If that was really their offer, a deal could still be made. We expected it to be Griffin and Rice, and not Griffin, Mobley and Cato. Taylor and Cato for SAR looks better. We can't give up Mobley without getting a 2 in return. Maybe it was because of Cato and Mobley that the deal didn't happen, as we know that the Rockets had interst in SAR in the past. Less than an hour to go!
Sheed has always been a pathetic rebounder and barely adequate at best shot blocker for a power forward and he always will be. I guess that’s enough said on that as well.
The Blazers have always been a good rebounding team. The reason for that is because they have all 5 guys crashing the boards, which hurts Sheed's #s. Also, expecting your PF to block shots, is like expecting your center to be able to nail threes. Do you really think EG will be as good as Wallace?
I think as Eddie gets bigger and stronger then he will naturally get higher percentage shots just by being able to establish better position. I don't remember Eddies shots being as flat last year but they have been ugly this year. One other thing is that Eddie was a good free throw shooter last year hitting almost 75% percent of his free throws and this year he is barely hitting 60%. Something is definitely up with Eddie’s shot this year but that is something that can be worked on in the off season.
Sheed shot 48% from the field in his first year in the league compared to Griffin's 38%. Griffin has more potential when it comes to defense and rebounding, but I don't think he can ever be as dominate a scorer in the league as Rasheed. Grffin has a decent post game when he gets good position so if he can add some bulk over the next couple of years he should get some more shots down low which would improve his FG%. Also Griffin needs to find his place in the offense and once he does hopefully he won't feel the need to jack up so many 3-pointers. I think Griff will become a 15/10/3 guy that shots around 45%. Not bad if he can develop into a defensive stud.
What is with all of these people saying Griffin can't be better then Rasheed or he will never shoot well from the field, how do you know? He could very easily be better then Rasheed, how many players have come out their first few years struggling? Kwame Brown, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal. He shot 38% for his first year big deal, just because you shoot horribly your first you doesn't doom you to shooting like that your entire career. Besides it's silly to compare Rasheed and Griffin, Rasheed was already prepared for the NBA, he played several years of college, at a top flight school in North Carolina no less. Do I think that Griffin could be better then Rasheed? 2 years ago what if I had asked you "do you really think that Jermaine O'Neal could be better then Rasheed" people would have laughed their @sses off. If Griffin can bulk up and work the post he could become as good as a guy like Jermaine O'Neal and better then Rasheed. He's a better shot-blocker then Rasheed, and the fact that 5 guys crash the boards hurt Rasheed is a weak excuse because all 5 guys crash the board in Minnesota and it doesn't hurt Garnett. Expecting your PF to block shots is wrong I agree, but when they are able to block shots it makes the team that much more lethal. When Griffin develops, he's only 20, he will easily be a better shot-blocker, rebounder, and defender then Rasheed. The key is working on his inside game, which will come with bulk and confidence. When that happens we're going to have a star. The reason Griffin is struggling from the field is because he is having trouble working the post every night because he doesn't have the bulk. If he could bulk up like Amare Griffin would be awesome. <b>Sheed had a post up game at age 20. EG never will. Nuff said.</b> I guess you can look into the future. I guess you looked into the future and saw that Jermaine O'Neal would develop into the player he is today right? Or that Ron Artest would become an All-Star caliber player right? Griffin is 20 years old and will never be a post player, yeah right. Rasheed shot well his rookie year yeah, but at 20 years old he was still in North Carolina, and when he got the NBA at age 21 he shot well from the field, but saying he had a good post up game? He only scored 10 ppg. Yet you're willing to say that Sheed at 10 ppg would develop into a good post player and Griffin isn't because Sheed shot better from the field after learning at one of the best programs in the country? People are to impatient.
Wallace's rebounding numbers sucked when he was with Washington as well. Rasheed is not the 1st power forward to play on a team that rebounds well. He is simply not in the same class as most of the other power forwards as far as rebounding is concerned, he never has been and never will be. What are you on crack? Some of the best shot blockers in the league are power forwards. Making that statement is like saying expecting your point guard to shoot 3’s is like expecting your shooting guard to block shots. Sounds kind of dumb doesn’t it. Elton Brand 2.5 bpg Tim Duncan 2.9 bpg Pau Gasol 2.1 bpg Reaf LaFrentz 1.4 bpg (2.3 pbg career) Theo Ratliff 3 bpg Cris Webber 1.6 bpg (1.7 bpg career) J. O'Neal 2.2 bpg Eddie Griffin 1.81 bpg Kevin Garnett 1.6 bpg (1.73 career) Certainly you don’t have to be a great shot blocker to be a great power forward but it certainly helps. When you talk about potential and who might or might not be better you just can’t ignore that stat. I think Eddie will be a guy that will eventually go about 6’10” 240lbs and average around 14 to 16 points per game 10 rebounds per game 2.5 block shots per game I also think Eddie will be a stud on defense when he bulks up. He is not as good as Rasheed on defense now but I do think he will be better. Rasheed is not a HOF caliber player and his not in the same class as the other great power forwards in the west IMO. Do you think that is better than Rasheed? Not as good scoring but better in just about every other area.
