CD mentions trades now in his interviews but who do we have as trade commodities on the team? Alston Head JHo Yao, TMac, Battier and Snyder(at least for the moment) would not be people the Rockets would look to trade. Because of JHo's age and the fact that his contract doesn't expire until the summer of 2008 then I would think it would be hard to move him. Although at about 6mil a year he is still a pretty good deal for a power forward that can put the ball in the bucket. I hope we do not trade Head because I think he is the perfect combo guard for this team. A player that has heart and hustles all the time and can back up both guard spots with a fair amount of efficiency. This leaves Alston. I think his play making might be a little under rated but any player that average's almost 7 assists per game and shoots over 30% from behind the arc has a place in the league. Could the Rockets use Alston as the lynch pin in a trade with Clevend for Drew Gooden? Obviously there would have to be other things thrown in like a draft pick and maybe another player to get up to the salery that we would need to sign Gooden but the trade makes sense. Cleveland needs a point guard. The Rockets need a Power Forward. The Cav's are having trouble signing Gooden and lookds like they will entertain sign and trade offers. If we could get Gooden then we could sign Marcus Banks, JLIII and V-Span. Marcus Banks is a proven scorer and defender in the league that can run the point. Marcus Banks JLIII V-Span Head Snyder TMac Rybo Battier Gooden Hayes Novak Yao Deke other possibles would be Sura and Carroll That is a nice mixture and substantially more talent than we played with last year. Banks, Snyder, TMac, Battier and Yao would be a nice starting 5 IMO or Banks, TMac, Battier, Gooden and Yao.
Not to excited about Drew Gooden... Hes just a younger Juwan Howard. IMO, Howard is a decent power forward, but he just seems horrible b/c the West is so loaded at that position and he faces stars night in and night out. Im moe concerned with some shooters. We need shooters around Yao and TMAc. But if we can get him for a decent price or trade, Im willing to give it a shot. However, in the playoffs, he did disappear for long stretches which isnt good.
i dont think there's any doubt we'll look to move, or at least be very open to offers that may come for Alston. i can't agree with you though on the call that Banks is a proven scorer and defender in the league. To me, he's athletic and super quick, but gets out of control alot. Just like our Rafer - except not even as good.
like i said, I'll trade Rafer for a Ron Artest rap CD, and a free-ticket to the houston zoo, but unfourtnately its not gonna happen.
What's all the fuss about Rafer? He scores, shoots well (when he's not playing 40 min/g plus has no help), rebounds, picks up assists. I wouldn't trade Rafer for a PF unless we got a PG in return. You can't fix a hole by removing a plug from another. If you want to trade him, fine. But we need a PG in return. We're thin a PG. We've got 2 PFs. For instants, we could go Juwan/Alston for Gooden/Snow.
Alston won't go anywhere. I believe CD and the Rox consider him part of our core, along with Tracy and Yao. As a pass-first PG who plays great D and fits well within a team environment, I think he'll get another year with a healthy squad to see what he can really do. I wouldn't be surprised to see him put up 14/8/3 along with 38% 3s with a healthy team. As far as who we have as trade assets, I think Head and Howard have to be our only options. The thing is though, we won't be able to acquire 2 capable players for just one of them. It'll be a 1-1 deal and that won't necessarily help us because we need depth, particularly along the frontline.
People on here want Rafer to play like Nash.... They guy is WHAT we need. A pass first PG. We dont need a Nash or Terry on this team that has to put up points. We need someone to pass the ball to Yao and take some pressure off TMac by not having him bring it up every single time. The guy can play ball they way the team needs him. Yet people are so open to bootting him off the team WITH no good reason. You cant look at last season cuz other than Yao the whole organization looked like ****! Give him a chance. Unlike Swift, he can actually contribute to the team. Yet people were ready to burn management at a stake for trading him.
