Remember we all agreed that if the Rice-Amechi trade was for financial reason only (JJ is nice though), it sucks. With Eddie and MoT gone, Amechi never cracking into rotation, we really need another PF to upgrade our frontcourt. Bragg plays hard, but talentwise he's no more than J Hawkins. We got have someone else to backup Francis also. Moochie is easily the worst player in North America. At 2 and 3, once AG and Pike come back, we'll have some redundancy. Packing one of them with the 6M trade exception to land a PF or PG would be nice. The bottom line is: don't let Les get away with it. He owes us a 6 million dollar player!
I don't think the idea is that he would spend all 6 mil. The issue is that we couldn't trade a lot of guys because of where we were with the salary cap, and that made them lazy, I think. Now we can. They are playing much more like their backs are against the wall, and there are no more excuses. They needed a little fear to prod them. AND, we CAN trade guys now for something better, if and when it presents itself, but I would hope they don't do any desperate moves. I know there are rumors that Houston is shopping Griffin, but I'd rather keep him, and rebuild his value. Right now, we won't get squat for him. Maybe next summer, we can move him, or if he get's better, we can resign him for a longer contract that is economical, like Mobely's. If Griffin had developed, he could have had a contract like Stevie, now he'll end up with one like Mobely, costing him probably 30-50 million. Very foolish. But, look what we were saying about Cato a couple years ago, when he was a head case. Glad Griffin is getting help with his depression. Taylor will be back in another couple weeks, and we'll be ok at PF. I just hope that Ming or Cato don't get injured... The group we have is a more dedicated group, and will be even better with AG and Pike. I couldn't be more thrilled at how Cato has come along. Thank-you, Glen Rice! ... and JVG seems to know just how to work with Cato, too. Jackson was a wonderful addition to this team. I can't believe we got him so cheap. And, Pike, too. I'm beginning to realize how good our off-season was. My biggest dissappointment, besides Griffin, was getting nothing for KT. I don't want to see the same thing happen with Griffin.
Griffin will be an unrestricted free agent next year. We have to trade him by Feb to get something back. Or maybe we sign and trade next year. The guy is a waste of talent.
Would you trade Eddie for Battie, using the exception? A way to keep our rotation JVG-ish (Yao/Battie/Man-Boobs, Cato/Mo/Padgett?) Boston would get an expiring contract, IF EG doesn't re-sign, and a steal if he does; and we keep to JVG's system. That, I'd do. The Rox have paid for their loyalty. Of course, that loyalty has also paid off. I thought for sure Cat would set himself up for a trade but look at him now.
Battie apparently has bad knees. If someone can assure me he's not a health risk, I'd consider it. I'd really like to get someone like Kurt Thomas, but we'd probably have to give up a quality player to get him with the way he's playing right now.
I bet the Rockets don't use their exception until next summer, if at all. Otherwise, they're back in luxury tax land for this year, somewhere they gave a first round pick away to avoid. But the odds are there won't be a tax next year (04-05), so the Rockets could be free-spenders next summer.
We could pay Griffin more than anyone, probably, since we have his bird rights ... if I understand correctly. But, that's only if we know he is worth it, and has turned things around.
Is it possible to keep Griffin suspended all year long? If it is and we do it, or we simply don't play him much, then his market value definitely will be low next summer. We then try to sign him cheap for one year, with extension clause in his contract. If he starts to turn corners, we extend his contract, keep him or trade him. If not, we just let him go. Our pf spot is fine as is. If we are to use the exception, we should get a backup point and a young sf to develop along with Boki. JJ and Pike are nice, but they are getting old. Boki can be solid one day, but we need more insurance.
I surely have not given up on EG, I think that he will get his act together, he's getting help, and I think that the front office would like to keep him. Also remember that JVG managed Spree pretty well after he choked Carlisemo, and I don't think that EG is a bad guy, he's never been a detriment to the team, and I think that the role that he took with us, wasn't bad, he didn't demand the ball. Not only that, but I think that in our youth that we've all had our fair share of issues, why not give him another chance? I want us to keep him, and I want to see him have a long career as a Rocket, I think that he'll never be a rugged power forward, but some day I think that he'll be a hell of an sf.
