Lets Trade Butler and synder to portland for channing frye. They wanted frye to be a banger but he wants to be a gazelle. Lets send them a banger and a back up 2 guard and throw in novak and see if they bite.
Ha. I bet Portland would love that idea. Our garbage for a good young "gazelle". Would you give away Luther Head for someone like Jackie Butler and Kirk Snyder? I think not.
I'd like to see more of him this preseason before we think about cutting him. He's only 22 and he's a big body. He can backup both the center and four spots.
If Yao goes down I don't see a backup C who will place Deke's original place. So,even if he's the worse player in the league he must stay because we're not that deep on C position.
We are not deep at the 4 either. Scola and Hayes are it, since I expect Landry to make the team but to head to the DLeague. If Butler is the answer, what is the question? Butler in theory could provide minutes at the 4, as well as the 5. Also, Scola will likely struggle defensively against all opponents next year. Hayes will struggle against the better, offensive minded 4s (think Boozer), especially 4s that can exploit his lack of size. Butler with all of his faults has size. The problem with Butler is that unless he improves and realizes some of his potential he aint getting off the bench, since his defensive efforts are lacking. This presents a real conundrum. Do the Rockets keep Butler and play him no more than sparingly hoping that he will develop into a rotation player? Or do the Rockets set him free and look for a replacement 4/5?
I always thought he will be cut, it is just a matter of time. cutting him will make the Scola deal look bad after paing butler 2.5 mil to walk away.
i think we will be fine at center and pf if we do cut butler. yao/deke/chuck/scola . i see us going small a lot of times this year.moving battier, bonzi, and hopefully tmac at the 4. so many teams are going to smaller lineups. i love the idea of playing bonzi and battier at the same time and having battier guard their 4 and bonzi be our 4 on offence because of his ability to pass and post up. plus, we all hope harris makes this team. come on les, pay the money and cut butler.
Yeah, and how many of the "offensive minded 4s" did exploit Chuck's size last season? I can recall one player on one occasion - Elton Brand when he got hot from midrange. The only thing Boozer exploited was Yao's inability to guard Okur. Chuck is physically capable of guarding any PF because of his strength and quickness. He also has a hand in the offensive player's face every time they shoot over him after an unsuccessful attempt to back him down. Maybe I have a selective memory but except for the one Clippers game, I don't remember anyone abusing Chuck. And by that I mean having a better game than their season averages. In fact, most of the time Hayes holds his opposition under their norm. As for the topic, I'd cut Sura, Reed, Lucas and Novak first. And the 15th spot would be between Landry and Butler.
KG. I do, however, agree with you. If KG and Brand are the only two players that dominate you offensively then you are doing a pretty good job.
I didn't see the game that started this thread, but butler played pretty well sat night. he has a good feel around the basket
If the team is first then Butler, who seems to have no game, must go! We should judge Morey on how he gets the Rockets out of this situation, which he has created. Les might be the only factor that causes Morey to make poor judgements at this time.
Yeah, besides.... People are acting as if injuries don't happen. We of ALL fans should know better then that. Yao was out a big part of last season, yeah Mutumbo stepped in and played well but I wouldn't put my money on that this year. While we do have Scola/Hayes to play minutes at Center at times, We're also going to need them to play HEAVY minutes at PF. Our team can't get by with smalls at both PF and C positions. Keep Butler for INSURANCE purposes. You cut him now and I promise you there will be a time in the season you WANT him back.
Why? when Deke retires, possibly next season we are going to have no center to back up Yao. If we can keep him on the team this year we can work with him so he could better for us next year or even this year.
