For those that don't know about this 36M 5 year deal Bonzi turned down, here is the scoop. The Kings offered that deal to Bonzi before they made any moves, (acquiring Salmons, etc.), Bonzi said he wanted more money in the deal and the Kings refused to negotiate a more lucrative deal therefore talks b/w the Kings and Bonzi just stopped. Bonzi thought he would get more money in the market, unfortunately, not many teams with excessive cap were willing to pay him, or needed him, and those that did (Denver) only had the MLE which at the time, was to little for Bonzi. Well all the teams with cap, spent there money elsewhere, no one wanted to overpay or had a need for Bonzi, except teams which had already used their MLE or had part of it left. It was realistically b/w the Rockets and Nuggets which the real contention came about. Denver had already spent their MLE on Reggie Evans, therefore we had the advantage all along and won. It's not like Bonzi did not want to play for the Kings anymore, he even tried to come back, but Kings said they had moved on and were not willing to negotiate with other teams for a sign and trade, therefore Bonzi was screwed. Rockets win. Bonzi loses, but in the end it's all a win win situation if he just cooperates with the system.
Ok im gonna stop posting cuz this is like my 10th post tonight. if it wasnt for clutchfans i'd have nowhere to express my exitement...all this exitement is making me hungry.
So... now what do the Rockets do? Bonzi, Snyder, Head are all guaranteed, and there are Sura, KillBill, McGrady also able to play the 2... and there are the non-guaranteed guys Kelena and Jacobsen, too. It's easy to cut the non-guaranteed guys, but there is still an excess at the 2. I think there will be a move.
For those too lazy... Agent: Wells agrees to two-year deal with RocketsBy Ric Bucher ESPN.com Bonzi Wells, the last significant free-agent talent on the market, agreed to a two-year, $5 million deal with the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, according to his agent. Wells holds a player option for the second year and fully plans to re-enter the free agent market next summer. "This isn't about the money, this is about being in the right place," said Wells' agent, Merle Scott of BDA Sports. After turning down a five-year $34 million offer from the Sacramento Kings last month, Wells fired his agent, Bill Phillips, and hired Scott a few weeks ago. Attempts to work a sign-and-trade that might've allowed Wells to match or improve the Kings' offer failed because Sacramento refused to take back any salaries after signing John Salmons with the money refused by Wells. "We never talked about the Sacramento offer because that was gone and that wasn't going to change," Scott said. Wells' loss is clearly Houston's gain. Wells left both Portland and Memphis after being portrayed as a malcontent, but his 13.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in 52 games with the Kings last season and a strong first-round playoff performance against San Antonio restored some of his luster. Wells and Ron Artest were a devastating forward combination and Artest personally lobbied for the Kings to re-sign Wells. Sacramento held Wells' Bird rights, meaning they could've paid him whatever they chose but drew the line with their offer slightly better than the mid-level exception. Wells, a source said, originally wanted Phillips to land him a $50 million deal. Denver, Boston, Charlotte and Miami also made offers but the Rockets did the best job of convincing Wells he was needed. The recruiting contingent included Yao Ming, GM Carroll Dawson, assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, coach Jeff Van Gundy, personnel director Keith Jones and Tracy McGrady, who called Bonzi directly to make his pitch. The Rockets go into training camp next week with a potential starting lineup of Rafer Alston, McGrady, Shane Battier (acquired in a draft-night trade for Stromile Swift and No. 8 pick Rudy Gay), Juwan Howard and Yao, with Wells as the sixth man, but if Wells plays as he did against the Spurs he could challenge Battier and Howard for one of the starting forward spots. "Bonzi doesn't care about starting," Scott said. "He just wants to be some place he can contribute."
Hey guys let me just add to ur exitement a little bit, you may already know but let me remind you...he averaged 23 points 12 boards, 60% shooting from the field and 63% 3pt during the playoffs last year. At least I think it was last year.
It would be the perfect offseason if the Rockets could do just one more thing, Get Melvin Ely. Charlotte has been having problems, and the two sides are far apart. Perhaps we can convince Ely to come over here to Houston with the trade exception. We'd probably have to deal Head, in a separate deal, but hey it could work. I don't want to deal Head, but if it can get us an athletic PF/C, it would be great.
I don't see Bonzi coming off the bench. He'll end up the starting 2, with a lot of time playing with Tracy and Battier, IMO.
Alright, NBA roster experts...what teams need some help at the two guard? Any teams with a surplus of front court talent?
I think Head is the most likely to go since he has value. I like Snyder and Kill Bill as replacements for Bonzi in 2007-8. Does anybody know how long the trade exception lasts? This might be a chip to hold on to for midseason fine-tuning.
I'm telling you, Melvin Ely. Sign Ely to a three year deal for the trade exception which is 4.2M, so I'm assuming it would be like a 3 year 15M deal or something around that neighborhood. Make that deal, perhaps sending a 2nd rounder to Charlotte. And in a seperate deal send them Luther Head for some other player. It could work. It would mean sacrificing Luther, but I'm for it right now since we need a PF/C more than a guard.
