trade him, but it looks like slim to none odds. Sad but true....
I find it hard to believe they will be able to find a taker (unless Portland decides to swap Anderson), but at the same time I would think the Rockets will try to find ANY WAY to ship him out. The situation surrounding him has gotten sour. I can't see how he can be re-implemented into the rotation without any problems.
I dont know if we can move Mo and get Williams since the salaries are way off. But just talking about Williams in general, I would love to have him on the team. If we could just acquire Williams for our T.E. and a 2nd rounder then I would do it. He could provide nice minutes at the 3 and the 4 depending on matchups. As for Mo, I still hope we can move him for Derrick Anderson. Although, I dont see us making BOTH the DA and Williams moves. I would love to see us make one of those moves.
All good points. In truth, I'm not that big a fan of Alston, although he could be an excellent PG in the right situation, and don't care much if we trade MoT. I see no reason why he can't be as good next year as he was last year, and if we get a decent 4 in the draft, we can move someone in the summer. The 4 spot is not our weakest spot right now. I'm more worried about McGrady's minutes and Sura's knee. I love Eric Williams' game, though, and I think he's a Van Gundy kind of player. The reason I put together the proposal I did was that I do not believe the Rockets will use the trade exception. They will use it as sweetener in an otherwise lopsided deal or just let it expire. I guess we'll see in a few days.....
I would love this. Lamond Murray is ridiculously injury-prone so I wouldn't be too excited about him but I absolutely love Eric Williams and think he'd be a great addition to this team for the remainder of his what? three year deal? I also think Rafer Alston could be solid here. I don't know what went on behind the scenes in Miami, but it appeared as though he had no problems there and he played great. It's said that he has a huge ego and he thinks he's better than he really is, but I have a hard time believing his ego is so massive he'd think he's better than McGrady and Yao. He'd have to understand his role on this team. I agree this deal is incredibly unlikely but I enjoyed the idea of it and I'd enthusiastically support it.