Looking at Rasheed and people saying Griffin could never be the dominant scorer Rasheed became, Rasheed didn't become a dominant scorer until his 5th year in the league, the 1999-2000 season when his average jumped to 16 ppg, and then he followed that with 19 ppg. Before then, his first few years in the league, he averaged about 13 ppg. He shot well from the field, but that's because he came from a disciplined program. He didn't have to learn his way in the league like Kwame Brown, or Eddie Griffin, or Jermaine O'Neal.
Uh... yes... Eddie as a 20 year old is better than Rasheed as a 20 year old because Rasheed was a rookie that year (if my math is right). Why don't we compare their second year numbers? Sure, Rasheed is 21 years old... but I think two players in their second years are closer in ability than comparing based on age alone. (That's why we have a "rookie" of the year, instead of "21 year old of the year. That's why there's a "sophomore jinx", instead of a "22 year old jinx".) PPG RPG APG BPG FG% MPG Wallace 15.1 6.8 1.2 1.0 55.8 30.5 Griffin 8.7 6.2 1.0 1.8 39.7 24.9 Wallace's stats are substantially better. And for kicks, here are SAR's stats from his soph year (when he was 20-21): PPG RPG APG BPG FG% MPG SAR 22.3 7.1 2.6 0.9 48.5 36.0 Unless it's a salary problem, I don't see ANY reason to not trade a potential all-star for an existing all-star. I know you've got this deep love for anyone with a Rockets uniform on, but come *on*... this is SUCH an upgrade at the PF position. The only problem would be Mobley/Yao/Francis/SAR sharing shots. But, as others have suggested... maybe the EG/SAR trade isn't one-up after all.
The reason for comparing each at the age of 20 is because in most cases a 20-year-old just has not yet experienced the physical development that a 21-year-old has. But I’ll play your game. I have already conceded that Rasheed is and probably always will be a better offensive player than Eddie. However, with your stats Rasheed is playing almost 6 minutes a game more and Eddie numbers are still almost identical to Rasheeds in every category except scoring and shot blocking. Rasheed has a substantial edge in scoring and Eddie has a substantial edge in blocked shots. Take away PPG and Eddie has better stats. Those are great stats but they were done playing small forward not power forward. Shareef did not start playing power forward until he got to Atlanta. I personally don’t think Shareef can bang on a nightly basis with the power forwards in the West. I think Eddie will eventually grow to about 240lbs which is about where Rasheed and Webber are and it would give him about the same body style. I also think when Eddie finishes maturing that he will grab 10 boards a night and swat 2-3 balls a night as well as being a defensive stopper in the paint. He is not there yet but I think he is headed in the right direction. Shareef is a scorer that does not play great defense or block shots. His rebounding is decent but I think Eddies will be better. I don’t think Shareef addresses a major point of concern for our team. We don’t need more people to come in and be dominant scorers IMO if we cant get someone like Brand then we don’t move Eddie. I like Shareef but if we had him I would much rather see him at the 3 and not the 4.
Rockets rejected trade for Shareef Abdur-Rahim I have a friend in Atlanta with a couple of contacts within the Hawks organization who told me that the Hawks offered Abdur-Rahim to the Rockets for Eddie Griffin and Glen Rice. Houston wasted no time in rejecting the offer. Apparently, Houston did not want to take on the length of Rahim's contract. He also told me that Houston is really looking forward to using Rice as trade bait this offseason since his contract ends after next season. There will be teams interested in that contract. I probably would have rejected this trade offer too. Not enough basketballs to go around had Rahim been traded to Houston. I know there will be some people calling for Rudy and CD's head once this info gets out.
I also saw this trade on ESPN. It was on Wednsday Night on NBA2NIGHT. Supposedly the hawks called the Rockets about Eddie Griffin. And they offerend Reef. I think we should have done it. Griffin doesn't look like he ever really tries. Reef is 20/10 and shoots 50 percent. Personally I would have thrown in Mobley and Rice because they suck big nuts.
i would trade EG for shariff. first of all, we need a PF not another 3. i say sharif is more of a 3. second, sharif has a big contract. you do not want to lock yourself to another big contract that will not serve your real need. third, i think EG is being mis-used by rudy t. they play EG mostly in the outside and asking him to take 3 pt shots instead of teaching him to post inside. EG has a lot of potential. give him a break. he is only in his second year.
Throw in Mobley? Who plays 2 for us then? SF? Who plays 1 for us then? And remember if we take on SAR's max contract, we could not do any other trades for a 1 or 2. And a max contract for such a marginal All-Star (probably would become role player for us too) was unreasonable and something we should NEVER take on.
What I meant is that SAR would be a 3rd option at best for us. And a long-term max contract for a 3rd option is suicidal.
i really think that the rox should give EG at least 2 more seasons and really teach him more inside play than letting him play outside and shoot those 3 pt shot. while they are waiting for him to be a force inside, the rox should trade taylor plus collier to get an established PF (maybe brian grant). they should make EG a backup PF. also, persuade francis to move to the 2 guard. trade mobley and rice to get a TRUE point guard (maybe sign and trade for payton) since the trading deadline is over, obviously these are possible off season moves that they can do. as a result, their starting five will be: payton/norris francis/hawkins posey/nachbar grant/griffin yao/cato
