Okay, off the top of my head, I can think of 10 players under contract: Yao Mutombo Howard Hayes Battier Bowen TMac Sura Alston Head And I can think of 3 guys in the "farm system" (if you will): VSpan Novak Malik Badiane Am I missing anyone? It looks to me like we have roster spots for 3 guys. One quite possibly going to Novak. And we have nothing but the MLE and a couple of trade exceptions to pay 'em with. Not sure what kind of trade(s) we can muster up with our current roster, so pretty much all we can dive into is the shallow free agent pool. Is that the current outlook (as far as roster goes), or am I missing something?
Yeah, I think you're right. Ever since last year when they did away with the IL and added the 3 ineligible spots (or whatever), I kinda got messed up. So basically we have 5 spots to fill with the full MLE and 2 trade exceptions?
well, as i see it now, we have 10 players under contract : McGrady, Yao, Howard, Head, Battier, Alston, Sura, Hayes, Mutombo, Bowen + Novak and probably Lucas III + 1 other player from our summer league team (Haryasz ?) + 2 players from our splitted MLE (Banks and Fred Jones ?) i think they'll wait to use their TE ...
Here's how I see it: Current Lineup: C: Yao-Deke PF: Howard-Hayes SF: Battier-Novak-Bowen SG: TMac-Head PG: Alston-Sura or C: Yao-Deke PF: Battier-Howard-Hayes SF: TMac-Novak-Bowen SG: ?-Head PG: Alston-Sura Possible Additions: PG: Spanoullis PG: JL3 Looking at this lineup, if we plan on moving TMac back to SG, then I really think we need an upgrade at PF. Hayes is a nice player but should be more of a 3rd string PF rather than a backup. If we don't want TMac back at SG, then a SG is by far our biggest need. I don't see us getting a 3rd scorer at SG through FA and we don't have a whole lot to offer in terms of a trade. Also, I don't want to go into the season relying on Sura to be there the whole season. We need to look at finding a solid backup, I want either Spanoullis or JL3 at 3rd string.
I agree with this one. From what I'm hearing Battier will play the 4 and Tmac will stay at the 3. This leaves us with a pretty big hole at the 2. If we bring Vspan in, I think it will be to play the 2. He's a good shooter (needs to get a lil better from 3pt range, but superb mid range game). His biggest problem is turnovers, which will be minimized if he doesnt have to take care of ballhandling responsibilites as much. Bob Sura can also play the 2. I'm hoping for Marcus Banks for part of big TE and Vspan w/ as little of MLE as it takes (not sure how much that is, I know its complicated w/ all the foreign contract buyout wutnot). Also bring in JL3 for the minimum. My hopeful depth chart w/ (my best guess at minutes) Yao(35)/Dike(6)/Jhoward(7) Battier(25)/Jhoward(13)/Hayes(10) TMac(37)/Battier(8)/Novak(3)/RyBo(0 ) VSpan(20)*/ Head(15)/Sura(13) Rafer(35)/Marcus Banks(10)/Sura(3)/JL3(garbage & injury minutes) *VSpan may or may not start b/c I have no idea how good he is, I'm only relying on reviews I've read. Also depends how ready to go Sura is and if he can handle more than 15 minutes a game.
^ I would be so disappointed if CD and crew went into next season with a Spanoullis and Head rotation at SG.
the great thing about having shane is that we can now target BOTH PF's and SG's and just adjust the lineup according to who we bring in. If the season started tomorrow here is what i tihnk we would see: yao jho shane tmac rafer ------ deke hayes novak head lucas ------- baxter bowen sura ======== i think we will need to sign a PG before we start.
Heh, I'm not ashamed. Notice how it says hopeful depth chart, I loved watchin bobby sura play 2 years ago and really hope he can play some minutes.
This offseason could be salvaged if the Rockets offer Clutchfans the chance to try out for the team and guarantee that one of us will be on the 12 man roster. I'm 6-3 and shoot about 33.3 percent from behind the arc against air. And I'm asian. Can I start at SG?
Sorry. I have to ask why Lampe is not there. From NBA.com, he is not a free agent. From other contract website, his contract is due next year. Do you guys think Rox will cut him for sure. From my view, he is not a bad shooter, similar to Padget and Novak. And he is still young.
Lampe is playing in the summer league for the Suns. His agent has said he expects the Suns will sign him.
There is no depth whatsoever. Will need two addition signings, can't play farm team the entire season, need a combo of Banks, Jones, Ariza, or Murray.