Cosidering the current roster, considering the current FA pool, considering other PG's said to be on the trading block, why in the hell would people be thinking about dealing Alston? At this point with what's available out there at Pg the Rockets would be damn stupid to trade him, unless they got back a legit starting PG. I really don't think Banks is going to cut it as a starting SG and funny thing both teams he played for didn't think so either. Banks is an undersized SG that has to play point because he's so small, he can guard one's well, but not two's at all, and he's not a natural point, nor is he a very good shooter. He's not even that good at running an offense. The team would get better if it added Banks as a backup for depth, the team would get worse if it dumped Alston for some backup SF or PF and then started Banks, at least that's how I view it. And signing Spanoulis does not change that because no one knows what he's going to give until he actually steps on an NBA court so that would be a huge gamble to just ship off Alston assuming Spanoulis could take over. I think the Rockets cannot possibly go with anyone below Rafer's level at PG and even think about competing for the title, and basically with what's available at PG now that's what they would probably be doing if they moved him.
I would not trade Alston unless he was in a package for Steve Francis or Mike Bibby, preferably Bibby.
Alston is a good PG and can run a team. I like Banks, but I don't know if he could do a better job than Alston. My gut is that he couldn't.
I agree! By the way, there is no better PG FA available than Alston. Let 's keep Alston and sign Banks as second PG. Besides, we already have two players with T-Mac and Yao that score an average of +20pt so Alston and Banks will do just fine.
HIs passing is not the issue the guy just can't shoot to save his life.if he could shoot anywhere close to thoes 2 guys then he would be starting material.
forget about trading rafer. he is this teams' ONLY PG. we're not going to find any better on the market. and if jvg wants three points guards, then trading rafer doesn't make sense unless we get a point guard in return. he is a good ball handler and distributor and thats all you need in your PG, shooting is a bonus.
I am not a big fan of Rafer Alston. Whereas I agree with some of the other board members who have cited his failings, my big problem with him is his inability to push the tempo of the game. If we did trade Alston, I would want to see us pick up a PG who is always looking to initiate a fast break and pass to THE open man -- not just the favorite shooter. I say this because Alston time and again failed to pass the ball to Stromile Swift even though Swift was open or was under the basket before his defender was set up. I know JL3 is short and a rookie, but I believe even he would be a better PG solution. I realize summer league play is not the same as NBA play, but the kid really knows how to push the ball. We now have enough defense and height at SG and SF and C to cover his size liabilities, and he has a better shot than Alston. Rafer would make a great backup and might even learn how to push the tempo in order to regain his starter role. Howard and Hayes do not cripple us at PF so we can muddle along until we can find a PF with size, range and rebounding ability in one package. I would love to acquire Murphy, Gooden, Ely or Wilcox, but their respective prices are too high. This is where "Moneyball" better pay off. Otherwise, that concept needs to be scrapped.
Essentially I am not down on Rafer. However I do think Gooden is a much better player than Alston and a true power forward that can score is very difficult to find. It appears to me that there is a windo of oppertunity for Gooden right now. Cleveland is lacking at point guard. Gooden may be a younger version of Howard but he is a better rebounder and a lot more athletic. Banks reminds me a lot of James and is definitely a better shooter than Rafer but the players that really intrigue me are V-Span and JLIII. If...and I know its a big If....Sura comes back this year he is our starting point guard. The team was at it's best when he was the starting point guard 2 seasons ago. Sura, V-Span, JLIII and Alston is not a bad group of points but both alston and Sura have shooting deficiancies. I would like the Rockets to take a chance on Banks providing the price is right and trade Alston and what ever else we need for Gooden.
If we got Eddie House on board, I would be up to moving Alston/Howard for Gooden/Snow. I think it is a pretty even trades with all things considered. Especially if CD wants to move V-Span on the roster. Snow although not the best shooter, is a smart, high IQ, defensive vet PG. Right up JVG alley. Gooden would be a improvement over a aging, stealing, Juwan. I think the Rockets know more about V-Span than any of us, and only they know if he is able to run the point guard position. Sura is still a huge question mark! If so: PG V-Span/Snow/House SG McGrady/Head/Snyder SF Battier/Novak/Bowen PF Gooden/Hayes C Yao/Deke
"Gooden is a better player than Alston." Bogus reasoning like this is why Atlanta has had a team comprised entirely of small forwards. You don't give away the only good point guard you have because you've found a better power forward for your team. To trade Alston away would be an incredibly stupid move.
